Under Regulation 8 (non-schools), how many PCM clearance samples are required for an area greater than 32 sf?

• A. 1
• B. 3
• C. 5
• D. 7

Answer: (C)

The number of PCM clearance samples is tied to how large the area is that needs to be checked. When you’re dealing with a space bigger than 32 square feet, the regulation requires collecting five clearance samples to verify that the whole area has been adequately cleaned. This more robust sampling helps ensure you don’t miss residual contamination in different parts of the space, since larger areas can have variations from one spot to another. In practice, you’d take samples from multiple representative locations—such as corners and a central or other spread-out spot—so the results reflect the entire area rather than just a single point.