Biohazard cleanup in West Boca

The post office uses the name Boca Raton for a wide area that the city itself does not govern. This is true for most homes in 33433, 33434 and 33496.

Out here the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office is the police. Its local station is the District 7 office at 17901 State Road 7 (Sheriff contacts). So after a death or a crime at a west Boca address, the report, the case number and any property taken for safekeeping are with the Sheriff, and the city police will have no record of it.

If you are unsure which side of the boundary you are on, look at the card or report the responding deputy or officer left. The agency's name is printed on it.

If your community has a staffed gate or an association office, a little notice saves trouble. A cleanup crew is a contractor like any other in the eyes of the gatehouse.

• Phone the gate or the management office with the company's name before the crew sets out.
• Ask whether contractors are limited to certain hours or days, and tell the company.
• You do not owe the association an explanation. "A cleaning contractor" is enough.
• If equipment has to sit outside, say where a van may park.

If your home is built on a concrete slab with tile or laminate over it, ask the company how it checks whether fluid got under the flooring or beneath a baseboard, since that is where it tends to settle on a slab.