Snow Removal & Ice Management for Greater Boston Properties
Proactive, multi-pass snow removal and ice management — keeping your property safe, accessible, and compliant throughout the Greater Boston winter season.
Greater Boston winters don't wait — and neither do we
A Greater Boston winter is not a single event. It's a season of Nor'easters, overnight freezes, mid-storm ice layers, and the kind of unpredictable accumulation that makes a property manager's phone ring at 6:00 am. The window between a storm ending and a compliance deadline is measured in hours — and for properties with early morning foot traffic, the window between the storm ending and the first resident stepping outside is even shorter.
Most snow removal companies show up after a storm. 78-Clean's crews are already moving before accumulation builds — monitoring forecasts, staging equipment, and making multiple passes throughout a storm so your property never reaches the point where ice and compacted snow make clearing difficult, dangerous, or non-compliant.
In 2010, Massachusetts' snow removal law underwent a significant change when the Supreme Judicial Court overturned a 100-year-old rule that had allowed property owners to avoid liability for natural accumulations of snow. Today, if a threat exists, you have liability. That legal landscape makes proactive, documented snow removal not just a compliance obligation but a genuine risk management tool.
How 78-Clean approaches snow removal differently
A focused scope — sidewalks, walkways, entrances, and pathways
78-Clean's snow removal service focuses on the areas your residents, tenants, and visitors actually use on foot — sidewalks, walkways, building entries, pathways, and the routes needed for trash bin placement and return. We do not provide plowing services for parking lots or driveways. For properties that need both, we recommend pairing 78-Clean's walkway program with a dedicated plowing contractor — together covering all winter maintenance needs.
Proactive forecast monitoring — not reactive dispatch
78-Clean crews actively monitor weather forecasts before every storm. Equipment is staged, crew assignments are confirmed, and routes are planned before the first flake falls. When accumulation begins, crews are already dispatched — not waiting for a call from a property manager or a threshold to be hit.
Multiple passes throughout the storm
A single post-storm pass is not how professional snow removal works in a Greater Boston winter. 78-Clean crews make multiple passes throughout a storm — clearing accumulation as it builds, preventing ice formation beneath fresh snow, and ensuring pathways never become dangerous between clearing intervals. By the time a storm ends, your property is already substantially clear rather than starting from scratch.
Ground-level clearing
Our crews don't skim the surface — they clear to the ground. Compact snow left on walkways becomes ice. Ice becomes liability. Getting to bare pavement on every pass is the standard, not the exception.
Pet-friendly ice melt
78-Clean uses pet-friendly ice melt across all properties. For multifamily buildings and properties where residents walk dogs through cleared pathways, this matters — standard rock salt and calcium chloride products can be harmful to pets and damaging to flooring when tracked inside.
Supervisor route audits
After each crew pass, supervisors audit routes to confirm coverage is complete and determine whether an additional pass is needed — so the decision to make another run is based on actual conditions, not assumption.
Shaded exposure awareness
Our crews and supervisors are attuned to the microclimates that Greater Boston winters create — shaded building faces, north-facing entries, and alleyways that receive less sun and refreeze faster than cleared open pathways. These areas get additional attention and targeted ice melt application as part of every service.
The compliance stakes in Greater Boston
Snow removal compliance in Greater Boston is not uniform — each municipality has its own requirements, timelines, and fine structures. Here's what property managers need to know:
Boston
Commercial properties must clear sidewalks within 3 hours after snowfall ends during daytime hours, or by 10:00 AM if snow stops overnight. Each day of non-compliance constitutes a separate violation resulting in additional $200 fines per day. Depositing snow on public streets carries additional penalties of $200 or more per incident.
Brookline
Commercial properties and multifamily buildings with five or more units must clear within 3 hours of a storm's end. Gas-powered equipment restrictions apply seasonally. Fines run $100–$250 per day with each day treated as a separate offense.
Cambridge
Snow must be removed within 12 hours after it stops falling during the day, and before 1:00 PM if it snowed overnight. Ice must be removed within 6 hours of forming. Corner properties must clear ramps at corners near their property. Fine is $50 per day per violation.
Newton
Residential properties must clear within 24 hours. Properties within Newton's business districts must clear within 12 hours. Fines are $50 per day for residential and $100 per day for commercial properties.
Liability beyond fines
Whether a private landowner, a business, or a landlord, you could be held legally responsible for someone's injuries if they slip and fall on ice or snow on your property — including medical bills, lost work time, and physical or emotional pain and suffering. Documented, proactive snow removal is your best protection against that exposure.
For full municipality-specific compliance detail see our pages for Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Newton, and Chestnut Hill.
Available as part of our comprehensive facility services program
Snow removal is available to 78-Clean facility services clients — properties with an active cleaning program through 78-Clean. If you're not yet a client and are interested in snow removal coverage, request a proposal for our cleaning program and we'll include snow removal as part of your service package. Many property managers find that combining cleaning and snow removal under one vendor eliminates a coordination gap that creates problems every winter — one Relationship Manager, one schedule, one company accountable for both.
Serving properties across Greater Boston
78-Clean provides snow removal and ice management services to multifamily buildings, commercial properties, religious institutions, schools, and HOA communities throughout Greater Boston — including Boston, Allston, Brighton, Brookline, Cambridge, Newton, Chestnut Hill, and surrounding communities.
A snow removal partner Greater Boston properties trust
78-Clean is the commercial cleaning brand of Commercial Cleaning Service, Inc., a family-owned, women-owned Greater Boston business since 1977. We maintain a 97% customer retention rate — built on showing up before the storm, not after it, and delivering properties that are safe, clear, and compliant when residents and visitors arrive.
Every client is assigned a dedicated Relationship Manager who coordinates snow removal scheduling, monitors your property's compliance requirements, and ensures your winter program runs without you having to think about it.