When cleaning is done poorly (or not at all), all kinds of problems occur. Overflowing rubbish bins, accumulated dirt, dusty rooms, smudged glass and sticky door handles. The grime can really build up and damage a company’s environment and brand, not to mention staff morale! People really take note when cleaning is not done well!

When we’ve done our job well, you don’t notice we’ve been! That’s the nature of the cleaning industry. A clean environment ensures people feel welcome, so ironically nothing jars with them and they don’t think about the hours spent cleaning to get the room to that standard!

As such, ensuring you get that high-quality clean every day should be an essential part of running a successful business. A great way to do this is with a cleaning contract.

But what is contract cleaning? And what benefits does it bring? In this article, we delve into the details to show you why outsourcing your cleaning might be one of the smartest business decisions that you make.

What is contract cleaning?

Contract cleaning is a type of professional agreement between two parties – normally a company and a professional cleaning company. It is a way to outsource your cleaning. The cleaning company agrees to provide a set of specific services according to a set schedule and in exchange, they receive payment.

What services are typical for this agreement?

When drafting a contract for your cleaning service, it’s important to be explicit about the types of services you would like to be provided by your cleaning company. Based on their experience, they recommend additional services that may not have occurred to you.

Generally, contract cleaning includes:

Vacuuming
Dusting (desks, shelves and other furniture)
Mopping
Bathroom/washroom cleaning (e.g. toilets, sinks, floors)
Kitchen cleaning (but generally only the surfaces and sink)
Rubbish removal

paper balls inside a waste paper basket viewed from above. — Waste Removal

office cleaner wiping conference table — Waste Removal

What services are considered “additional”?

You are able to add other services to your contract. These services might not need to be performed every day or week. These include:

Window cleaning
External area litter picking/rubbish removal (e.g. car parks or communal spaces)
Deep cleaning
Floor polishing
Carpet Cleaning
Upholstery Cleaning
Delivery service for supplies (e.g. toilet rolls and paper hand towels)

looking down on a floor cleaner — Floor polishing

cleaning technique colleague picking up litter on a rural lane — Floor polishing

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What are the benefits of a contract cleaning service?

Contract cleaning comes with numerous benefits for you.

1. Consistency

For one, it guarantees a consistent level of service. You can be sure that your services will remain predictable and dependable, and if the cleaning company does not perform the services as laid out in the contract, you are able to challenge the fee you agreed to.

2. Quality

Like any industry, cleaners who perform tasks week in, and week out, develop expertise borne from years of experience. Their experience allows them to clean in a way that ensures germs, and bacteria are eliminated and that fabrics and surfaces are not damaged during the cleaning process. There are also best practices that ensure cross-contamination does not occur, such as colour coding, and additional standards if your business is involved in the healthcare sector. All of these nuances mean it can be best to leave cleaning to the professionals.

3. Reduce workload

Because your cleaner is provided by an external company, you are not responsible for managing and salarying your cleaner. If your cleaner cannot come to work due to illness, it is the cleaning company’s responsibility to provide cover in order to ensure that the terms of the contract are met. Likewise, if the cleaner decides to move on, you are not responsible for hiring a new cleaner. This can reduce the workload placed on your own HR team, making contract cleaning more cost-effective in the long run.

4. Cost-effective

If you are working within an industry that requires certain standards to be followed, such as CQC standards, additional training is required for those responsible for cleaning in those environments. If you hire your own cleaners, you are responsible for ensuring they are adequately trained. This can incur additional costs. It can often be more cost effective to outsource to a professional cleaning company that can ensure training is regularly updated.

Our Process

Much of the consistency and quality of your cleaning comes from the process that the cleaning company follows at the commencement of your contract. A high-quality cleaning company should visit your premises to find out the scope of the work. An effective cleaning schedule cannot be drawn up without this approach.

Here at Cleaning Technique, we adopt this consultative approach, as we feel that ready-made packages mean important tasks are missed and quality can slip. We visit every premise we clean and ensure that we find a cleaner that will fit in with your company’s ethos.

Contract cleaning: high-quality and cost-effective

Outsourcing your cleaning to a professional cleaning company ensures that you receive consistently high-quality cleaning for your business premises. Contracting a company to provide your cleaning service means you reduce the workload for your own team, ensuring that they can focus on being productive in their roles. It is a great solution for businesses that want to grow.