Commercial

Your business contains a lot of commercially sensitive information and valuable property. Any cleaning service you engage to service your business needs to have a good reputation and history. It will be worth your time and effort to do your research before engaging a cleaning service and inviting them into your business.

The cleaning service industry contributes billions of dollars to the Australian economy and is growing. Choosing the right commercial cleaner is as simple as asking a few key questions.

Experience and reputation

Engaging a cleaning service on face value is not enough. Your research may surprise you! You do not want that to be a bad surprise. A company with no reputation or history is not a good idea. You need to think about their investment to ensure your business is cleaned to a high standard and is safe for your employees.

Any company who cannot provide references or share clients they service should be avoided. You want to know that your cleaning service is reputable and experienced.

By doing your due diligence before you even speak with a potential cleaning service will save you a multitude of problems. Speak to other business owners on their service and do your research.

Employee training and screening

Most cleaning is done after hours when your business is vacant. This leaves your information and property exposed. You should feel comfortable asking if a cleaning service screens their employees. You are entitled to feel 100% comfortable with the service and the people they employ to clean your business.

These checks could include references, employment history and criminal background checks. The cleaning industry is not the only industry that ensures their employees are suited for a job. You are entitled to the peace of mind knowing your business is being cleaned by honest, hardworking individuals.

The cleaning industry is one of the many services that does not require a qualification. This does not mean that just anyone can clean a commercial business. You should ask a cleaning company about their recruitment and training process. It is not unreasonable for you to expect that your business will be cleaned by someone who is trained in both technique and products.

Types of services offered by the cleaning service

Like all businesses, cleaning companies often specialise in a particular area. For instance, hospital cleaning services are not likely to also do large industrial factories.

It makes sense if a reputable cleaning company provides ongoing training to their staff that evidence that they specialise in your type of business is a reasonable question.

Before you make a decision ensure they provide the services you need. Some standard service could include:

• Rubbish removal and recycling
• Vacuuming, mopping and sweeping
• Kitchen and laundry clean
• Bathroom cleaning
• Dusting
• Stocking consumables such as soap, paper towels and toilet paper.

It is important when discussing what you need cleaned or provided with a cleaning service that you are specific. This information will be included in the scope of the job and will be part of the pricing structure. Nothing is too small to include as each item takes time and the skill to clean. Your cleaning service will allocate the time and staff according to your requirements.

Types of businesses they have serviced

Experience is important so when choosing your commercial cleaning service ask if they have facilities similar to your business. As an example, do they have offices of your size or do they have cleaning services in industrial or manufacturing facilities.

Remember one of the important keys to a successful cleaning service is trained staff. If they already service businesses similar to yours you know they have the experience.

You may also need one off cleaning services for a renovation or function. There are many options available to make sure you get the right cleaning service for your business, you just need to do your research and ask the right questions.

Permits and insurance

When a cleaning team is working on site at your business you need the confidence that the cleaning service company has the right permits and insurance for their business and their employees.

You need to protect yourself against the public liability in the event of an accident.

All reputable cleaning companies will be fully insured.

Green cleaning

You might run an environmentally conscious business where all the staff are involved in recycling and do their bit for the environment. Green cleaning is the buzzword that will work for your business if that is important

When selecting a green clean cleaning company it could include everything from microfibre tools to save on waste, green cleaning products, safe disposal practices and low energy equipment. As is the case in most environmentally friendly solutions it may impact the cost to clean and require a specialised team.