If you need to hire commercial cleaning experts, then this process will surely help you to save time and money but you will need to invest some time to make everything run smoothly. The first thing you will need to do is identify all of the cleaning firms in your community that actually work on commercial properties and when you have that list in place then you can move ahead and start assessing these cleaning experts. There will be some people who think they can save money by hiring a freelancing cleaner to help them but that is a recipe for disaster. The freelancing cleaner is not bonded so they could have a criminal record which could put the integrity of your commercial building at risk! Aside from that if the cleaner injured themselves on the job you could be held liable for all of the costs that are associated with that injury and your property insurance will not cover you because the cleaner was not licensed.
Right Way to Screen Commercial Cleaners
The first item is visiting the commercial cleaners’ website and finding out whether they are licensed to provide these services, if they are licensed then that information should be prominently listed on their website. If there is no information on their website, then what you need to do is call and verify but under no circumstances should you deal with a commercial cleaner that is not licensed.
After you have verified the commercial cleaner is licensed then the next thing you will have to find out is whether they are bonded. This bonding is a technical term but it means that no one within the cleaning organization has a criminal record, the cleaners will have access to just about every area in your building so you need to make sure the cleaning company you eventually hire is bonded.
Once you have identified the commercial cleaning companies that are licensed and bonded you will need to verify they are insured. The insurance protects their employees against injuries they sustain on the job, if they did not have this insurance then you could be on the hook to pay for it!
Elements to Look for When Screening Commercial Cleaners
There are a few key elements that you need to focus on when screening commercial cleaners, it would be impossible to cover them all but we are going to focus on those that seem to be the most important. Find out how long the commercial cleaning experts have been operating their business, the longer they have been providing these services the more experience they will have. To be a good cleaner it takes a considerable amount of experience in order to do the job well. What you will need to do is figure out which of these cleaning professional have been doing this work for the longest time and put them up on the top of your list.
What types of cleaning does the cleaner specialise in? This may sound like an odd question but there are different specialisations, for example there are some cleaning companies that will also take care of the windows of a building but that is not always the case so it helps to differentiate the cleaners. Aside from those qualities the next thing you will need to look over is what these cleaners are going to charge you for their services. This portion of the process is the one you have to pay extra close attention or you could make the wrong selection.
- Is the cleaner going to charge you by the hour or a flat fee for the work you need done? The only way to determine what is the most advantageous for you is to have a cleaning audit conducted on your premises. Most of the well-established commercial cleaning companies will offer this service to their prospective clients where they will clean the premises and look at the time and materials required to complete the cleaning then either quote you a flat fee or an hourly rate. You are not bound to accept their proposal but at least you have a baseline to work with.
- Will you be required to provide cleaning supplies or resources aside from access to the building? The vast majority of commercial cleaning companies will have their own supplies and that is factored into the price they give you but that is not always the case so it never hurts to confirm.
- Does the cleaning company provide discounts if you sign a long term agreement? This is another important item that has to be taken into account when screening these commercial cleaning experts. What some firms do is charge a higher price for one-time cleanings because they want to maximise their profits but if you are willing to commit to a long term cleaning arrangement then they should offer you a substantial discount. Just make it a priority to have everything documented in the service agreement so there is no ambiguity in the future.
- What kind of track record does the commercial cleaning company have? Even if the cleaner is licensed and insured it does not mean they are going to be the best choice overall. What you need to do is ask the commercial cleaners to give you references from clients they have worked with or currently are working for. Call these reference and find out what they have to say about their experience with the commercial cleaning experts, if everything checks out then you should feel confident moving forward with them.
By following all of the suggestions we have compiled you are going to save a tremendous amount of time and money identifying the best cleaning experts in your area.