Cleaning questions, answered by professionals

A clear scope lists each area (restrooms, offices, breakrooms, lobbies, floors), the tasks in each area and the frequency of every task: nightly, weekly, monthly or quarterly. It also states who supplies paper products and liners, how the crew enters and secures the building, and how issues are reported and corrected. If a task is not written down, assume it is not included.

Compare scopes, not totals. Line up the tasks, frequencies and estimated labor hours for each bid. A much lower price usually means fewer hours on site or fewer tasks. Also ask each company for a certificate of insurance, how they inspect their own work and who your direct contact will be.

Routine office cleaning commonly runs between about 2,000 and 4,000 square feet per hour, depending on how open the space is, the number of restrooms and breakrooms, and the floor types. Restrooms, kitchens and dense private offices take the most time per square foot. This is why a walkthrough gives a far more accurate price than square footage alone.

Daily tasks keep the building usable: trash, restrooms, breakrooms, touchpoints and spot cleaning floors. Periodic tasks restore it: high dusting, vents, baseboards, carpet extraction, floor scrubbing and refinishing, and interior glass. A building that only gets daily tasks slowly looks dull even when it is technically clean.

Cleaning removes dirt and many germs from a surface. Sanitizing lowers the number of bacteria to a safer level, which matters most on food contact surfaces. Disinfecting uses an EPA registered disinfectant to kill the germs listed on its label, and it only works on a surface that has been cleaned first.

Dwell time, also called contact time, is how long a disinfectant must stay wet on a surface to kill the germs on its label. It can range from under a minute to ten minutes depending on the product. Spraying and wiping right away usually does not disinfect, so crews should know the dwell time of every product they use.

Color coding keeps cloths from restrooms away from desks and kitchens. A common system uses one color for toilets and urinals, another for restroom sinks and fixtures, another for general surfaces and another for food areas. It is one of the simplest ways to prevent cross contamination in offices and clinics.

Most soil in a building is tracked in on shoes. Walk off matting at each entrance, ideally 10 to 15 feet of it, catches much of that grit before it reaches carpet and hard floors. Keeping mats clean and replacing worn ones protects floor finish and extends the time between deep floor work.

Either arrangement works. Some buildings buy consumables in bulk and have the crew restock them, and others have the cleaning company supply and bill them. Whatever you choose, write it into the scope so no restroom runs out.

Drywall sanding produces extremely fine gypsum dust that floats and keeps settling for days, and concrete cutting adds fine silica dust. It coats ledges, vents, fixtures, cabinet interiors and every horizontal surface. Removing it takes HEPA filtered vacuums, damp wiping and more than one pass, which is why a final clean is usually followed by a touch up clean.

Yes. Running the HVAC system during construction pulls dust into the filters and ductwork. Filters should be replaced before the final clean, otherwise the system blows dust back onto freshly cleaned surfaces. Many projects also schedule duct cleaning before turnover.

Schedule the final clean after every trade has finished working inside, including flooring and painting touch ups, and before the final inspection or owner walkthrough. Leave time for a touch up clean after punch list work, because those last repairs always create new dust.

Glass is cleaned wet, labels and adhesive are softened first, and paint is lifted with the right blade held at a low angle. Some glass, including many tempered and coated panes, can scratch easily, so test areas are checked first and plastic blades or chemical removal are used where needed. Window frames and tracks are vacuumed before they are wiped.

Usually not. New vinyl tile needs time for the adhesive to cure before it is wet scrubbed or finished, and the flooring manufacturer specifies how long to wait, often several days. After that, the floor gets an initial scrub to remove factory coating and job site residue, then multiple coats of finish.

A rough clean happens during construction, after heavy trades. It removes debris, packaging and loose dust so finish trades can work. A final clean happens at the end and details everything: fixtures, cabinets inside and out, glass, vents, appliances and floors, to a move in standard.

Working power, water and lighting, access to a dumpster for debris, the project schedule and the punch list timing. Bulk construction debris and trade waste are normally removed by the contractor. The cleaning crew handles dust, packaging, labels and detail cleaning.