Hiring a professional cleaning company
If you are thinking about hiring a professional cleaning company to handle the cleaning duties for your business, it is important to understand the different aspects of an office cleaning contract.
When hiring a cleaning company to handle the responsibility of cleaning your office, you’ll want to make sure that you receive the specifics of the formal agreement in writing.
Doing this gives important protection for your company as well as the organisation providing the clean services. It is also much easier to keep up with whether or not the work is being performed the way that it should be done, when the service and payment expectations are formalised, and to determine whether or not the work is being performed the way that it should be done and to determine if additional services may be needed.
In many cases, the cleaning company will provide the customers with a standard service contract to sign at the time the relationship between both of the parties is formalised. Prior to signing that agreement and allowing the firm to begin providing services to your company, carefully review the contract to verify that it accurately reflects your expectations and that every service you require the cleaning company to complete is included. If additional items need to be added or if you need further information, ask the representative of the prospective firm to make the changes you feel are necessary.
Bear in mind that once the contract is signed, the language in the contract will reflect the entire formal agreement between your organisation and the cleaning company you are hiring. Regardless of what possible services might have been discussed or agreed upon informally, the actual contract is what will be enforceable. Do not sign anything until you are satisfied with the agreement proposed and are aware of the exact terms and conditions presented in the document, and that they are accurate.
Important points to remember
Remember when reviewing this type of contract includes:
- Frequency: One of the most important components of office contract cleaning has to do with the frequency of cleaning. The contract should state how often the cleaning services will send representatives to your office to perform their duties.
- Time: If there are certain times of the day you would want your facility to be cleaned, that detail should be spelled out in the agree.
- Outlining duties: Some cleaning tasks need to be performed every day while others require weekly, monthly, or quarterly attention. By outlining the specific cleaning duties in the contract, specifying the acceptable length of time between service for each item.
- Cleaning products: The contract should specify whether or not the cleaning company will provide the cleaning products or if it is your responsibility to stock necessary supplies. If certain types of products must be used in your facility, this detail should also be clearly stated in the agreement.
- Paper supplies: Office cleaning contracts should state whether or not the customer or the janitorial service is responsible for stocking the rest rooms and break areas with toilet paper, hand towels, and other paper supplies that are typically used in professional workplaces.
- Standards: There should be some indication defining minimum performance expectations for the cleaning company. This information can help ensure that the company providing your services isn’t being held to unrealistic expectations while allowing the customer to request corrections for work that isn’t being performed to standard.
- Remedies: Contract cleaning operatives should cover what course of action will be executed should there is a disagreement between the customer and the service provider and explain the consequences of non-performance of either party to the agreement.
The decision you make when hiring a professional cleaning service is not one that should be done lightly. Make sure you look around before selecting a janitorial company so that you can be certain that the organisation you choose to do work with is on you are comfortable with and are confident that they’ll deliver. The company’s representatives will be spending a lot of time in your place of business, most likely after hours. Trust is essential in any business relationship. Make sure you are doing your research and checking references prior to selecting your provider of choice and be absolutely certain that you are comfortable with the terms and conditions of the contract before you finalise the relationship.
