A commercial cleaner is not a domestic cleaner working in a bigger room. The purchase is a specification, a frequency and a price, held by a company that carries employer's liability cover, trains and supervises its own staff, and leaves a record you can show a fire risk assessor or an environmental health officer. That is the difference you are paying for, and it is the difference worth checking before you sign anything.
What the law actually asks of you
Regulation 9 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 says every workplace, and the furniture, furnishings and fittings in it, must be kept sufficiently clean, that floors, walls and ceilings must be capable of being kept clean, and that waste must not accumulate except in suitable receptacles. Sufficiently is deliberately undefined. It is judged against your premises, which is why a specification matters more than a brand.
Four things to check before you sign
Employer's liability insurance, because the operatives are in your building. Public liability cover, because they will eventually break something. Who supervises, how often, and whether that supervisor is named. And whether the staff are the contractor's own employees or subcontracted, because a subcontracted chain is where vetting, training records and right to work checks tend to go missing. Ask for the documents rather than the claim.
Where janitorial sits in the same purchase
Janitorial is the trade word for the same contract read from the supply side: the recurring clean plus the consumables that go with it, meaning washroom paper, soap, bin liners and the machines. A firm selling commercial cleaning and janitorial services is offering to own both, which is usually cheaper than buying consumables separately but does need a line in the contract saying what is included and at what price.
Near me is a real constraint, not a search habit
Cleaning is labour delivered at a fixed hour, usually early morning or after six, so travel time is the contractor's cost and it lands in your rate. A firm forty minutes away either prices that in or struggles to cover sickness. That is the honest reason to prefer a local operator, and it is a better reason than any claim about local knowledge.
Questions people ask about commercial cleaners
What is the difference between commercial and domestic cleaning?
Commercial cleaning is bought by a business against a written specification and frequency, with insurance, supervision and records attached. Domestic cleaning is bought by a householder by the hour.
Do commercial cleaners need to be accredited?
No accreditation is required by law. What is required is that the work is done and that you can show it: the duty under regulation 9 sits with the occupier, not the contractor.
Should I use one contractor or several specialists?
One contractor for the recurring clean is simpler to manage. Periodic work such as ventilation hygiene, high level access or carpet cleaning is often subcontracted anyway, so ask who actually does it.
How long should a commercial cleaning contract run?
Twelve months with a three month break clause is common. Anything longer without a break clause removes your only leverage when the standard slips.