An office cleaning contract is three documents pretending to be one: the daily routine, the periodic schedule, and the list of things nobody is doing unless you ask. Most disputes about standards are really disputes about which list an item was on. Writing the three down before you go to market is the cheapest thing you will do all year, and it makes every quote you receive comparable.
What daily office cleaning normally means
Emptying and relining bins, cleaning and restocking washrooms, wiping desks and touch points, cleaning the kitchen or tea point including the sink and the fronts of appliances, vacuuming carpet and mopping hard floors in circulation areas, and a visual check of glass on doors. That is a routine an operative can complete in a fixed hour. Everything else is periodic, however often somebody says it should be done.
What is periodic, and how often
Carpet cleaning, hard floor machine work, internal glass and partitions, high level dusting above head height, upholstery, and cleaning inside the fridge and the microwave. Monthly, quarterly or twice yearly depending on use. Put each item in the contract with its frequency and its price, because a periodic item with no frequency is an item that will be argued about rather than delivered.
The specification is what you are actually buying
Write it room by room rather than task by task, because that is how an operative works and how a supervisor audits. Name the areas, say what happens in each and how often, and state the time window. Then a contract office cleaning quote, a daily office cleaning quote and a three visits a week quote can be compared honestly, which is the only way to know whether the cheapest is cheap.
Access, keys and the out of hours question
Decide early whether the clean happens before the office opens, after it closes, or during the day. Daytime cleaning is cheaper, greener and easier to supervise, and it is visible to your staff and visitors, which some businesses want and others do not. Out of hours costs more and needs keyholding, alarm codes and a documented procedure for what happens when the alarm goes off at midnight.
Questions people ask about commercial office cleaning services
How many hours does an office of twenty people need?
A single floor of around twenty desks with one washroom block is usually one to one and a half hours a day. The washroom and the kitchen, not the desks, drive the number.
Should desks be cleaned by the cleaner?
Clear desk areas can be wiped. A cluttered desk cannot be, and asking for it guarantees a failed audit. Say in the specification that cleaning is limited to clear surfaces.
Is daytime office cleaning worth it?
Often yes. It removes out of hours premiums and keyholding, makes supervision easy and reduces energy use, at the cost of some visible activity during the working day.
What should an office cleaning audit look like?
A scored walk of named areas against the specification, signed and dated, at a stated frequency. If nobody can produce last month's, the audit is not happening.