What do your office cleaners do? Most office managers have little idea. They arrive at 5pm, we leave for home, the office looks clean the next morning and all is well until something goes wrong. And usually that something goes wrong is only noticed when it has been allowed to deteriorate for some time.

We have put together a practical office cleaning checklist for you to compare your current cleaning service against. The tasks have been split into the frequency with which they should be carried out.

Every visit (daily)

A simple checklist of all the daily cleaning tasks that your office cleaner must complete on every visit to your office to ensure that your office is kept clean, hygienic and presentable on a daily basis.

• Empty all waste and recycling bins and refill with liners.
• Clean and sanitise all toilets, sinks, and washroom surfaces, and restock soap, paper towels and toilet roll.
• Clean and sanitise all kitchen and break out area surfaces and appliances (kettles, microwaves, fridge doors etc.) and all sinks.
• Clean and disinfect high-touch areas (e.g. door handles, light switches, lift buttons) and agreed areas (e.g. shared phones and keyboards).
• Wipe down surfaces of all desks and clear any clutter from surfaces that have been able to be cleaned.
• Vacuum all carpeted areas and walkways
• Mop hard floors in kitchens, washrooms and entrances.
• Clean glass parts such as door panels, partitions and surfaces in the reception area of marks caused by finger prints.
• Tidy the reception and the meeting rooms for the next day.

The washroom and kitchen are probably the two most important areas to focus on. The reason for this is that these are the areas where people’s health is going to be affected and also where the standard of clean is going to be seen most. This means that if someone is only doing a rushed clean then these areas are going to show up worst.

Every week

Weekly cleaning is about to prevent deeper dirt from accumulating and making your office look horrible. Most of people won’t even notice the difference until it is too late.

• Dust all surfaces including high up on all levels (shelves, ledges, skirting etc) including windowsills.
• Clean internal glass, partitions and door panels thoroughly.
• Detailed vacuuming of all areas including edges of carpets, corners and under furniture where possible.
• Clean and descale washroom fittings, taps and tiling.
• Clean kitchen cupboard fronts, including surfaces around appliances such as the microwave.
• Disinfect bins themselves, not just the liners
• Clean and polish any stainless steel and metalwork.

Every month (and periodically)

These are the tasks which protect the office in the long run and are typically not included in a poor contract. They don’t all have to be done on a monthly basis, but they should be done on a regular basis as outlined on the contract.

• High-level dusting: tops of cabinets, light fittings, vents and ceiling corners for cobwebs
• Clean internal-facing windows and frames
• Detailed cleaning behind and beneath movable furniture
• Deep cleaning of carpet and upholstery to be done on a regular basis, depending on the amount of traffic and need.
• Hard floor maintenance: buffing, polishing or resealing as appropriate to the floor surface.
• Clean and sanitise all hard to clean items on a regular basis that are normally left to be cleaned on a daily basis i.e. Chairs (made of fabric) and under desks etc.

What this checklist is really telling you

This checklist is provided for your information. It is not intended to make you an Inspector! However, it does provide a very quick means of checking whether or not you are receiving value from your cleaning contract. A reliable cleaning contractor will be able to provide you with a schedule of cleaning tasks which have been tailored to your office environment. They should also be able to tell you what tasks are completed on a daily basis and provide you with information about the frequency of other tasks. If your cleaning contractor is unable to provide you with this information then it may be time to start looking for an alternative supplier.

Some additional things to look out for in your contract are: Is there consistency of staff? You want people to get to know your space and your business, not bring in a new team of people every week. Is there supervision and quality checking? Someone to check that the work has been done properly. Is there good communication? You need to know who to ring in an emergency and for someone to sort the problem out quickly. Honesty about what is included in the ‘office cleaning’ contract – i.e. are the windows included? Are the bathrooms cleaned and restocked daily? Are the floors polished and maintained?

Time to review your contract?

If you have any doubts about your current cleaning contract, read through this list and then compare your current contract with what you have read here. Take a critical look at the condition of your washrooms and kitchen at the end of the working week. Ask your contractor to go through your schedule with you. If it doesn’t stack up, then you need to talk to another cleaning contractor who can tell you exactly what you’ll get on every visit and back it up.

If the issues highlighted by this article have brought to light some questions regarding your office cleaning contract then we would be pleased to provide you with a no obligation review of your current cleaning specification and provide you with a quote for the services that we can provide to you and your staff. Our promise is that we will clearly advise you of what we will do on every visit, and we will stand by our promise to deliver a high quality service to you.