Is there really a difference between domestic and commercial cleaning? In short the answer is yes; but there are various factors that make it so. With commercial High Pressure Washing the work is considered a necessity for running the business so becomes a business expense. Business expenses are part of a budget therefore the cost of having the premises cleaned needs to fit into the allocated amount. This is not the case with domestic cleaning as it is purely a decision of the homeowner to clean their property themselves or pay to have it done.
There are certain expectations of cleaning by property owners, but the kind carried out with commercial property does depend on the business. Any business handling food is meticulous about keeping the place hygienically clean. Health requirements are such that if they do not keep the properties as clean as the set Health Standards they could lose their licence to sell food. This is a great incentive for people to work hard at keeping up the standards. Usually the cleaning is done by the employed staff. It is part of the closing down ritual so they know when they arrive the following day there will be no contamination.
Should a building contain offices for professional consultants or financial institutions the requirements are not so strict. A thorough vacuum and the hygienic cleaning of all the bathrooms are usually sufficient. Because offices house many desks with computers most cleaners are not required to dust. They are expected to empty the rubbish bins, but vacuuming the floor is the main prerequisite.
Many commercial buildings, especially large city skyscrapers leased by various organisations, tender out their cleaning. This helps them cope with the annual cost and it is budgeted into their expenses. Sometimes the cheapest tender is chosen but this does not guarantee a thorough job. For a commercial cleaning company to make a profit they must ensure that the number of worked hours they pay for are less than the money they receive for the work. Should they have underquoted to get the job, less time is spent cleaning on each floor making the quality of the clean not as diligent as it probably should be.
There are thousands of commercial buildings and many areas that need to be cleaned and kept in pristine condition. Floors and bathrooms inside the buildings are a must for daily cleaning but the windows of the buildings also need a regular removal of dust both inside and out, especially if it is a shop front used for promotion of sales. Wooden or vinyl floors must be regularly polished to keep up the shine. All these jobs need to be carried out by professionals in those fields.
Because commercial cleaning is usually done by Cleaning Organisations the owners of the building will not meet the cleaners. If the job is not done well the lessees of the space will complain to the owner. This is unless the lessee has arranged the cleaning themselves. As cleaning in commercial property is usually done outside of business hours the cleaner is very rarely seen and in some cases it is not the same person doing the job each day.
To ensure the cleaning is kept up to standard, owners of commercial properties take out Contracts with Cleaning Companies. This is where the tendering becomes an advantage. The Contract is signed for a certain period of time, and at the end of that Contract the owners of the buildings can renegotiate their cleaning costs and requirements. If they are not happy with the kind of cleaning they are receiving they look elsewhere.
Commercial cleaning can be a lucrative business, but matching the quality with the charge is the difficult part and many commercial cleaners charge less than they should just to obtain the jobs. Once they have the Contract they sometimes ‘on sell’ these Contracts and make money from the new arrangement. Depending on how much the contract is worth, determines the amount of time that can be spent cleaning. Each cleaner is allocated a specific number of minutes to clean an area or floor and the work has to be finished in that time. Speed does not always combine with efficiency and quality is not always received.
