Most offices do not need everything cleaned every day, but some things cannot wait a week. The right schedule depends on how many people use the space, what they do there and how visible the space is to clients.
Start with foot traffic
Count how many people pass through on a normal day. A suite with five employees and few visitors is very different from a floor with forty people, a waiting area and daily deliveries. As a rule of thumb, the busier the space, the more often restrooms, entryways and shared surfaces need attention.
- •Under 10 people, few visitors: one or two visits a week is usually enough.
- •10 to 30 people: three visits a week, with restrooms serviced each visit.
- •30 or more people, or daily client visits: nightly cleaning.
- •Medical, food service or childcare spaces: nightly cleaning, with disinfection of contact surfaces.
What should happen on every visit
- •Restrooms cleaned, sanitized and restocked.
- •Trash and recycling removed.
- •Entryways, glass doors and lobby floors cleaned.
- •Kitchen and break-room counters, sinks and tables wiped down.
- •High-touch surfaces disinfected: door handles, light switches, shared desks, elevator buttons.
Weekly and monthly work
Some tasks only need a regular slot on the calendar. Detail vacuuming along edges and under furniture, dusting vents, ledges and blinds, and cleaning interior glass fit well in a weekly visit. Floor care, such as buffing, waxing and carpet extraction, is usually monthly or quarterly depending on the floor type and traffic.
Cleaning around your hours
Cleaning works best when nobody is working around it. Most of our commercial clients schedule crews after closing or early in the morning, so the building is ready before the first employee arrives. Buildings with shift work often split the scope: restrooms and trash during the day, the fuller clean overnight.
Signs the schedule is wrong
- •Restroom supplies run out between visits.
- •Trash is overflowing by the end of the day.
- •Floors look dull in walkways even right after a visit.
- •Staff keep buying their own cleaning supplies.
Any of these usually means the frequency is too low, not that the cleaning is poor. It is easy to add a visit or move a task from weekly to every visit.
ABS Building Services builds janitorial plans around how your building is used, for offices, commercial buildings and common areas in Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Virginia. The same crew returns each visit, so they learn your space. Call (202) 582-9272 for a free walkthrough and quote. New and referred customers get a 10% discount.
