Your cleaning company shows up, the trash gets emptied, and on the surface everything looks fine. But is it? Most facility managers are surprised to learn how much a professional cleaning partner should be tracking and reporting, and how rarely it actually happens.
1. Inspection Status by Area
A professional cleaning company should conduct scheduled walkthroughs and evaluate specific areas including restrooms, common areas, production floors, entrances, and offices on a consistent basis with documented observations over time.
Cleanliness is assessed by people, not machines. What matters is whether an area meets the standard and if it doesn’t, what is being done about it.
What to ask your vendor: “Can you show me your last three inspection reports, and how you define your standards for each area?”
2. Complaint Response Time
Every facility will generate a cleaning complaint at some point. What separates a good cleaning company from a great one is how fast they respond and whether they log it. Industry best practice is same-day resolution for routine issues.
What to ask your vendor: “How do you log and track service complaints, and what is your average resolution time?”
3. Staff Consistency
A cleaner who has worked your building for six months knows where the problem areas are, which floors scuff easily, and which restrooms get the heaviest traffic. A cleaner who has been there six days doesn’t. High staff turnover erodes quality, so your cleaning company should keep your team as consistent as possible.
What to ask your vendor: “How long has the current team assigned to our facility been on our account?”
4. Supply Consumption
Supplies including paper products, soap, trash liners, and cleaning chemicals should be tracked against usage expectations. Unusually high consumption may signal waste; unusually low may mean corners are being cut. Either way, you should never walk into a restroom with an empty soap dispenser that nobody noticed.
What to ask your vendor: “How do you monitor supply levels and consumption at our facility?”
5. Regulatory and Compliance Requirements
Depending on your industry, you may have specific cleaning standards to meet including OSHA guidelines, healthcare infection control protocols, food-safe facility requirements, or accreditation standards. Your cleaning company should know these exist and track compliance as part of your program. One recognized benchmark worth knowing is CIMS, the Cleaning Industry Management Standard, which certifies that a cleaning company operates with documented processes, quality systems, and a commitment to consistent service delivery.
What to ask your vendor: “Are you familiar with the compliance standards that apply to our facility, and how do you document that we are meeting them? Are you CIMS certified?”
The Bottom Line
The best cleaning partnerships are built on transparency, regular reporting, honest conversations, and a shared commitment to consistent standards. If your current vendor cannot answer the questions above, it may be time to raise the bar.
Frantz Building Services provides janitorial programs for manufacturing facilities, medical outpatient buildings, museums, public venues, K-12 schools, colleges and universities, warehousing and distribution centers, call centers, places of worship, and corporate offices.