Office cleaning checklist
A commercial specification is a promise you have to be able to hand to somebody else. This sheet is written as a route: nightly work by zone, a weekly block, and the periodic work that is quoted and scheduled separately — which is where a janitorial contract makes or loses its margin.
Before the visit
- Confirm access, alarm and out-of-hours contact
- Ask which desks and rooms are off limits
- Walk the site once before the first shift
After the visit
- Leave wet-floor signs until the floor is dry
- Log consumables that ran out
- Sign the sheet and leave it where the client agreed
Nightly — every zone
- Bins emptied, liners replaced, recycling separated12 min
- Desks: wipe clear surfaces only, never move papers10 min
- Touch points: handles, switches, lift buttons, rails8 min
- Kitchen and break area: counters, sink, appliance fronts15 min
- Restrooms: pans, basins, mirrors, restock consumables25 min
- Vacuum traffic lanes and entrance matting20 min
- Hard floors dust-mopped, spots damp-mopped15 min
- Glass doors and partitions at hand height8 min
Weekly
- Full-coverage vacuum including under desks30 min
- Restroom floors scrubbed to the grout25 min
- Interior glass and partitions, full height20 min
- Dust ledges, frames and monitor stands20 min
Periodic
- Carpet extraction in the traffic lanes90 min
- Hard floor strip and reseal or burnish120 min
- High dusting: vents, lights, tops of cabinets45 min
- Upholstery on shared seating40 min
Zones, not rooms
Price and staff a building in zones — a floor, a wing, a restroom block — because a zone is something one person can be given, can walk in a sensible order, and can be held to. Rooms are too small to schedule and buildings are too big to hand over.
Number the zones on a floor plan and put the number on the sheet. New starters find their way around a numbered plan in a night; they take a fortnight to learn 'the room past the kitchen'.
The desk rule
Never move papers, files or personal items on a desk. Wipe clear surfaces only. A single 'the cleaners moved my documents' complaint costs more goodwill than a month of perfect floors.
Say it in the specification and say it again in the induction. It is the rule new cleaners break first.
Where the margin lives
Nightly work is competitive and priced to the floor. Carpet extraction, hard-floor restoration and high dusting are not — they are scheduled, quoted per visit, and usually sold to the client you already have.
Put the periodic block on the same sheet as the nightly work even though it is billed separately. It keeps the conversation about what the building needs rather than about your hourly rate.