23 Sep Lower Cleaning Costs Without Lowering the Standard
The person responsible for janitorial service usually manages other vendors and purchases too. That person is often asked to keep costs down. Cutting the cleaning budget may look simple, but fewer dollars can quickly become fewer labor hours and weaker results. A facility therefore needs a balance. It should avoid paying for work it does not need while protecting the tasks that keep the building clean. The construction saying that a buyer can have cheap, fast, or good and choose two partly applies to cleaning. Two practical changes, however, can reduce waste while maintaining a sound standard. Match the Scope to Actual Need Cleaning labor makes up about 60 percent of janitorial expense, with some variation by account. To lower cost, a program must usually reduce labor hours. The key is removing hours from tasks or frequencies the facility no longer needs. A cleaning company may serve an area a certain way simply because the schedule has never been questioned. For example, offices with little traffic may be cleaned daily even though once a week would be enough. Changing that frequency saves time without taking daily attention away from a busy restroom or common space. Walk through the facility and consider each area. Which tasks...
