How much does commercial office cleaning cost?
Working out the cost of an office clean is not as straightforward as it first seems. Every office is unique, and every client has different requirements and specifications. Combined, these determine how long it takes to clean and therefore how much it will cost. This blog looks at these elements, and how much does commercial office cleaning cost.
5 elements in commercial office cleaning cost
In broad terms there are 5 component parts: hours, pay rates, staff structure, cleaning equipment and materials. Get the inputs right, and the results will be correct.
Calculating office cleaning hours
A previous blog looked at productivity and how this is used to accurately calculate the cleaning hours required for a workplace environment. The primary factor used is size, either square footage or meterage. Splitting the space into areas, such as office and washroom, is another determining factor as each has different productivities and therefore affects the hours required to clean.
Spending time at the start to carefully scope the size, layout and cleaning specification required will provide an accurate number of hours for the office clean.
Which cleaning pay rate
There are a number of pay rates which cleaning companies can use, and this can be confusing.
National Living Wage
The lowest rate that can be paid to an adult is £8.91, the current national living wage.
Real Living Wage
The real living wage, as set out by The Living Wage Foundation, is £9.50 UK rate and £10.85 London rate. This rate is reviewed every November with an implementation date of the following May.
Offering Real Value
Often paying at the lower rate can be a false economy. The cost of paying a higher wage rate can, with correct contract management, be offset by proportionally higher rates of productivity.
Real value is added not only by investing in staff but also by embracing technology, having robust systems and processes in place to deliver a motivated and reliable workforce.
The rate that’s right for the contract
What rate to pay cleaning staff is a decision that is taken jointly between the cleaning provider and the client. There are many factors to take into account for example the location, transport links, availability of labour, and shift times.
Staff structure
One of the most important is the management and support for the onsite cleaning teams. Without this, clients often end up having to manage the contract.
There are a number of organizational structures that can be in place for the onsite cleaning team.
Simple out of hours cleaning is often based on early morning or late evening cleaning operatives and a working supervisor. Typically two or three hour shifts and all tasks are completed in this time.
Prestigious sites may benefit from including a daytime housekeeper to carry out duties to deliver a high-end client specification. This helps to maintain standards throughout the day particularly around washrooms, kitchen and break-out areas and all main walkways.
Larger sites may additionally require a non-working supervisor or site manager who would be responsible for overseeing all aspects of cleaning as well as being the first point of contact for any onsite reactive cleaning.
Cleaning equipment
The purchase of new cleaning equipment is included in the overall cost of a contract. Typically, this would include vacuum cleaners and floor scrubber dryers. With the ongoing pandemic situation, clients may also wish to consider purchasing a fogging machine to quickly and easily sanitise office areas to control the spread of COVID.
Cleaning materials & Consumables
Most professional cleaning providers would include the cost of materials in their monthly price. For example microfiber cloths, cleaning chemicals, dusters, vacuum bags and PPE such as nitrile gloves.
Cleaning consumables, which vary each month, are usually charged on a usage basis. Examples of these are waste bags, dishwasher tablets and paper products such as hand towels and toilet paper.
TemcoUK Facility Services
Temco is an established and professional contract cleaning provider, and we operate a transparent pricing policy. We’re passionate about delivering outstanding service and working in partnership with clients to ensure contacts are correctly staffed and managed.
Following a site survey to establish size and scale, we will carefully prepare an accurate quotation based on the hours required to perform the cleaning tasks.
Our preferred option is to pay cleaning teams the Living Wage Foundation rate. Our extensive experience within this industry has proven that payrates need to be attractive to both recruit and retain the right calibre of staff.
If you are looking to review your cleaning provision or would like to discuss your workspace please contact Temco today 01895 520370.
