Specifications and Standards

Why the specification matters

Cleaning is the most visible facilities service and the one most frequently the subject of complaint. Most disputes between clients and cleaning contractors trace back to a specification that never defined what was expected. “Keep the building clean” is not a specification; it is an invitation to disagree later.

Input versus output specifications

• Input (task and frequency) specification — states what tasks are done, where and how often: vacuum carpets daily, damp wipe desks weekly, deep clean toilets daily. Easy to audit, easy to price, and it rewards doing the task regardless of whether the area actually needed it.
• Output (outcome) specification — states the standard to be achieved: floors free of visible soiling, sanitary fittings free of deposits, bins not exceeding a defined fill level. Focuses on result rather than activity, allows the contractor to allocate resource where it is needed, and requires a defined and agreed way of judging the standard.

Most workable specifications combine the two: outputs for general areas, defined frequencies for statutory, hygiene-critical and periodic tasks.

Building the specification

• Zone the building by use and required standard: reception and client-facing areas, general office, meeting rooms, toilets and washrooms, kitchens and food areas, circulation, stairs, lifts, plant and back-of-house, external areas.
• List the surfaces and elements in each zone with the task and frequency: floors, desks, touch points, glazing, partitions, fixtures, waste bins.
• Separate periodic work — carpet deep cleaning, hard floor treatment, high-level dusting, internal and external window cleaning, upholstery — with frequencies and a programme, because these are the items most often omitted from a daily contract and then disputed.
• Define the hours — day cleaning, out of hours, or a combination, and access arrangements.
• Define what is excluded — this prevents more argument than any other section.
• Specify consumables — who supplies and stocks soap, paper, sanitary provision and bin liners, and to what standard.
• State the areas requiring particular care — server rooms, laboratories, secure areas, and anywhere with restricted access.

Frequencies and hours

Set frequencies from actual use, not by uniform rule. Toilets in a busy building may need servicing several times a day; a rarely used meeting room does not need daily attention. Touch points — door handles, handrails, lift buttons, shared equipment — warrant higher frequency than general surfaces because of their hygiene significance.

Day cleaning has become more common and has real advantages: visibility of the service, better use of daylight and heating, safer working, and cleaners integrated into the building community rather than invisible. It requires care over noise, disturbance and equipment movement, and it changes the relationship between cleaners and occupants for the better.

Auditing the standard

Agree a scoring method before the contract starts: defined areas, defined elements, a scoring scale, a sampling approach, who audits and how often, and what happens when scores fall short. Joint audits with the contractor work better than adversarial ones. Record with photographs, track scores over time by area, and use the trend rather than reacting to a single poor result.