letters and views Editor’s Note: On the Cleaning & Maintenance Management Online Bulletin Board, readers recently had the following answers and viewpoints regarding indus-try certifications. paper, probably wouldnʼt even bother put-ting it in a proposal. Chaz Townsend 9/22/2009 I agree with everyone above. As Shane said, each industry is different. If this question was posed on the Cleanfax board, it would be completely dif-ferent. But, I read the question like it pertained to BSCs. If so, itʼs a different ball game. Can a BSC function in todayʼs market-place without a third party certification of some sort? You [bet]. Aaron Baunee 9/23/2009 Aside from having your operation certified, what about certification for products and equipment? Shane Deubell 9/23/2009 Ninety-nine percent of customers do not care. They care about price and convenience. Chaz Townsend 9/24/2009 Iʼm sure some facility manager out there would like to know the high-speed machine the cleaning guy is using is “certified” to control dust or something. But, the vast majority of people donʼt real-ly care. They want a clean, safe building at a rea-sonable cost. They want problems to be taken care of swiftly and not to be recurring. I canʼt name a building manager I deal with that really cares if the equipment we use is certified. As long as itʼs doing the job and their people are happy, so are they. Stephen Ashkin 9/24/2009 Certification for contractors seems to be slowly catching on as more organizations are using ISSAʼs new Cleaning Industry Posted By: Aaron Baunee 9/21/2009 While certification for a building service contractor (BSC) or an in-house service provider (ISP) validates that workers are proficient and certification for products con-firm manufacturersʼ declarations, how important is certification in the commercial cleaning industry? Can a product or service function in todayʼs marketplace without a third-party endorsement or are the days of unproven assertions a thing of the past? Responses: Tim Herr 9/21/2009 The demise of unproven assertions has been greatly exaggerated. They are alive and well in our industry. Education and a certificate are great, but it is the knowledge gained and passed on that is most impor-tant. The majority of our customers donʼt have any idea that you can get certified in any-thing cleaning related. Dianne Kehler 9/21/2009 Certifications are absolutely necessary as there are too many “fly-by-night” operations out there and there has to be some way to distinguish those that are truly committed to their industry. Shane Deubell 9/22/2009 In restoration: Yes. In commercial cleaning: No. The learning is important, as Tim stated, but the certification is a worthless piece of Management Standard (CIMS) program and others using GS-42. I see both ISSA and Green Seal working to get building owners and facility man-agers to spec their respective standards, which will create even more demand for these certifications. So while certification for contractors may not be a big deal in some parts of the coun-try, I believe it will become more important in the future. As to product certification, today I think this is a “requirement” for the manufactur-ers of “green” cleaning chemicals, and is becoming more so for janitorial paper and equipment. What purchasers have learned is that the health and environmental issues associat-ed with cleaning products are quite com-plex and that they have neither the techni-cal expertise [nor] time to do the evalua-tions. Thus, with over 550 manufacturers and 2,000-plus certified products from third-party certifiers like the Environmental Protection Agencyʼs (EPA) Design for the Environment (DfE) Program, EcoLogo and Green Seal, the purchasers have realized it is easier to just require certified products and select from those ones that best meet their performance requirements are most cost-competitive. I think for manufacturers marketing “green” products, today they need the third-party verification of their claims to success-fully compete in the marketplace. Chaz Townsend 9/24/2009 Itʼs certainly true that as contractors who work for our clients, we always must con-form to their requirements. Should their side of the industry start demanding certification of some sort, we must adapt or be left behind. I have no doubt that this has begun and will become more apparent. However, to correctly answer the ques-tion is not possible. What may be the case in my market could be totally different in another. Also, different types of facilities and mar-6 CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® • November 2009
CMM – Archives Nov 2009: 6
