What Can Be Done About Cleaning Specifications? “Wash” sounds as if it would get things clean, but the procedure is only used in certain cases because it demands a vol-ume of solution and rinse water as opposed to a simple damp wipe with its rapid drying capability. What do you do with contract specifica-tions that stipulate unintelligible or just plain misguided actions? wasteful things, such as waxing dirty floors once a week, but then you risk offending the person who is advocating the specs. Still not the best move. Instead of trying to accommodate bad procedures and guesswork frequencies, focus on the basic requirement — a clean building — and use the specs to find the clientʼs primary areas of concern. If they ask for the tile walls to be buffed on whatever frequency, you know they are seeing spotted and/or dusty wall tiles way too often. If the spec says to polish the stairwells, you can be sure the stairwells are not clean. A request for burnishing means the client wants the floors to shine and the finish to look clean and clear. The solution to keeping these and all other surfaces acceptably clean does not lie with telling the cleaner when to perform the service. Obviously, no one knows in advance when the need for cleaning will arise, so specifying cleaning too often will be waste-ful, while specifying action too infrequently will lead to unsightly buildup. The simple solution is to check surfaces for spots, dust, grime and other clearly identifiable cleaning indicators daily — or whenever area service is required — removing whatever shows up when it shows up and only where it shows up. This is termed indication cleaning; it con-forms to no set schedule. The custodial staff is trained to look for the various indicators showing that clean-ing is necessary. Since you have no way of knowing when someone will leave a handprint on the wall tile, detecting and removing it when it hap-pens is, by far, the best method of keeping the tile wall clean. When a handprint on a wall surface appears, it is removed by a damp wipe and buff dry procedure. The whole corridor isnʼt cleaned, just the affected area, which is likely to be small and easily restored. Time and money are conserved. As for the stairwells, no one is really going to polish them, by hand or otherwise, but they should be kept free from cleaning indicators, such as dust, lint, litter, spots and grime. The client wants a clean stairwell. Give it to them. Shiny floors are desired. Calculate what you need to do to maintain them. What is required on the ground floor will not be needed on the third floor. You are the expert, so do what an expert does to produce the desired results. Never follow a bad procedure or sched-ule just because it is in the specs. If the result is what is expected, no one will ever question how you did it and even if they do, the results speak for themselves. Sometimes the spec frequencies have escalated. A few years ago, the requirement was to put a quart of disinfectant solution down the floor drain every month. The odors were still there, so the volume was upped to a half gallon. Still odors persisted. The next RFP showed a gallon added each month. That will surely fix the problem. It wonʼt, of course, because no one was putting even the quart down the drain until the smell became offensive and someone complained. Increasing the scheduled frequency or magnitude of a task does nothing to reme-dy a problem if the task is being skipped or ignored entirely in the first place. Watch for this sort of thing in specs you are given and solve the problem by acting at the first indication. We will probably never see the end of the frequency spec as a means of babysitting the cleaning contractor, but no matter. Use the specs to find concerns, and then base your proposal on keeping the building surfaces clean and the shiny portions sparkling. The Basics All cleaning specs can be summarized by: 1) You are responsible for Areas A, B, C, D, E, F, G, M, O and P 2) Keep them clean 3) Keep tile and “bright-work” shiny. Simple, but it covers the cleaning peo-pleʼs job very nicely. No one would expect an auto repair shopʼs customer to supervise the mechan-ic as he replaces a defective alternator or headlight, nor would the mechanic view such an attempt as a compliment to his expertise. Yet, in the cleaning industry, it is normal-ly expected that the customer will provide detailed instructions for what the cleaners are supposed to do and when they are to do it. Often, the cleaning company will leave a log or comment book so the clientʼs people can give further directions as the service period progresses. Even if you, as a cleaning expert, are not offended by this strange arrangement, there is a more pressing problem created by the widespread notion that all cleaners need such babysitting and handholding by their clients. Many clients are poor babysitters. They provide weird, often unclear and sometimes damaging directions, such as the examples above. How do you put together a proposal with such inane requirements? Caution Please be aware that indication cleaning demands the custodian be unusually atten-tive to detail and constantly focused on the surfaces encountered. This is very demanding and requires spe-cial training and effort, but it is worth it. Indication cleaning is fast, efficient and effective. Apply it and you will not be concerned about faulty, foolish or unclear specifica-tions. CM Bad Options, Real Solutions You could ask the client to clarify what is meant, but in doing so, you risk appearing confrontational or devious since clients may view the contractor who questions the specs as one looking to get around the responsibilities they outline. You certainly donʼt want that. You can openly challenge the stupid and 20 CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® • July 2009
CMM – Archives Jul 2009: 20
