Are You Certified?
By Bill Garland, Senior Partner, Daniels & Associates Inc.

There are now two industry certifications available to service providers and in-house operations.

The ISSA Cleaning Industry and Management Standard (CIMS) certification and the Green Seal GS-42 certification are indications that the cleaning industry is maturing and achieving credentials like many other industries. These certifications are also a further indication that price has ceased to be the major criteria by which contract decisions are made. There is now further emphasis that clients are looking for service providers who can provide not only the best possible service in terms of a quality management operation but also a healthy one.

The ISSA program focuses on how the company is managed, customer relations, quality assurance and sophistication of the cleaning program itself. The criteria, available on the association web site at www.issa.com, are probably the best road map to running a successful business in the industry today.

The Green Seal GS-42 standard focuses on how green a cleaning operation is. This standard doesn’t just cover chemicals but also equipment, recycling programs, garbage bags, training, walk-off mats, paper supplies and many other areas. I encourage you to look at their web site at www.greenseal.org to learn more about how to green a cleaning operation.

As I have mentioned numerous times the past, cleaning specifications are only necessitated because everyone has a different definition of what “clean” is. The objective of most specifications can be made in a single statement: “to keep the premises clean at all times.”

Unfortunately, cleaning services are one of the few products which cannot be demonstrated or physically shown, making the entire purchasing exercise some what difficult to define. The service provider’s role is to convince their clients or users that the service they are providing is safe and well run.

In most cases, the only tool the service provider has is his or her ability to use superlatives which simply do not work any longer. The modern manager looks for professional management much the same as they use in their business on a day-to-day basis.

We encourage clients to think in terms of “visible soil” and “no visible soil.” Visible soil means that dust or floor finish build-up will be allowed to occur before it is removed. Today this is the standard to which most specifications are written. This is achieved through extended frequencies, such as high dusting once per month or spot vacuuming as opposed to traffic lane vacuuming on a regular basis.

No visible soil is the level of cleanliness achieved by a set of specifications that is designed to prevent any soil build-up. Most first quality office buildings, hospitals and laboratories function with this type of specification.

It is almost cleaning for the sake of cleaning but in terms of cost is only 10 to 15 cents per square foot per year more. Although this is a high percentage increase in cleaning costs, it is only about a five per cent increase in the operating costs – which for the improved employee morale and pride, and forgetting about the reduced management aggravation, is a low price to pay.

There is a third level of cleaning which is the “no soil” level. It does not allow soil of any type, including bacteria, and this level is attempted in clean rooms and operating theatres in hospitals.

The following are some of the criteria our firm uses in selecting service providers for a client. Each answer will have a different weighting depending upon the market and type of client.

However, the questions are applicable to most situations.

Our first set of questions will naturally cover the size of the company, number of years in business and its corporate structure – i.e. is it a partnership, corporation or single proprietorship?

We next try to determine its management structure. What is the ratio of manager/supervisor to cleaning personnel and how many of each category of management do they have?

Is the service provider a member of the Building Service Contractors Association International (BSCAI) or the Canadian Sanitation Supply Association (CSSA), or other local associations? These indicate that the supplier is probably conscientious enough to educate themselves in the industry and to contribute to its professionalism.

Do they have the designation Certified Building Service Executive (CBSE) or Registered Building Service Manager (RBSM) as awarded by BSCAI?

Training is the next important question. We will look for the type of training used and how frequently training programs are implemented. It is important to know the types of programs and their origin.

Our industry is becoming more technical and requires greater management skills so some management training is essential.

The amount of insurance and the types of coverage are also important. Many large management firms require $1,000,000 per occurrence for Injury or Death, and $500,000 per occurrence for property damage with a General Liability coverage of $5,000,000. In addition, they want to be named as additional insured on the service provider’s policy.

The service provider’s Quality Control Program is also important. We will look for a written description of the program and ask who the service provider views as having the responsibility for quality control. In today’s market we look for computerized programs which track trends and look for opportunities to improve services.

If they answer that they feel the responsibility rests with the property manager, we know that this is a questionable service provider, as quality control is the service provider’s responsibility.

Other important queries in the pre-qualification are:
  •    What is the service provider’s experience in facilities of similar size, price and quality? It is important that references be at a cost and quality comparable to what you are prepared to pay.

  •    What departments exist in the company? Are there departments such as safety, training, engineering, human resources and personnel?

  •    How does the company plan to implement the cleaning program if they are successful and what methodology have they used to develop their program? It is based on experience factors, industrial standards, workload programs or other types of programs? The answer to this question will give us additional hints as to the technical expertise of the company?

  •    The final important consideration is financial. Does the company have the resources to handle the payroll and equipment requirements of your account? It is not unusual to ask for financial statements and bank references.

All of this many sound like a lot of work and qualification for something as simple as a cleaning contract, but remember, cleaning is often the second largest operating cost after energy in a building.

In a large facility this cost can run into the millions of dollars per year as cleaning costs in office buildings are today over $1 per sq. foot and, in specialized facilities, can run even higher.

My next article will go into more detail on the requirements and advantages to you of these certifications.