Clean It Up
UK General Cleaning Forum => General Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Tim Downer on December 22, 2004, 07:45:24 am
-
We have been trading for 4 months now, doing builders and sparkle cleans to new developers in hertfordshire.
My questions to anyone out there are:
Are there any associations etc that this type of business can affiliate with?
Are there any specific training courses for the staff to go on that would help to improve their work specifically on new house cleans?
I would appreciate any input people out there have.
I must say though, I used to run a cleaning business some years ago - Office cleaning etc.....but doing builders and sparkle cleans is chuffing hard work! Even when i send in 5 cleaners to clean a couple of properties ( including myself unfortunately) its not easy work. :P
But it is very rewarding when you look behind after cleaning a couple of properties on a dirty building site, and see the whole house sparkle and shine......and thats not just my thoughts, that comes from my staff too.
All the best to fellow cleaners out there whatever your expertise...
Regards
Tim
-
hi timbob,
so when did you start, we launched officially on 1 st sept, i have two full time ops and som casuals, changing to 4 full time ops after xmas. we have had a great time, we are handing over tomorrow 11 appts including common areas and two large houses, we also did another two three storey houses on monday.
this sprint to christmas has meant that i have been on site full time aswell.
any particular questions please ask.
we also do specialist stuff aswell with regards to factory delap build cleans, leisure centres and high level ceiling work.
i have IPAF qualified ops therefore please bear us in mind if you have a need for that sodt of thing.
you might find ity useful to get some people IPAF trained developers love that.
regards
martin
-
Hello Martin,
Thanx for your reply.
We started properly begining of October with 4 part-timers, although during the month of September it was just myself doing the work. :P
Similar to yourself, we will be looking for more part-timers possibily begining of february time.....nearly all my staff are Housewives with some having to take their kids to school before they join us on site. However, it would be nice to get a couple who can start earlier in the day. Something to sort out for next year!!
Its been a challange over the past couple of weeks leading up till now, but we've all had a good time cleaning up after the very messy tradesmen, and stopping for the odd cup of coffee.!! ::)
What are the "IPAF" qualifications you mentioned?
Thanx for offering to answer any questions I may have, which I will PM you later with.
Have a good break and have plenty of rest before the next onslaught in January
Regards
Tim
-
hi there.
we use all blokes, as the build cleans we are doing are pretty grim, sometimes.
IPAF is the' international powered access federation' cherrypickers etc.
we use them alot on appt blocks.
well just got in, and have handed over 7 appts today
bit tired if im honest.
got to go out and get some chemicals tomorow, for a few jobs in the break
regards
martin
-
HI
TIMBOB
These is not a reply its aquestion. I have been trying to get contracts do you have tips to give please
polly
-
Hello Polly
What you are asking is a very big question!
What sort of contracts are you looking for?
i.e:
Cleaning of new homes - builders cleans, sparkle cleans etc?
House lettings?
Office cleaning?
Domestic cleaning
etc etc.....
I have been in the cleaning business for over 7 years and have done all sorts of cleaning. ( except domestic cleaning...) If you let me know which sort of contracts you are looking for, i will do my best to point you in the right direction.
Looking forward to hearing from you, and will pm you when i have a better idea of what you are looking for.
Regards
Tim
-
Hi
TIMBOB
Thanks for your reply. What am interest at is builders cleaning & sparkle & Pricing as well
Thanks
polly
-
Hi Polly
I am in the middle of doing a large quote at the moment. When i am done i will pm you a few ideas etc.
Regards
Tim
-
hi there,
timbob, just hand deliverying another tender response this afternoon, worth about 40k, and thern got another 2 site pricings to submit on moday, where we have just started the sites as the company that won the bids originally have both be taken off site.
good luck mate
regards
martin
-
Hi Martin
Good luck on your tenders
Most of the ones we have got are quite small, around £10 - £15,000. This one is around £80,000 for the builders and sparkle cleans, plus any re-cleans on-top - another poss £20,000
Really would like this one.....and another 10 like it!!!
Hope you find more sites where cowboys get taken off site!
Regards
Tim
-
Hi guys,
Question out of curiosity more than anything. What exactly is meant by builders/sparkle cleans? Do you mean going into recently built houses by large developers and cleaning prior to sale, after builders have left. Do you do exteriors as well, drives/paths etc? Or something else entirely? It might be obvious to some, but not me.
Regards.
Martin S
-
Hi again....
In response to Martins comments above....
....a builders clean is where we come in and clean the whole property after the worst of the work is done....kitchen carcasses, bathrooms, doors etc to remove all the dirt, debris and dust etc to enable other contractors to get on with thier work i.e kitchen appliances etc
The sparkle clean is usually done after all the work and snagging has been done on the property. The customer is usually going to be moving into the property with in a day or so from the sparkle clean. As the name suggests, we will leave the property sparkling clean so the customer can move into a beautifully clean home.
Depending on the builders, some require a pre-clean. Basically clearing debris and dust from a shell of a building, to enable the painters to come in and paint the building with no dust around.
Also a re-clean is occasionally needed, where a sparkle clean has been done and the builder does something silly like let a chippy in to rub some woodwork down at the last minute....meanwhile he walks in with mud on his shoes!?!?!?
The only exteriors we do as a rule are the windows, although i do have requests for the driveways, paths and gullies etc to be included aswell as guttering and downpipes. These are obviously priced accordingly.
Hope that has given you an overview of the wierd and wonderfull world of cleaning new houses etc...
Regards
Tim
-
Tim,
Just a quick question. I have a builder that I do some cleans for which I got through a phone call. I was wondering how you went about get more. Do you ring the builders direst or is there another approach I should take.
Many thanks
Kim
-
hi there,
timbob,
you might want to throw a little petrol pressure washer in your vans, worth weight in gold.
ours cost £160.00 brand new pulls from a drum or mains, and everytime we get it out its at least £60 if not more, and thats for not a lot of work really.
the developers love it, you will find that they do have their own on site but if you mention youve got one then they will usually ask you to just pressure washer the garden path, or drive, bang £60 for 30 minutes.
just an idea.
regards
martin
ps we missed out on a big tender last september £250,000 we were out by about 8%, that would have been nice, most of the stuff we do at the moments are sites about 75-150 plots.
-
Martin,
I will consider the pressure washer thing....good idea
Regarding pricing up jobs and missing out on a couple of percent, wouldn't it be great to have a crystal ball to find out how much they go for???
Saying that, we went to one surveyor and were cheeky in asking how much he wanted the cleaning contract for, which he told us. We nearly matched his price and where out by 5% to his price......then lost it to some cowboy outfit who gave a price 50% cheaper than ours....
Tim
-
Why are we all on line at the same time instead of out there working???
Oh yea.....the cleaning staff are cleaning for us.....
Is'nt life wonderful!!
Tim
-
hi there,
timbob,
were on here cause its cold outside, and i had to collect my new zx6r today, on top of that most of our sites dont go back till next monday. so really just having an easy week, as we hand over about 20 properties in the week upto xmas eve.
regarding cowboys thats the best news you can get, just keep an eye on the site, and the pop in and speak to the site agent, and make sure that he has got your number, cause the cowboys wont be their for long
regards
martin
-
Hi Martin19842
what is the zx6r that you picked up today?
And yes, i have a quiet week this week too.
Regards
Tim
-
kawasaki zx6r motorbike
-
Hi guys,
Question out of curiosity more than anything. What exactly is meant by builders/sparkle cleans? Do you mean going into recently built houses by large developers and cleaning prior to sale, after builders have left. Do you do exteriors as well, drives/paths etc? Or something else entirely? It might be obvious to some, but not me.
Regards.
Martin S
Timbob,
Thanks for your helpful reply.
Regards.
Martin S
-
Have just sent off a quote for 300 apartments in Central London today along with the communal areas!!
After biting off all my finger nails we will see if we get the contract??
Tim
-
Hi !
I operate a small domestic cleaning business
Fell into post-build/sparkle cleaning nearly a year ago after responding to an advert to clean showhomes. Basically we are cleaning for a large constructiuon company on behalf of another cleaning company (basically sub-contracting!) the other side of England!! Have been told we cannot approach new occupants as we are not allowed to let on that we are a company in our own right as this 'wouldn't look good'. No contract to this effect though! Do we bite the bullet! Also there are loads of new properties/apts in my area. How do I go about getting their business? We have not had any formal training but have been doing an excellent job with no complaints and the building we are working in is very well known in our area.
A little unconfident but potentially there is so much business out there! Very Keen for views of other experienced in this field!
-
Hi Maggie67
I have suggested this approach in other posts recently.....
I personally have found the best way to introduce you and your company, and the Benefits of using your company over all the others, is by letter first.
Call the building company up and ask for the name of the person in-charge or organising all the subcontractors. If they wont give out names, then ask for the department name to send your info to.
Generally, they will ask why you are calling, and by briefly explaining what you are doing will trigger a response occasionally.
Work out a letter of introduction which is brief and to the point and mention in it that you will give them a personal call within a day or two of them recieving the letter
During this phone call, you caould ask such questions as when any new projects are starting etc and that you would like to be considered as a company to give them a competitive quote.
Obviously it would make quite an impression with them if you send them a letter of thanks and send another buisiness card for the phone chat.
Hope this gives you an idea.
Don't worry too much about having formal training, as you can use the buildings you have done already as a possible reference, especially as you have had no complaints from your work.
All the best in your endeavours.
Regards
Tim
-
I have been advised that we need to be CIS registered in order to do builders cleans, what is involved in getting the registration and what's its purpose?
Ian
-
Hi Tim
Thank you so much for your very helpful advice. I shall certainly take heed. A great way to pursue future business. Watch this space!!
Kind Regards
Maggie 67
-
Ian
I have been advised that we need to be CIS registered in order to do builders cleans, what is involved in getting the registration and what's its purpose?
Ian
The person in our accounting dept is away this week, and he organized the CIS certificate.
As far as I am aware, you go down to the Tax Office and they help you with this.
I am sure that someone out there knows more details if i am not right!
Regards
Tim
-
To maggie 67
I line with the post after your one, unless you already are, you will need to have a CIS certificate in order to get paid by the builders.
I know of a chap a few years ago didn't have such a certificate, and the builders let him clean a few of the appertments, and when asked why his invoices were not being paid.....they then said where is your CIS?
We all learn as we go!!
Tim
-
Timbob,
You are right. for your CISW card you need to pop down to local tax office with 2 proofs of ID with address, Passort or Birth cert. Also you will need you national insurance number.
You will then need to fill in a form which takes about five minutes. the form is then sent off and you will receive your CIS form in the post about 10 days later.
Hope this helps.
Kim
-
Thank you for this information. Invoices paid so far! But I am sub-contracting at present in this area. Presumably it is the cleaning company paying me who will need to have this certificate? However I am going to apply for this straight away. Would rather not learn the hard way!
-
hi there,
CIS there are several different forms of CIS for instance CIS4, CIS5, CIS6. to mention a few. depending on your tradin g status determines which CIS you will apply for, the local tax office will advice. and whether you are applying for a card or certificate
we are cis 4 registered, which means that all of our payments to us from our main contractor are nett 18% therefore you are prpeaying your tax. you then receive a voucher each month form each company that has made a CIS payment to you, and then at the end of the tax year a calculation is done to see what the balance is, whether you owe the tax man more or whether they owe you.
the good thing in our situation is that the company that we represent is CIS5 which means that they get gross payments from the builders, and therefore cuts out the need for vouchers.
hope this helps
regards
martin
-
To all,
Thanx for all your postings even if we did cover about 10 different subjects along the way.....mind you, thats what this posting site is about, all of us struggling with questions and problems while running our businessess, but knowing there is someone outthere who has an answer.....usually!!
Anyway, thanx and look forward to chatting with you guys on another posting.
Tim
-
Martin guess what back up to sidiothorpe this weekend,
Guess what just about to book in sidiothorpe again for high level work
Guess what sick of the sight of sidiothorpe
regards Dave ADL