[leuthedog]

I know this has been mentioned before but I can't find the original thread/post. I remember reading that BiCS have a industry standard of 3000 sq ft = one person/1 hour cleaning area - is this still the calculation today?

I know a lot also depends on what is in need of a clean within that space.

I would also like an opinion to this calculation;

9 cleaners (2 hrs per evening) + 1 working supervisor to clean 37000 sq ft = 19 hrs per day - you can also include a day cleaner!

Now the above calculation seem extremely high - is 9/10 cleaners really necessary? I would've thought for that area 4 cleaners + 1 supervisor (increasing the time from 2 to 3 hrs per night) would've been about right - what do you lot think?

The reason I ask is purely out of curiosity, plus I've had someone enquire about this calculation so thought I'd pick the brains here.

Thank you all in advance.

[leuthedog]

Doesn't anyone know!? 

[Robert Parry]

You need to be careful, when you talk about "Industry Standards", one major PLC actually sells 3 different "Standards" of cleaning to the more price concious customer!

In my opinion these so called standards are quite impossible to work within, unless the building concerned is a "Standard" office building(What that exactly is, I don't know )

We work to Standard Times, which is not the same thing, what I mean by this, is over the last 20 odd years, we have built up a database of the times it takes to clean various items, area's etc, then we make a personal judgement on the density/use and traffic within those area's, then we can estimate the time that building will take to clean, it is very rare that we get it wrong!

Also the clients requirements, must be taken into account, after all a thorough clean right through any building will take longer, than a contract that states its purpose to maintain an acceptable level of cleaning throughout said building, hope this helps.

Regards,

Rob

[leuthedog]

Robert

Many thanks for your response.

Your explanation has certainly helped and something I will pass on. The offices that I had described I had actually visited (but nothing to do with me!). They were clean, the staff that work within the building seem very well trained but it also helps having a day cleaner present on-site - though I was surprised that it would still take the evening cleaners 19 hours (in total) per day, since certain toilets/areas don't even need to be cleaned since the day cleaner is extremely good and manages to keep it as clean as she does. There are also areas that can not be cleaned due to over-load on the desks! Resturant/Kitchen just a vac and dust....................................it still amazes me. 

[Robert Parry]

Just as a small point, increasing each cleaners hours to a three hour shift, will actually lessen the profit that the contract generates, assuming that a rate of about £6.00 per hour is being paid to the cleaners, this opens up the prospect of those staff paying tax, NI, PAYE etc.

You will also find that staffs productivity will begin to fall off after about 2.5 hrs per shift, not such a problem with your full time staff, but part timers, after seeing to the kids/house/another full time job and husband really do not want to work much longer than 2.5 hrs.

Regards,

Rob

[leuthedog]

The company expects an open-book policy - something I've mention recently in a different posting - the company is well aware of what profit is generated (around 6/7% I believe of the over all figure, may be smaller) and where their payment is spent. They are now looking to cut costs apparently.

I think the hourly rate is much lower since all those employed as cleaners are Brazilian and expect as much as the company is prepared to pay them.

I feel that there are issues with the current cleaning - namely the hours put into each day. I simply find this such an excessive amount since the building could survive very well with the four evening cleaners + 1 working supervisor and the day cleaner - truly, the day cleaner does an absolutely fantastic job, the evening cleaners have not much to do other than the usual tasks - and even then that is debatable.

Thanks so much, Robert for your responses, it has helped and I will pass on the info - besides, I have also benefited from this discussion since it has encouraged me to think a little harder about this particular issue.