Cleaning Contractor Certification Is Here
Several years ago our firm was awarded a contract to develop a contractor certification program for a major government agency in the United States. We felt that contractor certification was a coming trend due to the difficulty in contractor selection in today’s tight market. This type of certification is a further indication that price has ceased to be the major criteria by which contract decisions are made and further emphasizes that clients are looking for contractors who can provide the best possible service.
ISSA (International Sanitation Supply Association) which is also affiliated with the Canadian Sanitary Supply Association (CSSA) has recently introduced its certification program for cleaning contractors here in North America. The interest shown to date by almost all of the major firms indicate that there is a desire to differentiate their company from the thousands of others out there.
The certification process is rigid but fair and provides an excellent road map on how to take your company to the top of cleaning industry suppliers. I predict that certification is going to be a requirement in order to bid and perform major work in both the U.S. and Canada within the next five years.
Cleaning services are one of the few products which cannot be demonstrated or physically shown, making the entire purchasing exercise somewhat difficult to define.
The contractor’s role is to convince the purchaser that theirs is the best service. In most cases the only tool the contractor has is his/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.
Management and supervision are the most important ingredients in a successful cleaning contract, however, if there is insufficient labour, the ability to satisfy the client is almost impossible. Some of the criteria for certification look at how the labour and costs were determined as well as how is the company managed. In addition, is the supervision well trained and knowledgeable of all company policies.
The following not only for the ISSA program but are some that our firm uses in certification for other organizations.
What is the management structure and corporate structure of the company? Is the contractor a member of the ISSA, CSSA, BSCAI or other location 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 of 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 contractor’s Quality Control Program is also important. We will look for a written description of the program and ask who the contractor 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 contractor, as quality control is the contractor’s responsibility. Other important queries in the prequalification are:
• What is the contractor’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? Is it 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 may 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 today are over $1 per square foot and, in specialized facilities, can run even higher.
Most managers want the higher quality levels and are prepared to pay for them.
I encourage every contractor to look into the ISSA program and see how it can benefit his/her business and, most importantly, his/her clients.
