Here are the top items to be diligent of:
- Health and Safety Culture and Program– While its just good business, there’s reasons why Stratas and Property Management firms should be concerned for their own sake: they can be identified as prime contractors and be fined in certain circumstances – so ensuring this area is iron clad is a way to protect yourself. Vetting a companies safety program prior to them starting work can help avoid this ugly situation.
- Work Scopes – Often when asking for a cleaning quote the contractor will provide a detailed work scope and specifications. The challenge is that this is a largely un regulated industry and works scopes, task lists can greatly vary. The old expression when you comparing quotes you want to compare apples to apples etc, so look for specific industry experience and ask questions.
- Track Record Working with Stratas and Residential Buildings – Working for a Strata is an entirely different universe than working for a commercial site or a home – and we’ve seen a number of times where it has not worked out well for a location. The dynamics of having a strata management company, strata agent, building manager, site contacts, strata council, owners and tenants is a different value chain that having experience with is a major asset. Look for that track record of an ability to perform.
- Field Management and Record Keeping System – Usually when our field teams are on site they work with no direction other than a work order. It’s an invaluable asset to have notes, photos, time logs, which can also aid in maintenance record keeping. Warranties for insurance life cycle of hard assets like carpet require these documentation in the event of premature failure.
- Certifications & Strength of Field Team – Look for industry certifications and the experience of their front line staff. Often that is an important tell about how much a company values the skill of their staff and their commitment to performing at a high level.
If you ever need help sourcing the right fit in a contractor or specifications for a cleaning contract never hesitate to contact us – even if we are not the selected.