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How to Choose a Commercial Cleaning Company for Your Office
What to settle before you call, the questions to ask, the insurance certificate and references to check, and the warning signs to look for in a cleaning quote.
Know what you are buying before the first call
Quotes only compare well when every company prices the same job. Before you contact anyone, put a page together that describes your office: the rooms and roughly how many of each, the floor types, your working hours and the hours a crew could come in, how the building handles after-hours entry, and who supplies restroom paper and soap today. If you manage several locations, describe each one separately, with its own hours and room count, so the quotes show what each site needs.
Add the parts that bother you now. Maybe the kitchen floor never looks clean, the lobby glass is smeared by noon or the conference rooms are not reset after evening events. Naming those problems up front tells each company where your attention will be, and their answers show who listened.
Decide too whether you need daytime help, periodic carpet or floor work, or only a regular evening visit. You can change your mind later, but a clear starting point keeps the first round of quotes from drifting in different directions.
Questions worth asking on the first conversation
A short set of questions tells you how a company runs its work day to day. Useful ones include:
- Will the same crew clean my office each visit, and who covers when someone is out?
- How are cleaners screened before they enter a client’s space?
- Who checks the finished work, and how will I see the results?
- How do I report a problem, and who answers outside office hours?
- Do you supply restroom paper and soap, or refill from my stock?
- How are keys, door codes and alarm procedures handled and recorded?
Listen for specific answers. A named process, such as a supervisor visit with a written result or a single phone line answered around the clock, is easier to hold someone to than a general promise that everything will be handled.
Ask how they handle the rooms that are particular to your office as well. A suite that holds client files, a server closet or an exam room each calls for its own rules, and the answer shows whether the company has thought about spaces like yours.
Paperwork to check
When the certificate of insurance arrives, give it a proper read before it goes in a folder. It should list general liability and workers’ compensation coverage, show current policy dates and name the company you are actually hiring. If your landlord or property manager requires it, ask to be added as an additional insured and check that the certificate reflects it. We provide a certificate of insurance to every client, and adding your landlord or management company is a routine request.
References matter most when they look like you. Ask for two or three from offices of similar size and use, then call them. Good questions are how long they have used the service, how quickly a missed task was put right, whether the crew has stayed steady and what they would change. A reference who answers with details is worth more than a page of written testimonials.
Bonding is worth a question too. It addresses a different risk from liability coverage, and a company that carries it can say so plainly. Keep the certificate and bond details with your vendor records, and request fresh copies when the policy dates roll over.
Using the walkthrough to judge the company
A walkthrough is where a company learns your building, and it is also where you learn about the company. A useful one covers every room, including the storage closet and the copy room, and comes with questions: how many people use each restroom, when the kitchen is busiest, which floors are carpet and which are vinyl or tile, and where the trash goes at the end of the night.
Pay attention to what gets written down. Notes on problem spots, entry procedures and rooms that need special handling end up in the task list later. A quote produced without anyone seeing the space leaves both sides guessing, and guesses tend to show up as missed rooms in the first month. Every Loop quote starts with a walkthrough of your rooms for this reason.
Bring the right people to it. The office manager knows the daily complaints, someone from facilities or the landlord knows the building’s entry and alarm rules, and a person who works late knows how the office looks at seven in the evening.
Warning signs in a cleaning quote
Once quotes arrive, read the detail before the total. These gaps deserve a follow-up question:
- A single monthly price with no list of rooms or tasks
- No frequency next to each task, so you cannot tell nightly work from weekly
- Periodic work described only as “as needed”, with no month or interval
- Silence on who buys the restroom consumables
- No named contact for problems or schedule changes
- A firm start date before anyone has seen your rooms in person
A price far below the others deserves the same scrutiny. Cleaning cost is mostly hours on site, so a much lower number usually means fewer hours, a thinner task list or a lighter frequency. Ask each company how many hours a visit takes and compare that alongside the task lists. If two quotes describe the same work in the same hours, the price comparison finally becomes fair.
Starting on the right foot
The first weeks set the tone. Walk the office together after the first few visits, mark anything missed against the task list and settle how you will report issues going forward. Hand over keys and codes in writing, with a record of who holds each one. Give the new crew a short note on house habits as well: which meeting room hosts the Monday stand-up, where the recycling goes and which desks belong to people who want them left untouched.
After a month, check the plan against reality. Rooms that stay clean can drop to a lighter schedule, and rooms that slip can get more time. Keep a short list of what you changed and why, so the next review starts from what happened rather than from memory. You can reach us 24/7. Request a walkthrough when you are ready to compare.
A few useful answers
Common questions.
How many cleaning quotes should I collect?
Three is a practical number. It gives you a sense of the normal range of hours and pricing without turning the search into a project of its own, and it keeps reference calls manageable.
Should I choose the lowest price?
Compare the hours and task lists behind each price first. When two quotes list matching rooms and matching visit counts, price becomes a fair tiebreaker; until then, a low number often reflects less work.
What should I ask a reference on the phone?
Ask how long they have used the company, how quickly a missed task was fixed, whether the crew has stayed the same and whether they would hire the company again. Specific stories tell you more than general praise.
Are Loop's cleaners background-checked?
Yes. Every crew member is background-checked before working in your office, and supervisors inspect finished rooms against your task list on scheduled quality inspections.
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