How do you choose a commercial cleaning company?
Choose a commercial cleaning company on five things: current public liability and employer's liability insurance, trained and reference checked staff, a written cleaning specification that lists every task and its frequency, a quote based on a site visit rather than a phone call, and a named point of contact who is accountable for the account. Price matters, but it is the last of the five, not the first.
Most businesses do not change cleaning contractor because the price went up. They change because standards slipped quietly over a few months, nobody was accountable, and the person who signed the contract could no longer point to what was supposed to be cleaned in the first place.
Almost all of that is avoidable at the selection stage. This guide sets out what to check before you sign, what a proper cleaning specification should contain, how contract cleaning compares with employing your own cleaner, and the red flags that tend to show up early in a bad quote.
New Vision Cleaning is a Dublin based cleaning company working across Dublin and the surrounding counties for both business and residential clients. You can see the full range of our commercial cleaning services in Dublin, or read on for the buyer's side of the process.
What commercial cleaning actually covers
Commercial cleaning is the professional cleaning of business premises rather than private homes, carried out by a contractor on a regular schedule or as a one-off job. It is a broad category, which is exactly why quotes from two contractors can look wildly different while both claim to be for the same thing.
Premises that normally fall under commercial cleaning include offices and co-working spaces, hotels and guesthouses, restaurants and cafes, retail units and showrooms, gyms and studios, clinics and dental practices, schools and creches, warehouses and light industrial units, and the communal areas of managed apartment blocks.
The more useful distinction is not what type of building you have, but what sits inside a routine contract and what is charged as periodic or one-off work. Get this straight before you compare quotes.
| Usually inside a routine contract | Usually quoted separately |
|---|---|
| Desks, surfaces and shared workspaces | Carpet and upholstery deep cleaning |
| Washrooms cleaned, sanitised and restocked | Hard floor stripping, sealing and polishing |
| Kitchens, canteens and breakout areas | External and high level window cleaning |
| Floors vacuumed and mopped | Post construction and refurbishment cleans |
| Bins emptied and recycling handled | One-off deep cleans and seasonal resets |
| High-touch points sanitised | Event and venue turnaround cleaning |
| Reception and client-facing areas | Consumables supply where not included |
If a quote looks cheaper than the rest, check which column its scope actually sits in. A contractor can win on price simply by leaving washroom consumables, internal glass or kitchen deep cleaning out of the specification and charging for them later.
Eight checks to make before you sign
Work through these in order. The first four are non-negotiable, and any contractor worth using will answer them without hesitation.
- Current insurance, seen in writingAsk for a copy of the public liability and employer's liability certificates and check the expiry date. Verbal assurance is not evidence, and many Dublin landlords and managing agents will not issue building access without seeing cover.
- How staff are recruited, trained and checkedAsk who will actually be on your premises, whether they are directly employed or subcontracted, and what reference checking is done. Where a contract involves access to vulnerable people, such as healthcare or senior living premises, ask specifically about Garda vetting.
- A written cleaning specificationThe specification should list every area, every task and how often it is done, daily, weekly, monthly or periodically. If you cannot hold a piece of paper that says what is meant to happen, you have nothing to measure standards against.
- A site assessment before the quoteFloor area, washroom count, kitchen facilities, floor types, access hours and security arrangements all change the resource needed. A contractor who quotes without seeing the building is estimating, and that estimate usually corrects itself upwards later.
- Cover for absenceHolidays and sick leave are the most common cause of a contract quietly failing. Ask directly what happens when your regular cleaner is unavailable and how quickly cover is arranged.
- Who supplies equipment and consumablesConfirm whether machinery, products, cloths and consumables such as soap, paper towels and bin liners are included or billed on top. This is one of the biggest hidden differences between two quotes.
- Named account contact and escalation routeYou should know who to call when something is missed, and what happens if it is missed twice. A contractor with no escalation route has no quality process.
- References from comparable premisesAsk for references from businesses of a similar size and type, not just a list of impressive logos. A contractor experienced in warehouses is not automatically the right fit for a client-facing professional office.
What to ask on the site visit
The site assessment is where you learn most about a contractor, because you find out what they notice. Good questions to put to them on the walkaround:
Contract cleaning or your own cleaner?
A contract cleaning company suits businesses that want guaranteed cover, supplied equipment and no payroll administration, while directly employing a cleaner can suit organisations that need someone on site throughout the working day. Both models work. The right one depends on how much of the management you want to carry yourself.
| Consideration | Contract cleaning company | In-house employee |
|---|---|---|
| Holiday and sick cover | Arranged by the contractor | Your responsibility to cover |
| Equipment and products | Normally supplied by the contractor | Bought and maintained by you |
| Insurance and liability | Carried by the contractor | Sits with you as the employer |
| Recruitment and payroll | Handled by the contractor | Your HR and payroll process |
| Training and supervision | Provided as part of the service | Managed internally |
| Scaling up or down | Adjusted through the specification | Requires a change to the role |
| Specialist and periodic tasks | Added to the contract as needed | Usually still needs a contractor |
One point worth knowing before you compare hourly costs: cleaning in Ireland is a sector with a Joint Labour Committee, and Employment Regulation Orders set minimum rates of pay for contract cleaning operatives. A quote pitched far below the rest of the market usually means fewer hours on site rather than a genuinely better rate.
How commercial cleaning is priced
Commercial cleaning is priced on the time and resources a site genuinely needs, which is why a credible contractor quotes after a site visit rather than over the phone. Most contracts are quoted as a fixed weekly or monthly figure, with periodic work priced as separate line items.
The factors that move a commercial cleaning quote up or down are consistent across the market:
Compare specifications, not headline prices
The only fair comparison between two quotes is task for task and frequency for frequency. Put both specifications side by side, mark anything that appears in one and not the other, and ask each contractor to price the gap. Nine times out of ten, the cheapest quote is not cheaper, it is smaller.
Red flags in a commercial cleaning quote
None of these are automatically disqualifying on their own. Two or more together usually are.
- A price quoted before anyone has visited the premises.
- No written specification, or a specification that says "general cleaning" without listing tasks and frequencies.
- Reluctance to provide insurance certificates, or certificates that have expired.
- No clear answer on who covers holidays and sick leave.
- A price significantly below every other quote with no explanation of what has been left out.
- A long minimum term with a long notice period and no early review point.
- Consumables, equipment or waste handling left vague in the paperwork.
- No named contact above the cleaner, and no process for reporting a missed task.
Getting an accurate quote for your premises
Before you contact contractors, write down four things: your floor area or room count, the number of washrooms and kitchens, the hours the building can be accessed, and any tasks you know you need beyond routine cleaning. Send the same four points to everyone you approach and you will get quotes that can actually be compared.
New Vision Cleaning provides commercial cleaning across Dublin city centre, North Dublin, South Dublin and the surrounding counties, including office cleaning Dublin, hotel cleaning, event and concert cleaning, senior living cleaning and after builders cleaning. Every contract starts with a free site assessment and a written specification.
Ready to compare properly?
Tell us about your premises and we will arrange a site visit, put a written specification together and give you a clear quote with no obligation. Contact New Vision Cleaning to get started.