Questions to Ask Before You Choose a Commercial Cleaning Company

The condition of your facility is the first impression you make on clients, prospective employees, and visitors. It speaks volumes about your professionalism, your attention to detail, and your commitment to a healthy environment. A poorly maintained workspace can damage morale, increase sick days, and tarnish your brand’s reputation.

Finding a commercial cleaning provider is easy. A quick search reveals dozens of options in almost any market. However, finding the right commercial cleaning partner, one that is reliable, compliant, and capable of growing with your business, is a significant challenge.

The commercial cleaning industry is unfortunately known for high turnover and inconsistent service standards. To protect your facility and ensure value for your investment, you must move beyond asking “How much does it cost?” and use probing questions to highlight a company’s professionalism and its approach to reaching the highest commercial cleaning standards.

Here is a guide to the essential questions you must ask during the vetting process to ensure you select a high-quality commercial cleaning partner.

How Do You Vet and Train Your Staff?

You are granting personnel access to your building, often after hours when your own staff has left. You should know and trust the person entering your premises.

A reputable commercial cleaning company should have a rigorous hiring process that includes comprehensive background checks and drug screening. Identify whether they use W-2 employees or 1099 subcontractors. Companies with their own employees generally have better control over training standards, scheduling consistency, and site security than those who subcontract the work out to the lowest bidder.

Ask specifically about their training protocols. Do they receive training on specific equipment, chemical safety procedures, and your specific facility protocols before they step on-site?

At Cleantec, we’ve become one of Upstate New York’s top janitorial services companies through rigorous staff vetting and continuous training. We believe that a consistent, trustworthy team is the only way to deliver consistent results.

What are Your Protocols for Health, Safety, and OSHA Compliance?

The considerations for choosing commercial cleaning services extend beyond aesthetics. It’s a vital component of your building’s health and, by extension, the health of employees and visitors. 

A professional cleaning company should be intimately familiar with the standards set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), particularly regarding bloodborne pathogens, hazard communication, and safe handling of cleaning chemicals.

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), proper cleaning and disinfection practices reduce the spread of viral and bacterial pathogens in workplaces.

Request their Safety Data Sheets for the products they intend to use in your facility. Review their “dwell time” protocols for disinfectants, because simply spraying and immediately wiping is rarely effective against pathogens. Their ability to articulate these safety standards shows they take employee health seriously.

For more on industry safety standards, you can review the OSHA Cleaning Industry regulations here.

Are You Fully Insured and Bonded?

Never assume a company is properly insured just because it has a website. If an uninsured cleaner slips and falls in your lobby, or if expensive equipment is damaged during a shift, your company could be held liable.

Request a Certificate of Insurance. Look for commercial cleaning companies with substantial General Liability coverage and Workers’ Compensation insurance. Bonding is also important, as it protects you in the event of theft by a cleaning staff member. A professional company will have no hesitation in providing this documentation.

How Customizable Are Your Commercial Cleaning Service Plans?

Facility Type	Traffic Level	Primary Focus & Pain Points	Suggested Specialized Add-ons (Project Scope)
High-Traffic Medical Facility	High	Sanitation & Safety: Preventing cross-contamination, disinfecting high-touch points (door handles, counters), and maintaining sterile environments for patient safety.	• Hard floor care with frequent strip and wax to maintain hygiene standards. • Deep disinfection and specialized sanitation protocols.
Corporate Headquarters	Medium – High	Aesthetics & Employee Health: Maintaining a polished appearance for clients/visitors and a healthy environment for staff (restrooms, breakrooms, reception).	• Carpet extraction, including periodic deep cleaning to remove stains and allergens.• Upholstery Cleaning for office chairs and lobby furniture.
Low-Traffic Server Warehouse	Low	Dust Control & Equipment Protection: Preventing dust accumulation that can damage sensitive server equipment. Less focus on daily aesthetic polishing.	• Specialized Floor Sealing to prevent concrete dusting.• High Dusting: Removing dust from overhead pipes and vents.

A high-traffic medical facility has vastly different needs than a low-traffic server warehouse or a corporate headquarters. Avoid companies that try to force you into a “one-size-fits-all” package.

A top-tier provider will conduct a walkthrough of your facility before providing a quote. They should ask you about your pain points, high-traffic zones, and specific flooring types.

At Cleantec, we understand that project scope matters. You may need core maintenance for daily upkeep, but your facility also requires periodic deep cleanings. Does the company offer specialized add-ons? Look for a partner who can handle diverse needs through comprehensive facility maintenance, such as hard floor care (strip and wax) or carpet extraction, rather than juggling multiple vendors for different tasks.

What Is Your Quality Assurance Process?

Everyone promises quality, but how does your commercial cleaning provider measure results? The one-time analysis model of cleaning management is rarely effective for the long term. Without oversight, standards inevitably slip over time.

Choose a provider that has proactive management. Ask the company the following:

• “How often will a supervisor inspect the work?”
• “How do you handle complaints?”

Look for companies that work with digital technology for quality control, such as GPS clock-ins for staff and digital inspection reports that can be shared with you. They should provide a clear, dedicated point of contact for you.

Do You Use Green Cleaning Practices?

Sustainability is no longer a niche requirement in the cleaning industry. It’s the standard expectation for modern businesses. The ISSA Value of Clean reports highlight how proper green cleaning can improve indoor air quality and reduce employee absenteeism.

Ask if they use Green Seal-certified products and HEPA-filter vacuums that capture dust rather than redistributing it into the air. A commitment to green cleaning demonstrates a forward-thinking approach to facility management.

Can You Provide References for Similar Facilities?

Commercial cleaning experience relevant to your industry will help streamline the company’s approach to cleaning your building.  A company that excels at cleaning retail stores may struggle with the strict compliance environments of healthcare or industrial manufacturing.

Request at least 3 current references from owners of buildings of similar size and scope. When you call those references, ask about consistency: “Did the quality start strong and then fade after six months?”

Cleantec Offers an Unparalleled Approach to Commercial Cleaning Projects Throughout Upstate New York

Asking these questions will help filter out providers who cut corners on labor, insurance, and training. At Cleantec, we welcome these questions because they highlight the rigorous standards upon which our services are built. We believe in transparent operations, fully-trained staff, and customized cleaning solutions designed to protect your facility.

Explore our range of cleaning services, including every commercial cleaning request from construction cleanups to office cleaning. Then schedule a walkthrough with a Cleantec specialist to book a custom project quote!

FAQs on Hiring a Commercial Cleaning Company

How often should my facility be cleaned?

This depends entirely on your facility type, foot traffic, and the industry. A busy medical office demands daily (sometimes twice daily) disinfection, whereas a small administrative office may need 2-3 visits per week. A professional provider will recommend a frequency based on a site assessment.

Why are the price quotes I’m receiving so different?

In commercial cleaning, a very low quote is often a red flag. It usually means the company is skimping on insurance, training, using cheap chemicals, or underpaying staff. Look for a transparent scope of work that justifies the price.

What is the difference between “cleaning,” “sanitizing,” and “disinfecting”?

These terms are often used interchangeably, but they often mean different things. Cleaning removes visible dirt and dust. Sanitizing reduces the number of germs to a safe level determined by public health standards. Disinfecting kills nearly all identified organisms on a surface. Your scope of work should clearly define which processes are used in which areas.

Do I need to provide the cleaning supplies and equipment?

Generally, no. A professional commercial cleaning company, such as Cleantec, will provide all necessary equipment (vacuums, floor buffers) and cleaning agents. However, consumables, such as toilet paper, hand soap, and paper towels, are usually purchased by the facility manager.

What happens if I have an emergency, such as a flood or biohazard spill?

You should ask this during the vetting process. A full-service partner should offer emergency response capabilities. At Cleantec, we can mobilize teams for emergency cleanup situations to minimize downtime and damage to your facility.

How do cleaning companies handle building keys and alarm codes?

Security is paramount. Professional companies use a secure key management system where keys are checked in and out daily and are never labeled with the facility’s address. Alarm codes should be unique to the cleaning staff, with entry and exit times logged and audited.

What is the transition plan if we switch to your company?

Switching cleaning providers can be stressful. Cleantec can provide a detailed transition plan that includes a pre-start walkthrough, introduction of the new cleaning team to your site managers, and an intensive clean during the first week to bring the facility up to our high standards, which we then maintain.