Building cleaning checklist

Companies often lack the time and staff to take on regular office cleaning themselves. Therefore, they hire a third-party service provider to look after the maintenance cleaning. Qualified cleaning specialists and the respective equipment ensure the building is professionally cleaned. Put simply: maintenance cleaning refers to the cleaning of buildings at regular intervals. In contrast to basic cleaning, which includes, for example, deep-cleaning of floors, maintenance cleaning aims to maintain cleanliness of the premises. How often maintenance cleaning is necessary depends on how intensively the premises are used and if there exist any specific hygiene requirements. As a rule, it boils down to dividing work into daily, weekly, monthly and seasonal cleaning.

Companies often lack the time and staff to take on regular surfaces with a damp cloth, cleaning floors and sanitary facilities – by vacuuming and mopping – and garbage disposal. More specific tasks might include cleaning windows and doors or removing cobwebs.

The basis of maintenance cleaning is the cleaning plan: this specifically lists the cleaning tasks to be carried out within a specific property. It contains information about the rooms – in the so-called "room book" – and details of the measures outlined in each case as well as the cleaning intervals. . In order to create a cleaning plan, the first step is to examine the local conditions during a building inspection and record information regarding the use of the respective rooms, the condition of the floor and the number and size of windows and doors in the room book. For example, in addition to the size of the building, the cleaning plan should also contain information on the size and fixtures of sanitary facilities – including the number of toilets – as well as information on the frequency of use. When calculating time and personnel, various factors must be taken into account. For example, kitchens generally require more work than office cleaning . The type of dirt also plays a role.

Below you will find various cleaning plan checklists and samples. Templates for creating a checklist.

Some rooms, such as kitchens and bathrooms, require more attention than others. Various cleaning tasks should be carried out daily or at least several times a week. These include, among others:

For the cleaning industry, cleanliness is of course top priority. Therefore, check regularly whether your cleaning staff is meeting the highest hygiene standards - for example, by using our template for quality and/or cleanliness control.

Checklists are suitable for checking maintenance cleaning, in which the tasks to be carried out are listed – with the deadline and a field for entering the date when completed – and are assigned to cleaning specialists. The lists are then posted, for example in washrooms, so that staff can check off the tasks after they have been completed.

During a cleaning inspection, you can check, for example, whether staff is wearing appropriate work clothing and the respective rooms are clean, presentable and hygienic. The overall aim is to check the following:

Tip: Conduct inspections unannounced to get a realistic picture of the situation. If you notice any deficiencies, discuss them with your team in order to achieve long-term improvement.

Please use our template to check the cleaning work carried out.

Support your team so they can work efficiently. Make sure that your employees are trained to carry out cleaning tasks and provide regular training. Among other things, the staff should be encouraged to always use the appropriate cleaning techniques and methods – such as the  Sinner's Circle  – . Also ensure that the appropriate cleaning products and work tools are always available to achieve the best possible results.