Published Updated 5 min read
Most sites start by doing their own cleaning. A couple of staff take it on, or production workers clean down at the end of a shift. That works until the site grows, someone leaves, or an auditor asks for records nobody kept.
Then the question comes up. Do you keep cleaning in-house, or hand it to a contractor? This article puts the two side by side, so you can judge what suits your site.
What outsourcing your cleaning means in practice
Outsourcing cleaning services means a contract crew cleans your site to a written scope. The scope lists each area, what gets cleaned and how often. The contractor hires, trains, rosters and supervises the cleaners.
The bigger change is who answers for the work. With your own team, that's one of your managers, on top of their real job. With a contractor, it should be one named person on their side.
At Emera, that person is your supervisor. They run each shift, check the work against your site's checklist and answer for it. The same crew is rostered to your site, so they learn how it runs.
In-house or contract cleaning, side by side
Sick days and leave. With your own team, you find and brief a replacement. With a contractor, the contractor covers the shift.
Supervision. In-house, one of your managers supervises alongside their own work. A contractor should bring its own supervisor.
Training. You train each new starter yourself, or the contractor trains its crew for your site.
Records. Your team keeps whatever it writes down. A contractor should send a report after each clean.
Cost. Your own team costs wages plus everything above. A contractor gives you one written price for the scope.
On the hourly rate alone, your own team can look cheaper. Its full cost also includes recruiting, training and supervision. Then there are chemicals and equipment, cover for sick days and leave, and any production staff who stay back to clean. Add those up before you compare a contractor's price.
In a food plant there's one more cost. When production staff clean, they aren't making product. Mushiki Dumplings, a Melbourne dumpling maker, had its production staff doing the cleaning before it handed the work to Emera. Read how that changed.
Who owns the clean when something is missed
Sooner or later, something gets missed. A bin is left full, or a floor wasn't done. What matters is what happens next.
With your own team, the miss lands on whoever manages the cleaners. They find out who was on, have the conversation and hope it doesn't happen again.
With a contractor, it should take one call. At Emera, you tell your supervisor or call us. We log the miss and fix it. Then we work out why it happened, such as a training gap or a checklist that needs changing, and fix that too.
The records you should expect from a contractor
A contractor should be able to show you each clean happened, without you walking the site to check. Ask to see a sample report before you sign.
A useful record shows:
who cleaned and when they clocked in
your site's checklist, ticked off
before and after photos
sign-off from someone on your team
the date, so you can file it
At Emera, every clean goes through our app this way. Each report is a dated record of what was cleaned and who cleaned it, so the proof is there when an auditor asks.
When keeping cleaning in-house makes sense
Outsourcing isn't right for every site. Keeping it in-house can make sense when:
the site is small and the scope is simple
someone on your team owns the cleaning and has time for it
you already cover absences and keep good records without strain
Even then, you may want help with the deeper work done on a cycle, such as carpets, windows or hard floors. Our article on professional carpet cleaning vs DIY covers one of them. You can book these as single jobs, without signing a contract. See our cleaning services for what each one covers.
Questions to ask a contractor before you switch
Ask every contractor the same questions, and get the answers in writing.
What will you clean, how often, and what will it cost?
Who answers for each shift, and how do I reach them?
Will the same cleaners come each time? What happens when one is sick?
How will I know each clean was done?
What happens when something is missed?
What checks do your cleaners hold, such as police checks?
On a food site, who signs off a change to chemicals or methods?
That last one matters. At Emera, your QA team owns your food safety program, and nothing changes without its sign-off. Our FAQs answer the rest of these questions for Emera, so you can compare.
How to start: a site visit and a written scope
Start with a site visit. We call you to book a time, walk the site with you and ask how your day runs. After the visit, you get a written scope and price showing what we'll clean, how often, who's responsible and what it costs.
The visit is free, and nothing is booked until you agree. If you run a food plant, see how we work alongside your QA team on our food manufacturing cleaning page. You can also meet the people who run Emera.
When you're ready to put your own numbers beside ours, request a site visit. For more articles, browse Resources.
