Commercial cleaning: specify the outcome, then buy the hours in Malta

Regular contract cleaning covers the daily or weekly routine: emptying bins, vacuuming and mopping, cleaning kitchens and toilets, dusting desks and touch points. Deep cleaning or periodic cleaning deals with what the routine misses: carpets, upholstery, high-level dust, kitchen extraction areas, floor stripping and resealing.

Window cleaning ranges from ground-floor glass to high-rise work using rope access or mobile elevating work platforms. Post-construction or builders' cleans remove dust, paint splashes and packaging before handover. Communal area and stairwell cleaning is common for residential blocks and mixed-use buildings, often combined with bin store and entrance cleaning.

Two approaches are common. An input specification lists tasks and frequencies; an output specification describes the standard each area must meet and leaves the method to the contractor. Many buyers use a mix: fixed frequencies for washrooms and kitchens, outcome standards for offices. Either way, attach floor plans and state the floor types, since carpet, vinyl and stone need different methods and equipment.

• floor area by type and use, with plans
• cleaning times: before opening, during the day or evenings
• tasks and frequencies per area, and periodic tasks per year
• who supplies consumables such as paper, soap and bin liners
• security arrangements: keys, alarm codes, lone working
• how quality is checked, and how complaints are handled
• contract length, notice periods and price review terms

Cleaning chemicals fall under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) regulations. The contractor should assess the products it uses, train its staff and keep safety data sheets on site. As the client, you should tell the contractor about hazards in your building, such as laboratories, machinery or areas with restricted access.

Window and high-level cleaning is work at height. The contractor must plan it, use suitable equipment and have people trained to use it. Ask for method statements and risk assessments for any work above ground level. Where cleaners work alone in the building out of hours, ask how the contractor manages lone working.

When a cleaning contract passes from one contractor to another, or from an in-house team to a contractor, it is usually a service provision change under the TUPE regulations. The government uses cleaning as an example. The cleaners who mainly work on your contract generally transfer to the new contractor with their existing terms and continuity of employment.

This affects price and planning. Incoming contractors need accurate information about the staff and their terms, which the outgoing contractor has to provide. Ask each bidder how it has allowed for TUPE and how it will handle the changeover so the cleaning does not stop.

Labour is by far the largest part of a cleaning contract, so the hours needed to meet the specification drive the price. Wage rates, including rises in the National Living Wage, feed directly into it; ask how the contract handles them. Other factors are the type of floors, the level of use, the times cleaning must happen, equipment, consumables and supervision. A price that looks low often assumes fewer hours than the building needs, which shows up as missed tasks within weeks.

Cleaners usually have access to the whole building out of hours. Agree how keys and alarm codes are held, who is authorised to enter, and how staff changes are reported to you. Clear desk rules, confidential waste handling and locked offices protect documents and equipment; the contract should say what cleaners may and may not touch.

The GDPR applies to work in your building; in Malta the Information and Data Protection Commissioner (IDPC) is the supervisory authority. If a supplier processes personal data on your behalf, you need a data processing agreement.

Maltese companies are registered with the Malta Business Registry. Ask suppliers for their company and VAT numbers, and whether they work in English, Maltese or both.

Source: idpc.org.mt · eur-lex.europa.eu · mbr.mt

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