Janitorial Contracts · Kitchener
Janitorial Services in Kitchener
A janitorial contract is a schedule and a scope sheet, not a handshake. Most of the complaints we hear about a previous cleaner trace back to something nobody ever wrote down.
Janitorial service is the recurring, contracted version of commercial cleaning: the same crew, the same nights, the same list. What separates a contract that lasts three years from one that falls apart in four months is whether everyone agreed up front on what gets done, how often, and who is responsible for the things at the edges.
The scope sheet
Before anything is priced we walk the building and write a scope by area and frequency. Every space gets a line - reception, boardroom, open floor, private offices, kitchen, washrooms, stairwell, lunchroom, server room, shipping area - and every task in it gets marked every visit, weekly, monthly or quarterly. That document is the contract. When you look at something six months in and think it should be cleaner, we open the sheet and either it is on there and we failed, or it is not on there and we add it and reprice. No argument either way.
Things worth settling before night one
- Access. Keys, fobs, alarm codes, security desk sign-in, freight elevator hours. Downtown buildings along the ION corridor and the converted mill floors usually have all five. Keys are signed out to named staff and logged, not left in a truck.
- The bin room. Whether waste, recycling and organics go to a shared room in the loading dock, a compactor, or a bin outside, and who is responsible for putting it out on collection day.
- Consumables. Whether we supply and stock paper, soap and liners or you buy them. Supplied works out cheaper for most offices and it stops the Friday afternoon run for toilet paper.
- Landlord versus tenant. In multi-tenant buildings on King, Victoria or Fairway, the lobby, corridors, elevators and sometimes the washrooms are the landlord's. Your suite is yours. We put the line in writing so nobody cleans it twice or not at all.
- Exclusions. Dishes, personal desks, server rooms, production equipment, anything requiring a lift. Named up front.
Documentation and checking
Every visit is logged. For most offices that is a signed sheet or a dated app entry per area; for clinics and anywhere with an inspection requirement it is a per-room log kept on site. A supervisor walks the building monthly with the scope sheet in hand and sends you what was found and what was corrected. If something is wrong between walkthroughs, you call and it gets fixed on the next visit, or that night if it is a washroom.
Paperwork
Commercial general liability certificate naming your company, a current WSIB clearance certificate, and WHMIS training with safety data sheets available for every product used in your building. Property managers ask for all three before a crew gets a fob. Bonding and criminal record checks on staff are standard for buildings that require them.
Terms
Contracts run monthly at a flat rate, billed for the month rather than per visit, with statutory holidays and shutdown weeks handled the way you want them handled - skipped and credited, or moved. Thirty days notice either way. No automatic multi-year renewal, no cancellation penalty. A cleaning company that has to trap you in a contract is telling you something about the cleaning.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between janitorial and a one-time clean?
Janitorial is recurring contracted service on a fixed schedule at a flat monthly rate. A one-time clean is a single job with its own quote - a deep clean, a post-construction final, a move-out. Most Kitchener buildings on a janitorial contract still buy one or two project cleans a year on top of it, usually carpet extraction and hard floor work.
Do we have to sign a long contract?
No. Service runs month to month with thirty days notice on either side. The written scope matters far more than the term - it is what makes the service checkable.
Can you cover statutory holidays and shutdown weeks?
Yes. Tell us how you want them handled when the scope is written. Most offices skip the stat and credit it; manufacturers in the Huron Business Park often do the opposite and use the December shutdown for the floor work that cannot happen while the plant runs.
Serving Kitchener and surrounding areas. Contact us for a no-obligation quote specific to your property.