Great quality control starts with clear expectations for your cleaning team, then follows through by measuring the results. Whether you modify our office forms or create your own, match the line items and standards given to your cleaners with the criteria your supervisors will use to complete inspections.
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Office inspections vary widely based on the client contract or SLA. Some offices will need to be cleaned top-to-bottom, including all electronics. However, in many offices, the expectation is that the cleaning team will not touch computers, documents, and other sensitive items. Our printable workplace inspection checklist will get you started with some of the most common line items.
Edit this office inspection form based on your SLA or contract to cover the line items your team is responsible for. This includes whether or not your team is expected to empty trash cans, clean personal work stations, and move items from worktops to dust.
| Item | Description | Pass / Fail |
|---|---|---|
| Desks | Dusted, with water rings and other marks removed | Pass / Fail |
| Phones | Keypads and handsets are clean and clear of fingerprints or smudges | Pass / Fail |
| Chairs | Chair dusted, including behind the seat; legs and armrests spot cleaned | Pass / Fail |
| Trash cans | Emptied, with fresh liners, and outside of cans spot cleaned | Pass / Fail |
| Walls and baseboards | Free of marks and dust | Pass / Fail |
| Switchplates | No visible oily buildup | Pass / Fail |
| Hanging items | Dusted on all surfaces | Pass / Fail |
| Floors | Clean and clear of debris; no build-up around corners | Pass / Fail |
| Doorknobs | No visible oily buildup | Pass / Fail |
| Windows, blinds, and sills | Clear of streaks, smudges, and dust | Pass / Fail |
| Lighting | Dusted, with no bugs; lightbulbs replaced (or reported) if needed | Pass / Fail |
The office cleaning checklist you give to custodial staff serves two purposes. First, it serves as a guide for the cleaning process, communicating what should be cleaned and how it should look. (This is especially important in office environments, where different clients will have different expectations around what your team should and should not touch.) Additionally, a good checklist empowers your cleaning team to succeed by providing the rubric their work will be graded on. That’s why the tasks you ask cleaners to complete should reflect what you’ll ask your supervisors to inspect.
Many cleaning standards include a section on office cleaning. These can be used for dedicated office buildings, as well as for offices in spaces like schools and healthcare facilities.
The two most common standards are:
Office inspections are important because they deal with some of the most sensitive spaces that cleaning teams handle. Work materials, expensive equipment, and personal items are often left out in the open. Additionally, employees may spend their entire workday in the space, so issues become more obvious.
Regular audits and office cleaning inspection checklists ensure your team is on the same page about what to clean and how. Here are some tips:
Client Services by Tishman Speyer takes care of spaces for tenants in high-profile buildings like Rockefeller Center in New York City. They recently talked to us about how using OrangeQC has helped them meet their goal of a 24-hour turnaround on any tenant issues.
An effective workplace quality control program works on a cycle, identifying the most important elements to inspect and using the results to drive continual improvement.
Best practices include:
Offices should be inspected regularly, so that your team catches any quality issues before the client is impacted. Many teams do a regular end-of-shift workplace inspection to look for big issues before they leave the site. More in-depth inspections ensure that regular cleanings are keeping the space at the expected level of cleanliness specified in the contract or SLA.
Facilities and custodial teams use office inspections to ensure that they are meeting the agreed-upon level of service in those spaces. Inspections focus on client expectations and whether or not the cleaning quality is meeting those expectations.
How often an office should be inspected varies based on how much traffic the space sees, how often it’s being cleaned, and the details of the contract or SLA.
For example, if your team is doing a weekly cleaning and isn’t responsible for issues that come up in between cleanings, then you’ll probably want to inspect each week after cleaning and document the condition you left the space in.
On the other hand, if you’re responsible for maintaining a certain level of cleanliness and are in and out daily, you’ll probably inspect much more often.
Workplace inspection checklists often uncover issues related to items that are difficult to reach. Even teams that are usually on top of things like surface cleaning and emptying trash cans might need reminders about dusting hard-to-reach spots.
Office cleaning has definitely changed as hybrid and remote work becomes more widespread. Some workplaces are seeing reduced traffic as a result of increases in working from home, while others have moved to smaller spaces or a hotdesking model that requires more frequent cleaning and inspections.
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