Before you decide
If standards have slipped, raise it formally with your current contractor first. Many problems – a change of cleaner, missed tasks, poor communication – can be fixed with a clear specification, regular quality checks and a named account manager. Keep records of issues and responses; they'll be useful if you do change.
If you've decided to move, check the contract for its term, notice period (often one to three months), any minimum term or early termination fees, and how notice must be given.
TUPE: what it means for cleaning contracts
The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 – TUPE – often apply when a cleaning contract moves from one contractor to another. If an organised group of cleaners mainly works on your contract, they're likely to transfer automatically to the new contractor on their existing terms and conditions. This is called a service provision change.
That means you may not get a completely new team just by changing company. The new contractor will need information about the transferring staff – the outgoing contractor must provide employee liability information in advance. Prospective contractors should ask about TUPE when quoting, because transferring staff affect their costs.
Running a tender
A simple tender process gives you comparable quotes:
- Write a clear specification of areas, tasks and frequencies – see what's included in office cleaning
- Invite three or more companies to visit the site and quote
- Ask each to price the same specification so quotes are comparable
- Ask how they'll handle TUPE, mobilisation and quality checks
- Check insurance, references, COSHH and health and safety documents
- Compare cleaner-hours as well as price – a low price with fewer hours often means lower standards
Get quotes from local cleaners
Mobilisation and handover
Agree a start date that matches the end of the old contract, with no gap. The new contractor should plan mobilisation: transferring staff, introducing any new cleaners, inducting them to your site, delivering equipment and consumables, and setting up keyholding and alarm codes.
Collect keys, fobs and access cards from the outgoing contractor and change alarm codes. Agree who supplies consumables such as toilet paper and soap during the changeover. Arrange a walk-round with the new contractor in the first week to set expectations.
Making the new contract work
Agree how quality will be measured – regular audits, a fault reporting process and response times – and hold a review meeting after the first month and quarterly afterwards. Make sure the contract has a reasonable notice period and a clear complaints procedure. Our guide to how often an office should be cleaned helps set the right frequencies, and office cleaning prices shows indicative rates.
For a list of questions to ask prospective companies, see how to choose an office cleaning company. You can request quotes through our office cleaning and commercial cleaning pages.
Common mistakes to avoid
The most common problem when switching contractors is a gap in service – the old contract ends before the new one starts, or keys and consumables aren't handed over. Agree dates in writing and plan the first week in detail. The second is choosing on price alone: a quote with fewer cleaner-hours than the incumbent will usually mean lower standards, whatever the specification says.
Another frequent issue is an unclear specification. If the old contractor's performance was poor because tasks weren't defined, the same will happen with the new one. Use the switch as a chance to rewrite the specification, agree how quality will be audited, and set review meetings for the first few months.
