Janitorial proof of service
Janitorial proof of service is a record of which rooms were cleaned, when, and by whom, made at the time. A cleaning company needs it because the work happens at night and only gets noticed when something is missed. A tenant or a facility manager needs it because they pay for a service they never see.
A signature on a monthly sheet does not help much. The sheet says the contract was met. It cannot say that the third-floor kitchenette was cleaned on the night of the complaint, and that is the question you will be asked.
Were you there? A commercial cleaning log that answers complaints
Three situations cause most of the trouble.
A complaint on Monday morning
A tenant emails a photo of a full bin. The manager forwards it with one line: was anyone here? The supervisor calls the night cleaner, who says yes. That may be true, and it does not end the discussion.
A rebid or a contract review
A client reviewing the contract asks how many nights the service was actually delivered. The company has payroll hours for the site, which show someone was paid. They do not show who cleaned which floor.
Short staffing
A cleaner calls in sick and a colleague covers two floors in the time meant for one. A client who notices wants to know which nights this happened. An honest company would like to know too.
How a code answers it, with no cleaning verification app to install
Put a code in each room or washroom that matters, or one on each floor for open offices. The cleaner scans it with a phone and a web page opens. They tap Completed or Not completed. Not completed asks why, such as a locked room or no supplies, and opens a follow-up. The point can also ask for a photo, which the page takes from the phone's camera.
Set allowed hours to the cleaning window, and a visit outside it is still recorded, and flagged. Set a completed visit every few days for rooms cleaned less often, and any room left longer appears in the daily summary. That email also lists the visits not completed and the follow-ups still open.
If you do the work
Hold the account and place the codes in each client's building, with permission. When a complaint comes in, open the point and answer with a time, a name and a photo. Send each client a monthly PDF, so that the record reaches them before a complaint does.
If you pay for the work
Ask for the monthly PDF and spot-check it against a few rooms. If you run the building and use more than one cleaning company, hold the account and approve each company. Then you read the visits directly, and the history stays with the rooms.
Worked example: Pellbrook Cleaning
Pellbrook Cleaning has 24 cleaners and 11 office and clinic clients, with most work between 18:00 and 23:00.
At a 6-storey office, Pellbrook places 18 codes: one in each of 12 washrooms, one in each of 5 open floors, and one in the lobby. Each point allows visits from 18:00 to 23:00, Monday to Friday. Washrooms require a photo. Open floors do not.
On a Wednesday, one cleaner scans the floor 3 washrooms at 19:04 and 19:17. A second reports the floor 5 kitchen area as Not completed at 20:02, because a tenant's event is still running. The follow-up stays open. On Thursday at 18:40, the next completed visit closes it.
On Friday, the building's manager writes that the floor 5 kitchen area was left dirty on Wednesday. Pellbrook replies with the Not completed note and the time of the Thursday visit. A week later, the point shows two visits flagged outside allowed hours at 23:40. The supervisor finds a crew has been starting late and talks to them.
Names and numbers are examples.
Recommended settings for cleaning companies
| Setting | Recommended, and why |
|---|---|
| Photo | Required in washrooms and kitchens, where a picture shows the most. Off on open floors, to save time and keep desks out of pictures. |
| Location check | Off in most buildings, since the code is in the room and phones are unreliable indoors. On for standalone sites, at 150 metres. |
| Scan in and out | Off for room checks. Put one Attendance point at the staff entrance if you also want hours on site. |
| Approvals | Off for a contractor's own account, since cleaners change often. On, by company domain or address, for a client holding the account. |
| Alerts | Not completed in the daily summary, set for the whole account. A morning list reads faster than a dozen emails at night. |
| Allowed hours | The cleaning window. A code has one window a day, so make it wide enough for a second clean. |
What it does not do
It does not measure how clean a room is, and it has no checklist of tasks for each room.
It does not schedule staff, order supplies or calculate pay. An Attendance point shows who was on site. Check that record against your own payroll rules before you use it.
Questions
Is this a cleaning verification app my staff must download?
No. Workers never pay and never install an app. It is a web page that opens from the phone camera. Staff need a phone with a data connection.
Can it hold a checklist for each room?
No. Each visit has one answer, Completed or Not completed, with a reason and a note. If you need a list of tasks, print it for the room and use the code to record the visit.
One person cleans six rooms in an hour. Is that six scans?
Yes, if each room has a code. Each repeat scan is a couple of taps. To reduce them, use one code for each floor, and accept a less detailed record.
What if my cleaners do not have an email address?
Each person needs one to confirm once on their phone. A free personal address works, unless the point approves people by company domain, which public mail cannot use. In that case approve each address.
Can a client see the visits as they happen?
Only if the client holds the account. There is no client login on a contractor's account. A contractor sends the PDF report, for any period up to a year at a time.
Will this show a room is clean?
No. It shows that someone reached the room and what they reported. A photo helps, but judging a room still takes a person. Use the record to decide where to inspect.
Start with one free code
No credit card. Workers never pay and never install an app. Pricing is per code, in US dollars, with unlimited workers.