Developing a custodial cleaning quality control checklist helps supervisors and managers maintain service levels and control costs. A checklist helps ensure consistency in performing tasks. Custodial supervisors also have the tools to monitor and track the performance of the custodial workers. Keeping records provides the historical data needed to spot problems and identify areas of success.

Objectives of Custodial Cleaning Quality Control Checklists

Custodial supervisors must determine the objectives for the quality control checklist, such as maintaining the highest level of cleanliness. Supervisors must also make a commitment to provide training to develop custodial or housekeeping knowledge, job performance skills and cleaning techniques. Training must include safety awareness training and include employees, students or visitors in supportive roles to enhance the custodial program. An example of a supportive activity is placing a form in the restroom asking customers to report deficiencies.

Care of Cleaning Equipment Checklist

A custodial checklist must include written instructions on the proper care of equipment. This maintenance ensures equipment safety. Types of equipment include custodial carts, mops, brooms and buckets. Power equipment may consist of vacuum cleaners, floor buffers, carpet extractors and autoscrubbers.

Supervisors must instruct custodians to clean the equipment after each use, and store it away when done. Also, custodians must inspect power equipment before each use and evaluate power cords to identify any frayed wiring or loose or broken plugs. Custodians must not use equipment in need of repair and must notify the supervisor of equipment in such need.

Separate Cleaning Procedures by Function

Custodial supervisors must separate cleaning procedures by function and include daily, weekly, monthly and annual objectives for various areas. Supervisors must assign high and low priorities to these areas. Areas may include the following space designations: entrances, lobbies and corridors; offices, lounges and conference rooms; and bathrooms, cafeterias and kitchens.

Daily cleaning duties may entail vacuuming carpets and mats, removing soil spots, emptying receptacles and cleaning entrance door glass panels. Monthly duties may include dusting window blinds, spot cleaning walls or restoring the finish on resilient floors.

Cleanliness Standards Ratings

Custodial supervisors must develop a ratings standard for cleanliness – for example, pass/fail. Another approach may consist of a more descriptive rating system, such as exceptional, exceed standards, meet standards, marginal or unacceptable.

An exceptional rating may include criteria such as "floor covering bright and clean" or "no dust on vertical surfaces." A meet standards rating may include criteria such as "clean floor coverings," "some containers have a little waste" or "some dust accumulation on vertical surfaces." An unacceptable rating can contain items like "spots and dust on the floor covering."

Ongoing Monitoring and Reports

Custodial supervisors must Implement a plan to ensure ongoing monitoring for quality assurance, measuring results and reporting performance and trends. Reports must document deficiencies and the corrective actions custodians are taking, or will take, to eliminate the deficiencies.

Custodial deficiency reports contain information such as the area or space, date inspected and items on the cleaning procedure or custodial checklist. The report uses a rating system that the supervisor has chosen. The report can track results for the current period as well as ratings for past inspections.