UNIT 4: COMMERCIAL CLEANING

 GLOSSARY

·       Buffing: It is a process to clean or polish (metal) or give a grain-less finish of high luster to (plated surfaces) with a buffing cloth or buffing pad.

·       Burnishing: It is the process of polishing the floor at a higher speed to produce wet-look shine. For this process ultra-high-speed floor machine is used at 1500-2500 rpm.

·       Contract services:

·       Damp dusting: This is the most preferred way of cleaning in hotels as surfaces can be wiped as well as dusted, removing any stick or dirty mark at the same time.

·       Dirt: This implies dust held together firmly by moisture or grease on rough surfaces.

·       Dust: This is composed of loose particles deposited from the air. It contains both organic (human and animal hair, dead skin cells, plants) and inorganic (sand, dry earth) matter.

·       Foreign matters: These may be dead flowers, contents of wastepaper basket and ashtrays, as well as stains from the deposition of foreign substances (as opposed to the result of a chemical reaction).

·       Grime: dirt ingrained on the surface of something.

·       Microfiber cloth: A suitable lint-free cloth at the correct level of dampness should be used so as to avoid leaving any smears.

·       Mopping: This is the preferred way to remove dust, sand or grit from the floor

·       Polishing: This process uses soft pad or brush to remove some soil and put the shine back on the surface.

·       Scrubbing: This is the process to remove dirt, grime, etc. from something by hard rubbing while washing/ cleaning.

·       Stain – This is discoloration caused on a hard or soft surface by a substance containing dyes, proteins, acids or alkalis. Stains cannot be removed by a routine cleaning process. It must be removed as soon as it occurred, by using solvents to dissolve it or dry soil fromacid or alkaline to neutralize it.

·       Sweeping: This is done to collect dust when the floor surface is too rough for a dust mop

·       Suction cleaning: Vacuuming with high-filtration machines to remove dry-soil form the surface.

·       Tarnish – This is discoloration or deposition on a metal or alloy surface caused by a chemical reaction with certain substances found in air, water, and food stuffs. Different types of metals get tarnished when they are exposed to air (copper gets a greenish color called ‘verdigris’).

Premises cleaned by the housekeeping department

FRONT OF THE HOUSE/ GUEST AREA	BACK OF THE HOUSE/ PUBLIC AREA
·       Guestrooms ·       Guest floor Corridors ·       Lobby and guest Restrooms ·       Pool and Patio Areas ·       Meeting rooms ·       Dining Rooms/restaurants ·       Banquet Halls ·       Hotel Operated Shops ·       Games Rooms/Recreation Rooms ·       Exercise Rooms/Gymnasiums ·       Building exterior ·       Landscaping and Gardens	·       Management  Offices ·       Storage Areas ·       Linen, Uniform and Sewing Room ·       Laundry ·       Employee  Locker Rooms ·       Administrative Offices ·       Lockers, bunker areas, ·       Staff washrooms

Cleaning techniques

MANUAL METHODS	MECHANICAL METHODS
a) Sweeping b) Dusting (Dry and Damp Dusting) c) Moping (Dry, spot and wet mopping) d) Scrubbing e) Polishing f) Spot cleaning	a) Suction Cleaning b) Buffing c) Polishing d) Burnishing e) Scrubbing f) Stripping g) Laundering and dry-cleaning

 

Housekeeping Equipment

Manual Cleaning Equipment

Mechanical Equipment

·       Brushes: hard brush, soft brush, scrubbing brush ·       Brooms: soft-bristled broom, hard / coarse-bristled   broom, wall broom ·       Wet /damp mop: do-all mop, Kentucky mop, sponge mop, squeegee ·       Dry mop ·       Cloths: mitts, swabs and wipes, floor cloth, scrim, glass cloths, rags and polishing cloth, chamois leather, dust sheet, drugget ·       Containers: bucket, basin and bowl, dustpan, sani-bin, dustbin, spray bottle, hand caddy, chambermaid’s /housekeeping trolley, janitor’s trolley, mop Wringer trolley

·       Floor cleaning machine (scrubbing, polishing and buffing) ·       Vacuum (Wet-and-dry vacuum cleaner) ·       Hot-water extraction machine ·       Solvent extraction machine ·       Carpet shampoo machine ·       Power sweepers (Electric brooms )

 

Outsourcing Services

DEFINITION

·       Contract is “an agreement between two parties negotiating a business deal”.

·       Outsourcing contracts may be defined as a ‘conscious business decision to move internal work to an external provider’.

CONCEPT The initial trend was of using a contractual workforce, but with stringent legal measures in place and labor-friendly laws of the land, the focus shifted to getting quality work without labor hassles. This is taken care of by an external party, and so the concept of outsourcing in hotel operations was born.

·        In some hotels, housekeeping departments do not have the budget or staff expertise to do certain specialty cleaning functions. Executive housekeeper hire contract cleaning services, off-premises cleaning services, to do the work. As the part of his or her responsibility, the executive housekeeper company has to find firms to do the work, obtain bids, award a contract, write out work assignments, and track the company performance.

·       As the contract cleaning industry grows, prices will become more competitive, as will the range of services offered by each company. Generally, core cleaning operations will remain in the housekeeping department. Some properties are experimenting with hiring off-premises cleaning contractors to provide backup service to the housekeeping department.

 Types of outsourcing

1. Complete cleaning programs with all the work and responsibilities undertaken by the service provider, e.g. public area cleaning, flower arrangement, laundry (complete) etc.
2. Regular selected cleaning within an establishment to assist the existing housekeeping staff for cleaning of public area at night, e.g. flower arrangement, laundry (partial), landscaping etc.
3. Periodic service to assist existing housekeeping operations such as window cleaning, cleaning of walls and ceilings and cleaning of carpets, pest control etc.
4. Hiring contracts with various rental firms for linen, equipment conferences etc.
5. Consultancy services- where the housekeeping experts visit the hotels and guide the existing staff on achieving professional standards, e.g. deep cleaning, renovation, refurbishing etc.

TYPES OF CONTRACT

·       Lump-sum or fixed-price contract- Written agreement under which a principal (customer or owner) agrees to pay a contractor a specified amount, for completing a scope of work (involving a variety of unspecified items of work) without requiring a cost breakdownRate:

·. In this, the total plinth area and required manpower is given to the contractor and a fixed price is finalized by the contractor against the work allocated. This type of contract provides a degree of certainty for both parties because the contract scope clearly spells out what is involved. Carpet shampooing and window cleaning by an outsourced firm is majorly covered under this contract.

·       Unit rate contract-written agreement under which a principal (customer or owner) agreed to rate for the performance of specified work. The monetary exchange takes place when work is performed and is directly proportional to the volume and range of work. In this, house-keeper provides the plinth area, time and frequency of work and then the contractor firstly decides the working hours and wages of the worker and then add cost of equipment, agents and supplies, plus overheads and profits and then quotes the price. And the best example of this service is, pest cleaning and floor scrubbing on contract basis.

·       Cost plus or reimbursable contract- it is an upfront payment by the client party to the contractor. This type of contract is used when the scope of the work is difficult to define. An example of this type of contract is the procurement of specialized services to solve a problem that may take an indefinite period of time. The upfront payment covers the contractor's commitments to the project. Renegotiation for increased tenure or reimbursement may take place if the contract comes to an abrupt end. These types of contract sometimes contain a fixed cost component and majorly used at the time of renovation or refurbishing of the floor.

·       Partial or selective contract- few selected areas or facilities are given to an expert agency that works in coordination with the housekeeping department. These areas may cover

1.      Chandelier cleaning

2.      Carpet and upholstery shampooing

3.      Floor Maintenance, especially of marble, granite and wood floorings

4.      Pest control

5.      Laundry

6.      Gardening & landscaping

·       Complete outsourcing- it opens the avenue for engaging more than one agency for the entire operations of the organization. However, this is the most accepting concept of engaging one company for entire public spaces of the hotel.

 

Advantages of Contract Services

1. A budget can be worked out accurately because the price is known for a given period and may be more economical than direct labour and services.
2. The contractor is responsible for recruiting, training, paying and dismissing.
3. Contract services eliminate many of the problems between management and unions.
4. The contract company may offer bigger pay than the direct labour and therefore attract more qualified and competent staff.
5. Eliminates the need to buy specialized equipment and permit extra work without the need of increasing the staff.
6. Specialized contractors may be able to cope more easily in case of an emergency.

Disadvantages of Contract Services

1. Cost may be too high for the acceptor.
2. Weakens management authority over the quality and loyalty of staff working in the premises.
3. Control is loosened over operations.
4. Poor supervision.
5. There is a natural tendency of the contractor to use poor quality product which can cause damage to the building, furniture, etc.
6. Security may be weakened because of labour turnover.
7. There is often no solution if a contractor does not carry out his work properly except to terminate the contract.

 

Points to consider for hiring contract services (contract specification)

1. Prepare a detailed specification (indicating exact number of working hours, areas, process, frequency, time factor, equipment and materials required etc.).
2. Put out tenders to at least three contractors and compare their rates.

3.      A description of the expected hotel’s quality.

4.      Check out their market credibility.

5.      Check Company’s references thoroughly.

6.      Check whether the contractor is registered and licensed under the Contract Labor Act 1970 , Govt. of India

7.      Check and discuss the type & amount of training that needs to be given to contract workers.

8. Careful study should be made regarding payment methods, termination criteria and procedures
9. Description for the penalty and cancellation clauses.
10. Check on all other arrangements after the contract is awarded like that of security passes, meal coupons, locker facility, cover of sickness and annual leave, insurance coverage for guest, workers and assets in case of any accident done by or because of contractor employees, equipment or methods of working; etc.