Time standards are necessary for managing a custodial business or cleaning department just as a speedometer is necessary for driving a car. Time standards are simply the time it takes (per fixture or per square feet) to perform a task. 

In most cases, a person utilizing a stopwatch conducts a sampling of workers performing a certain task utilizing different tools. For instance, a worker might take 20 minutes per thousand square feet to sweep a floor using a 10 inch straw broom while another worker can sweep the same area in 3 minutes utilizing a power sweeper. When these savings are magnified over a large area (several thousand square feet), labor costs come into play. 

Why are time standards necessary? The primary answer is in bidding and workloading an area. For a cleaning service to give a defensible competitive quote on providing custodial services, they must know how long it takes to “clean” a building or area based on the expected outcomes. For in-house cleaning departments, time standards can help with determining staffing requirements. 

Although published time standards can be a start for determining the labor hours necessary to clean an area, the best approach is for a custodial business to develop their own based on their systems and tools. In most cases, five or more trained workers should be timed for a given task such as vacuuming or serving a rest room. The numbers can then be averaged and based on that data, total labor hours can be calculated. For existing buildings, the actual labor hours should be compared to the estimated to determine if the account is on track or needs to be retuned.

The old saying, “time is money” has never been more true than in utilizing accurate time standards to estimate and manage contracts effectively.  I hope to hear from you soon.  Until then, keep it clean…

Mickey Crowe has been involved in the industry for over 35 years. He is a trainer, speaker and consultant. You can reach Mickey at 678.314.2171 or CTCG50@comcast.net.

 


posted on 3/27/2013