9 Things to Consider When Choosing a Cleaning Company: Your Essential Checklist
When choosing a cleaning company, you should look at your requirements, pricing transparency, experience, references, insurance, quality assurance, communication, environmental practices and the cleaning agreement itself.
Making the right choice starts with a clear description of your premises and cleaning requirements. This makes it easier to receive accurate cleaning quotes and compare different cleaning companies on a like-for-like basis.
For businesses, the goal is often to find an office cleaning provider that can tailor a cleaning agreement to suit day-to-day operations. A clean office depends on consistent routines, clear follow-up and a solution that fits your employees, access arrangements and working hours.
Before requesting a quotation, you should be able to describe your requirements as precisely as possible. This includes your premises, preferred cleaning frequency, access arrangements and the specific tasks you expect the cleaning company to carry out.
It helps to note down:
These details may seem straightforward, but that is exactly the point. The more accurately you describe the work, the easier it is for a cleaning company to provide a realistic quotation. It also helps create a clear and accurate cleaning agreement from the outset.
You should also determine what type of cleaning service your business requires.
Regular cleaning is the ongoing solution. This may include daily office cleaning, weekly cleaning or a fixed cleaning agreement covering the same tasks on every visit.
Deep cleaning is more comprehensive. It typically includes areas that are not part of routine cleaning, such as behind furniture, skirting boards, high-level surfaces, light fittings and other hard-to-reach areas.
End-of-tenancy cleaning is carried out when business premises are being handed over to a new tenant or prepared for occupation.
Specialist cleaning services may include carpet cleaning, window cleaning, floor treatment, builders' cleans or additional cleaning after corporate events.
A professional cleaning company should help you distinguish between these different services, ensuring you only pay for what you need while still receiving the standard of cleaning your business expects.
The right cleaning frequency depends on how your premises are used.
A small office with only a few employees may only require cleaning a couple of times each week. A larger office with many employees, meeting rooms, reception areas and shared kitchen facilities will often benefit from daily office cleaning.
Consider factors such as:
Effective cleaning is about finding a schedule that supports your day-to-day operations. A professional cleaning company should be able to recommend the right cleaning frequency, ensuring your office stays clean without unnecessary visits.
Simple routines between scheduled cleaning visits can also make a noticeable difference. For that reason, it can be useful to have a straightforward plan for keeping the office tidy between professional cleaning visits.
Experience matters, particularly when it comes to commercial cleaning and professional office cleaning.
A cleaning company may be excellent at domestic cleaning without being the right choice for office cleaning. Equally, a company with well-established office cleaning procedures may be a much better fit for businesses where consistency, security and access arrangements are essential.
Ask direct questions, such as:
These are important questions because professional office cleaning often involves much more than routine cleaning. The cleaning team must work around employees, confidential information, IT equipment, alarm systems, access cards, meetings and visitors.
A reputable cleaning company should be able to provide references or explain the types of businesses they work with. While some clients prefer to remain confidential, the company should still be able to describe similar projects and the services they provide.
You could ask:
Look for specific, detailed answers. The more concrete the response, the more confidence you can have in the company's ability to deliver a reliable service.
Customer reviews can provide valuable insight, but it's important to look beyond the overall star rating. Instead, pay attention to recurring themes.
Positive signs include reviews that mention:
Be cautious if multiple reviews mention cancelled visits, frequent staff changes, poor communication, unclear pricing or cleaning tasks that were not completed as agreed. One negative review does not necessarily indicate a problem, but repeated complaints about the same issues are worth taking seriously.
Choose a cleaning company with clear and professional business administration. This makes the partnership more transparent and ensures your finance team can process invoices without unnecessary issues.
For businesses in Denmark, invoices must meet specific legal requirements, including details such as the invoice number, invoice date, supplier information, VAT registration number, customer details, a description of the services provided and the total price.
Before signing an agreement, ask:
A cleaning company is often given access to your premises, keys, equipment, furniture and areas containing confidential information. That is why insurance and professional working practices should always form part of your assessment.
Ask whether the cleaning company has public liability insurance and what the policy covers. This is particularly important if accidental damage occurs to furniture, flooring, electronic equipment, glass partitions or other parts of your office.
Even experienced cleaning providers can have accidents. The important difference is whether they have clear procedures and appropriate insurance in place to resolve the issue quickly.
Where possible, ask for written confirmation of the company's insurance cover. This can either be included in the cleaning agreement or provided as separate documentation.
It's also worth understanding how the company manages its cleaning staff. For example, ask:
Good employment practices contribute to consistency, quality and security. A cleaning company that manages its employees well is also more likely to deliver a reliable service for your business.
Cleaning is about more than keeping your workplace looking presentable. It also plays an important role in employee wellbeing and indoor climate, particularly in offices where many people share workspaces, meeting rooms, kitchens and communal areas.
A professional cleaning company should have a thorough understanding of the cleaning products it uses, how those products are handled and whether they are suitable for the surfaces being cleaned. This protects your employees, your office environment and the overall quality of the cleaning service.
Under Danish health and safety legislation, businesses using chemical products must maintain an inventory of those products and keep up-to-date safety data sheets. These documents form the basis of chemical risk assessments and help ensure products are used safely.
When speaking with a cleaning company, consider asking:
If sustainability is important to your business, ask what the company's environmental claims mean in practice.
Many cleaning companies describe themselves as environmentally friendly or sustainable, but they should be able to explain how this is reflected in their day-to-day operations.
For example, ask:
Useful documentation may include product lists, safety data sheets, environmental certifications, cleaning procedures, chemical dosing routines, storage guidelines or waste management policies.
The discussion doesn't need to become overly technical, but a professional cleaning company should be able to answer these questions clearly and confidently. Effective commercial cleaning should balance cleaning performance with the protection of materials, employee wellbeing, health and safety, and environmental responsibility.
Want to learn more? If you'd like a broader overview of employer responsibilities and legal requirements, you can also read our guide to workplace cleaning regulations.
High-quality cleaning is about more than making the office look presentable on the day of the visit. It is also about maintaining consistent standards over time. A spotless office on Monday is of little value if the quality drops for the rest of the month.
Before choosing a cleaning company, ask how they maintain quality, monitor performance and ensure consistency.
Using subcontractors is not necessarily a disadvantage, but you should know who will actually be cleaning your premises.
Subcontracting can affect accountability, quality control, insurance, security, working practices and service consistency. It should always be clear who carries out the work, who is responsible for supervising it and who you should contact if an issue arises.
Ask questions such as:
The more specific the answers, the better.
A cleaning checklist clearly defines what should be completed during each visit.
For example, it may include:
A detailed cleaning checklist makes it much easier to understand exactly what is included in your cleaning service. It also helps prevent misunderstandings and makes it easier to identify if anything has been missed.
Ask how the cleaning company follows up on its work.
This may include:
You don't necessarily need the most sophisticated quality management system. What matters is choosing a cleaning company with a clear process for identifying and resolving issues quickly.
The answer to this should be clear before the agreement begins. A professional cleaning company will expect these questions and should be happy to explain its process.
Ask:
When you hire a cleaning company, you're often giving them access to your workplace outside normal business hours. That requires clear procedures from the outset.
Make sure you agree on how the cleaning company will manage:
For businesses, this is particularly important because cleaning staff may work close to confidential documents, computer screens, meeting notes, HR records, customer information and other sensitive data.
A simple access or confidentiality agreement can provide reassurance for both parties. It should clearly outline who is authorised to enter the premises, how keys are managed, what staff may or may not handle, and who should be contacted if any uncertainty arises.
This creates clear expectations for the cleaning company while giving you confidence that access to your workplace is being managed responsibly.
Clear communication makes any cleaning agreement easier to manage.
This is particularly important in businesses where several people may be involved. HR may receive feedback from employees, the office manager oversees the shared spaces, and senior management expects the workplace to maintain a professional appearance.
That's why communication should be straightforward and well organised.
Having one regular contact person makes communication much simpler.
You'll always know who to contact if you need to report an issue, request additional cleaning, make changes to the agreement or ask questions. It saves time and reduces the risk of messages being missed.
Ask:
All important aspects of the agreement should be confirmed in writing, including:
A clear cleaning agreement benefits both parties. It helps maintain consistent service standards, even if new cleaning staff join the contract over time.
Business needs change. You may recruit more employees, expand into additional office space or require extra cleaning after an event.
It's better to understand the process before these situations arise.
Ask:
Price matters—of course it does. But when comparing cleaning companies, it's just as important to look at what each quotation actually includes.
Two quotes may appear similar on price but offer very different levels of service. One may include cleaning toilets, kitchens, meeting rooms, emptying bins, vacuuming, mopping floors and wiping surfaces. Another may cover far less and charge extra for additional tasks.
That's why you should always compare the scope of the service, not just the hourly rate.
Cleaning companies typically offer several pricing models, including:
An hourly rate offers flexibility but can make budgeting less predictable. A fixed price makes it easier to manage costs, provided the scope of work has been clearly defined. For many businesses, an ongoing cleaning contract works well because the cleaning schedule, tasks and pricing are agreed in advance.
When comparing commercial cleaning prices, ask how the quotation has been calculated.
For example:
A professional cleaning quotation should clearly state exactly what is included.
For example, ask whether the quotation covers:
It's equally important to understand which services incur additional charges.
These might include:
You should also review what's typically included in an office cleaning service so you can compare quotations on a like-for-like basis.
A low-cost cleaning company can absolutely provide a professional and reliable service. However, a significantly lower price without a clear explanation should prompt further questions.
A much cheaper quotation may indicate that too few hours have been allocated, important tasks have been excluded, subcontractors are being used without sufficient supervision or quality assurance processes are limited.
Look for transparency. A reputable cleaning company should be able to explain exactly how its pricing has been calculated.
The right cleaning company is the one that best matches your business, your premises and the way you work.
Price is important, but it should always be considered alongside experience, communication, quality assurance, reliability and the overall scope of the service.
A professional cleaning company makes it easy to understand exactly what you're paying for. They should clearly explain what's included, how quality is monitored, who will carry out the work and how changes to the agreement will be managed.
Choosing the right partner gives you one less thing to think about. A clean office should be maintained consistently—not just during the first few weeks of a new contract.
At Duuo, we provide commercial cleaning services for businesses looking for a practical, flexible and transparent solution. If you'd like tailored advice or a quotation based on your office and cleaning requirements, we'd be happy to help.
The most important consideration is choosing a cleaning company that understands your requirements and can clearly explain its proposed solution. Look at experience, pricing transparency, insurance, quality assurance, communication, environmental practices and the clarity of the cleaning agreement.
A reputable cleaning company should have proper business registration, clear invoicing procedures, appropriate insurance, relevant references, trained employees, professional cleaning products and robust quality assurance processes. They should also be able to explain who will carry out the work, how quality is monitored and how they deal with staff absence or service issues.
A quotation should clearly outline the price, cleaning frequency, areas to be cleaned, included services, additional services, cleaning products, access arrangements, your point of contact, quality assurance procedures, contract terms and notice period. It should also explain what is included in the office cleaning service so that you can compare quotations fairly.
Not necessarily. The cheapest quotation may represent excellent value if the scope of work is realistic and clearly defined. However, a very low price without explanation may indicate fewer cleaning hours, fewer included services or weaker quality control. Always compare the service provided, not just the price.
Yes. You should always choose a cleaning company with appropriate public liability insurance. This provides greater peace of mind if accidental damage occurs to furniture, flooring, electronic equipment or other parts of your office.
The ideal cleaning frequency depends on the size of your office, the number of employees, visitor numbers, meeting rooms, toilets and communal areas. Many businesses benefit from daily office cleaning, while smaller offices may only require cleaning a few times each week.
9 Things to Consider When Choosing a Cleaning Company: Your Essential Checklist
