How Often Should an Office Be Cleaned?

Most busy offices are cleaned nightly on weekdays, so every morning starts fresh. Smaller or lower-traffic offices often do well with two or three visits a week. Restrooms and kitchens should be cleaned on every visit, while floors, carpets and windows need deeper cleaning on a longer cycle: monthly, quarterly or twice a year.

Start with headcount

The number of people in the space drives trash, restroom use, kitchen mess and wear on floors.

• Small, lightly used offices: two or three visits a week, with restrooms and kitchens covered every time.
• Offices where most people are in daily: nightly cleaning on weekdays.
• Large or shared floors: nightly cleaning plus a daytime porter to restock restrooms and tidy common areas during business hours.

Count your visitors

If clients, patients or the public come in, lobbies, restrooms and meeting rooms are part of your first impression. Spaces with daily visitors need more frequent attention than back-office areas with the same headcount.

Match the schedule to each room

Not every room needs the same care. Restrooms, kitchens and high-touch surfaces need the most frequent cleaning. Private offices and storage rooms can go longer between visits. Medical and dental offices usually need cleaning after every business day; see medical office cleaning standards.

Plan the deep cleaning too

• Carpet extraction: quarterly or twice a year for busy areas.
• Floor stripping and waxing: once or twice a year, with recoats in between. See floor care.
• Window cleaning: monthly for storefronts, quarterly for most offices.
• Power washing entries and sidewalks: monthly or quarterly.

Review the schedule after a month

If restrooms run out of supplies before the next visit or the kitchen is a problem by midweek, the schedule needs adjusting. A good cleaning company suggests changes before you have to ask.

Next steps

How often you clean is the biggest factor in what office cleaning costs. For the full picture, read our complete guide to commercial cleaning services, or see how our office cleaning and janitorial services work and request a free quote.