With office cleaning becoming an increasingly competitive market for contract cleaning companies they must diversify or move into a niche market if they wish to continue to grow. One niche market that is not so competitive is that of ‘builders clean’. The number of companies that offer a good, high quality service to the construction industry is relatively small. So for small to medium sized firms it is well worth considering entering this market.

In order to succeed the company must be prepared to come out of the safe environment of office cleaning which provides a regular and consistent income but at relatively low profit margins and take a leap into the world of uncertainty. You can build up a group of builders that you clean for but the work can still be spasmodic and irregular. You could go for the large house building companies where a project might extend over two years and carry out three or sometimes four cleans on each dwelling. For these you do have to be prepared to reduce your profits for the security of constant work because they actually pay less than other types of construction but still require the same high standard of cleaning.

To gain credibility in the industry you have to be prepared to work with the builder and meet their requirements. Their requirements are under time constraints and the cleaners are generally the last contractors to be brought into a project. Very few projects run smoothly to the planned programme therefore quite often as a cleaning contractor you must be prepared to alter your schedules and react quickly to changes in the plan. Sometimes with only 24 hours notice. This can cause problems in staffing a particular clean. So you and the workforce must be prepared to be very flexible.

It is also not uncommon to turn up on a site to carry out a clean to find a whole variety of sub contractors still at work and nothing ready to clean. Although frustrating it is all part and parcel of getting into the world of builders cleans.

In order to succeed you must firstly maintain a high standard in your cleaning if you wish to be called back to do other cleans by the contracting company and secondly you must be prepared to be incredibly flexible and meet demands that come in at short notice. Once you have proved your worth to a building company they will call you in to complete all their cleans. Each clean is quite profitable so it is well worth the time and trouble put in to developing the right contacts and putting together a good team of cleaners who are prepared to be very flexible in when and where they work. If you do not have a pool of cleaners that you can call on easily and quickly then you will end up finding it difficult to cover builders cleans when they come in thick and fast!