You inherit a binder. Every property manager knows the one. Tenant complaints, photos of dusty sills, a soap dispenser empty since March. The cleaning company says the checklist covers it. The checklist says nothing at all.
That is what a vague contract looks like in real life. The fix costs nothing. You ask better questions before you sign, and you write the answers down.
Here are the ones worth asking. We answer every one of them in our own walkthroughs.
Boring first, because boring is what protects you. A company working in your building at night needs insurance, and you need proof of it in your files.
A yes you cannot see on paper is a maybe. Ask for the certificate before the first visit, not after the first incident. In New York, workers' compensation is not optional for employees. Ask about bonding too. A bond covers theft. Insurance covers damage. You want both on file. If a company hesitates here, the rest of the questions do not matter much.
The checklist is the contract. Everything else is decoration. A fair janitorial services contract lists what gets done, how often, and with what.
That floor question sounds small. It is not. An auto-scrubber costs real money to run, and floor stripping and waxing is its own line item everywhere. If the quote bundles it in silently, the schedule will slip. Ask how often, and put the months on paper.
You are not hiring a logo. You are handing keys to a person. Find out who that person is.
Our crew lead says it plainly. You should know the name of the person holding your keys. Ask how crews get trained. On our team, new hires shadow a lead for their first weeks. A company that skips training is guessing in your building. Crews that rotate nightly never learn it either. The break room on two floods every winter. The lobby glass shows fingerprints by Friday. A steady crew learns these things. A rotating one never does.
Commercial cleaning prices in Westchester usually land as a flat monthly number or a rate per square foot. Either is fine. Vague is not fine.
Get any increase cap in writing too. Small caps beat big surprises.
Ask what the number assumes. A quote built on two restrooms will not hold when you add a third. Older Westchester buildings with original tile need more machine time than new construction, and a fair company says so up front. The first walkthrough is where an honest price gets built. Fifteen minutes in the building beats an hour on the phone.
Good companies make leaving easy. Bad ones make leaving expensive. Ask about the end before you begin.
That last one is our favorite. A visit log with photos turns a complaint into a conversation about facts. Month to month service with a 30-day notice keeps everyone honest. Keep every log they send you. The paper trail you never need is the cheapest one to keep. If a contract needs twelve months and a lawyer to leave, ask what it is hiding.
One page of questions. Fifteen minutes to ask them. Write the answers down. The binder stays thin, the dispensers stay full, and your mornings get quieter around here.
Book a free walkthrough. We measure the space, you get a written quote within 24 hours, and the first clean can start next week.
Get a Free Walkthrough Call (914) 500-9112