When Everyone Wants to Help Clean a Communal Area

We see this happen a lot, particularly under Covid-19 changes when everyone is concerned about cleaning regimes.

It’s simple when each person and occupier has their own area, as everyone looks after these individually. The issues come when you have shared communal areas, for example a lobby and staircase in an apartment bock, to reception and corridors in an office block.

Bring into the equation shared toilets and kitchen areas as well, and the problems really start increasing.

In often genuine circumstances, everyone tries to muck-in and do the cleaning to either make sure it’s completed correctly or keep the cost down of bringing in other cleaners.

Well here’s some top tips to help make sure this is clarified and organised as well as possible:

1. Sort out Responsibilities

Check leases and agreements to see who does what, including what actual areas and spaces are being covered.

And make sure these apply to everyone and have not been superseded since.

2. Discuss the Issues and Options

This stage is so simple, and yet often overlooked – giving time and opportunity to talk through what the situation is and should be.

Over-helpful tenants may be in the wrong cleaning things they shouldn’t be, but these may stem from genuine concerns of non-performance.

And even if they are in the wrong so to speak, then habits can be hard to shake off overnight.

Therefore, have site meetings, follow up action, and regularly monitor going forwards.

3. Look at Compromise Where Needed

It may come to light that a landlord has to clean the communal areas, but tenants don’t want to pay the cost of ‘proper’ cleaners going forward.

There may be a good compromise here with the best of both worlds, for example a full external clean every month and then occupiers chipping in with quick ones in between.

Okay, there is a lot of work to clearly split these roles ,but this may pay off over time.

4. Make Sure Everyone Has Separate PPE and Equipment

In all the frenzy of the arrangements, the detail of who has what in order to carry on afterwards can be lost.

Therefore, make sure everyone knows they must not only bring in but then store their own items, whether that’s PPE clothing, substances like detergents and bleach, and equipment like mops and cloths.

Even when it is convenient to share these, then still make clear arrangements, as it may cause Health and Safety COSHH issues longer term.

Plus, people can soon question who is covering the cost of all these as opposed to those who use but don’t pay for them.

5. Organize a Good One-Off Clean

When everything is clearly defined and you’re about to start new cleaning arrangements, then it may be worth a good one-off deep clean in order to really get on top of things, and down to the nitty-gritty.

This will go into all the corners, and wipe all the surfaces, for people then to take over.

Too Many Chiefs, and Not Enough Indians

As this old saying goes, there can be lots of opinions but little action in terms of suitable cleaning of shared communal areas with all kinds of different interests and opinions.

Well all is not lost – by going through these above pointers, you may be able to get things back on track.

Failing which, give us a call and bring in the Easy Cleaners to help you out.