Survey finds in-house cleaning costs more.

Debate continues as new study of facility managers finds in-house cleaning costs 25 percent more than out-sourcing.

A newly released study of 786 facility managers is adding fuel to the already contentious debate over in-house vs. outsourced cleaning services.

The study, conducted by the International Facility Management Association [IFMA], finds that in-house cleaning costs an average of 23 percent more that contract cleaning services.

But the study, conducted last year and released in April, also reports that facilities with internal custodians and housekeepers get services - such as trash removal and carpet vacuuming - more frequently than those facilities cared for by contractors.

"There was a direct correlation between the in-house staffs and the increased frequency of the tasks performed," says Shari Epstein, associate director of research for IFMA.

But Epstein says there isn't a breakdown of how much more frequently the in-house staffs do the work.

Contract cleaners and facilities managers tell Cleaning & Maintenance Management that the study clearly defines the differences between the two ways of staffing a facility.

Facilities managers say they provide more and better services, while contract cleaners counter that they provide a better, more efficient service to the customer.

The findings

The average cost of cleaning with an in-house staff is $1.60 per square foot, as compared to $1.22 for contracted cleaning service, the survey says. The average cost for cleaning the facilities managed by the respondents is $1.41 per square foot.

But the survey respondents largely outsource their cleaning services, with 74 percent of the facilities managers surveyed having contracted with cleaning companies. Only 15 percent have in-house staffs, and the other 11 percent use a combination of in-house cleaners and contract cleaners.

That, says James Brewer, executive housekeeper at the University of Texas at Arlington, may skew the results somewhat.

"Facility managers may have made a decision to outsource and now they have to justify them," says Brewer.

The IFMA benchmarking survey also found that 88 percent of the facility managers report cleaning takes place at night or outside of business hours.

The vast majority of contract cleaners, 65 percent, are supervised by only one in-house employee, the survey found, while five percent report no supervision; 19 percent report two in-house supervisors, and six percent report five or more supervisors. The remaining managers report three or four in-house supervisors overseeing the contract cleaning company in their facility.

In terms of contracts, 96 percent of the facilities managers polled report that the contracts spell out the tasks and frequency, and 73 specify adherence to U.S. Department of Labor Occupation Safety and Health Administration [OSHA] requirements.

Seventy-two percent of respondents say their contract cleaners conduct background checks on employees, and 63 percent say the contractors provide supplies and paper products.