Should a commercial cleaning company walk my facility before quoting?

Yes. A quote written without seeing the building cannot know the fixture count, the traffic pattern, the floor condition or the real access windows. A per-square-foot number given over the phone is a price, not a scope.

What should a written scope of work include?

Every area of the facility, every task performed in that area, and how often each task happens, plus an explicit list of what is excluded and which services are priced separately.

How do I verify a cleaning company is registered and insured in California?

Ask for the California janitorial registration number and a current certificate of insurance showing general liability and workers compensation, and ask whether your company or association can be named as an additional insured. Star’s Janitorial Services holds California Janitorial Services Registration #929771.

Why does a local point of contact matter?

Because the person who answers the phone should be the person responsible for your building. A national call center can log a complaint; a local contact can fix it.

Contra Costa County

How to Choose a Commercial Cleaning Company in Contra Costa County

To choose a commercial cleaning company in Contra Costa County, confirm five things in writing: a walkthrough of your facility before any quote, a written scope of work that names every area and frequency, documented proof of completed work, a local point of contact you can actually reach, and current registration and insurance.

Each of the five is easy to ask for and easy for a serious vendor to provide. A company that hesitates on any of them is telling you something about how the account will run once the contract is signed.

1. A walkthrough of your facility before any quote

Commercial cleaning is priced by what is in the building: how many restrooms and fixtures, how much carpet versus hard floor, how many people use the space and for how many hours, what the dock and entry areas track in, and when the crew can actually be in each area. None of that is visible from a square-footage number. A vendor who quotes by phone or by email is guessing, and the guess is usually corrected later through scope creep, missed tasks or a price increase in month three.

Ask whether the company will walk the facility with you before quoting. Then watch what they count. A good walkthrough looks at fixtures, traffic lanes, floor condition, access and alarm procedures, and the hours the building is clear. If the walkthrough is a quick loop with no notes, the scope will be just as thin.

2. A written scope of work that names every area and frequency

The scope of work is the document the whole relationship rests on. It should be organized by area, list the tasks performed in each area, and state how often each task happens: every operating day, weekly, monthly, quarterly or by project date. It should also say what is excluded and which services are priced separately, such as window cleaning, floor care, carpet extraction and pressure washing.

Read it before you sign. "General cleaning of common areas as needed" is not a scope. "Restrooms: fixtures cleaned and disinfected, mirrors and counters cleaned, dispensers restocked, trash emptied, floor damp mopped with disinfectant, every operating day" is. The difference is whether you can hold the vendor to anything later. For a fuller breakdown, see what a commercial cleaning scope of work actually includes.

3. Documented proof of completed work

"We cleaned it" and "here is what it looked like before and after" are not the same statement. Ask how you will see that the work was done. The useful answers are a written scope you can inspect against, a supervisor who walks the building with you on a regular basis, and photo documentation on request. If the only evidence offered is the invoice, you are being asked to take the work on trust, and trust is hard to audit when a tenant or a board member is asking questions.

4. A local point of contact you can actually reach

Ask who you call when something is wrong, and where that person sits. A named local contact who is responsible for your building can fix a missed area, adjust a schedule or add a service. A national call center can open a ticket. Contra Costa County facilities are best served by crews and supervisors who are dispatched from within the county, because early-morning windows, after-hours access and a quick return visit all depend on proximity.

Star’s Janitorial Services is a family-owned company headquartered in Concord. Maria M. Hernandez founded it in 2012 and her daughter, Briana Cruz, runs client communication and account satisfaction. When you call, you reach the people responsible for your building.

5. Current registration and insurance

Ask for the California janitorial registration number and a current certificate of insurance. The certificate should show general liability and workers compensation coverage, and the company should be able to name your business, property management company or association as an additional insured. Most management companies require this before a crew is on site, and any established vendor will have provided it many times. Star’s holds California Janitorial Services Registration #929771 and provides a certificate of insurance on request.

Warning signs worth walking away from

A price before a walkthrough. The number is not tied to your building, so it will change.
A scope written in adjectives. "Thorough," "sanitized" and "as needed" cannot be inspected against.
No exclusions listed. If nothing is out of scope on paper, everything will be disputed in practice.
Bundled project work. Floor refinishing, carpet extraction and window cleaning folded into the monthly price tend to quietly disappear. They should be separate lines with their own frequency.
No way to see the work. If the vendor cannot describe how you will verify completion, assume you will not be able to.
No named contact. If you cannot get the name and location of the person responsible for your account before you sign, you will not get it after.
Registration or insurance "available on request" but never produced. Ask once, in writing. If it does not arrive, that is the answer.

How Star’s handles the five

Every Star’s account starts with a walkthrough of your facility. We map a written scope by area, task and frequency, with exclusions and add-ons named, and send a detailed proposal. Photo documentation is available on request. You get a single local point of contact based in Concord. California Janitorial Services Registration #929771, with a certificate of insurance on request. No pressure, just a plan.