Tricks Of The Trade: Cleaning Costs (RSF vs. USF)

By James C. Elledge, IFMA Fellow, CFM, FMA, RPA, RIAQM
Published in the August 2007 issue of Today’s Facility Manager

Q Is there a common calculation for determining the square footage for cleaning commercial office buildings? Our janitorial service says it should be the RSF, but we think it should be less, since they are not able to clean all areas.

Rodney Pfahning
Building Engineer
Primera Companies, Inc.
Arlington, TX

A Most commercial cleaners will use the rentable square feet (RSF) incomputing their costs, since it includes the common areas, restrooms,and other spaces. That number is preferred, because it remains fixedfor the life of the building.

Keep in mind that other factorsare also used when calculating cleaning costs. These include: cleaningfrequency (number of days per week), building type (commercial,industrial, medical), density (higher densities take additional time),and access (are all spaces easy to access? or are some areas limited tocertain days and times?).

Elledge,facility/office services manager for Dallas, TX-based Summit AllianceCompanies, is the recipient of the Distinguished Author Award from theInternational Facility Management Association (IFMA), is an IFMA Fellow, and isa member of TFM’sEditorial Advisory Board. All questions have been submitted via the “Ask TheExpert” portion of the magazine’s Web site. To pose a question, visit this link.