Cleaning and grounds maintenance

Area	Your contractor	Contact details
Brighton and Hove	Just Ask	Phone 0844 7365956 Email [email protected]
Greenwich and Bexley	Just Ask	Phone 0844 7365956 Email [email protected]
Bromley	Hi-Spec	Phone 01322 620600 Email [email protected]
West Kent	Cleanscapes	Phone 01306 711730 Email [email protected]
London (North of river)	Just Ask	Phone 0844 7365956 Email [email protected]
Chichester	Groundscapes	Phone 01306 711720 Email [email protected]
Surrey	Groundscapes	Phone 01306 711720 Email [email protected]
South East Coast (Kent)	Cleanscapes	Phone 01306 711730 Email [email protected]
East Anglia	CGM	Phone 01366 388738  or Freephone 0800 160 1199 Email [email protected]
Lewisham and Southwark	Cleanscapes	Phone 01306 711730 Email [email protected]
Stockwell and Kennington	Cleanscapes	Phone 01306 711730 Email [email protected]
Croydon	Groundscapes	Phone 01306 711720 Email [email protected]
South Hampshire	Acorn	Phone 020 8640 8800 Email [email protected]

           

The specification for the service you receive will depend on the type of building in which you live. The main way in which this will vary is how often services are provided. For example, most buildings will receive a weekly cleaning service, but this is increased to daily in busy locations where many residents share communal areas.

The contractor who provides the service is responsible for informing customers about the specification, schedule and who the team is who are working where you live. This may be done by using the noticeboard or by providing introductory information directly to each household.

What is the contractor expected to do and how often?

The specification works in two ways:

1. It sets out how frequently the contractor is expected to undertake each activity

2. It describes how the activity is to be carried out and the standard the contractor should achieve

Please note the contract does not say how long a contractor should spend on each activity. This is a matter for the contractor. For example, a contractor may choose to send 5 people to clean a building in 30 minutes or 1 person to clean it in 2 ½ hours.

 

The contracts include a number of detailed specifications to address the different types of buildings Hyde owns:

• An overall service specification (applies to all properties) (PDF, 526KB) which applies in all circumstances; it describes how the contractor must approach the work. This sets out Hyde’s general expectations but does not cover the detail of the service provision
• A technical specification for General Needs properties (PDF, 584KB); this applies to the majority of Hyde’s schemes and estates
• A technical specification for High Traffic properties (PDF, 585KB); this is used where large numbers of households share common parts of the building, eg in a tower block
• A technical specification for High Profile Modern buildings (PDF, 585KB) ; this is used where the building has parts which require specific attention, eg a large amount of glazing
• A technical specification for Sheltered and Supported schemes (PDF, 595KB) where there are additional common parts such as a residents lounge, kitchen and laundry
• A technical specification for Light Touch scheme (PDF, 569KB); this is particular to schemes in Chichester in response to feedback from customers who wanted a less frequent service

The main difference between the technical specifications is how frequently the service is delivered. For example, in a High Traffic building the same activities are carried out but on a daily basis rather than a weekly basis.

There are two main elements to the contracts - cleaning and grounds maintenance. We use the term ‘grounds maintenance’ because the service covers more than just gardening.

For cleaning, we include:

• Cleaning of internal common parts of the building (eg the lobby and stairway)
• Cleaning of windows to common parts of the building
• Graffiti removal
• Pest control
• Replacing light bulbs in common parts of the building
• Bin hire and bin management
• Supply of all necessary equipment and materials

For grounds maintenance, we include:

• Litter picking
• Grass cutting
• Weeding
• Care of plants and shrubs, including pruning
• Hard-standing maintenance, including sweeping
• Tree surveys and tree maintenance (as directed by Hyde)
• Play area cleaning and inspection
• Control of invasive plant species such as Japanese Knotweed

Most activities within the General Needs cleaning specification happen on a weekly basis, but not all. Here is the summary:

Weekly

• Cleaning of entrance halls, landings, corridors, communal doors, lobbies and  canopies
• Cleaning of stairways
• Cleaning of lifts
• Checking communal lighting and replacing bulbs
• Cleaning of refuse disposal facilities following visual inspection

Fortnightly

• Wipe clean walls and light fittings
• Cleaning of intake cupboards

Every 3 months

• Window cleaning: internal cleaning to windows of common parts of the building

Twice a year

• Window cleaning: external cleaning to windows of common parts of the building
• Balcony mechanical cleaning and balcony glass cleaning to communal balconies

Once a year

• Annual spring clean to communal areas and stairways

We have arrangements in place to make sure our services are regularly checked for quality and value. We do this in the following ways.

Contract managers 

Hyde has three dedicated Contract Managers whose job it is to make sure the services meet customer needs and offer good value. Any Hyde staff member who visits a local area can assess standards of service. Contract Managers will inspect 10% of sites in their area each month, responding to staff and customer feedback.

Contractor quality assurance

We expect our contractors to play an active role in scrutinising standards through their own supervision and providing evidence to us when services have been delivered. If they encounter a problem, we expect them to let customers know and let us know how and when this will be corrected. Working with a smaller number of contractors overall allows us to refine these processes and share good practice.

Customer feedback

Customer feedback is one of the most important ways to inform us if there is a problem with cleaning and gardening services.

Contractors provide their contact details and, if it is a simple issue, we encourage you to speak to your cleaner or gardener directly or contact the Contract Supervisor.

If you are concerned about a more serious issue, then please do contact us.

Customer satisfaction

Each month we ask an independent research company to carry out surveys with a range of customers on their overall satisfaction with cleaning services and with gardening services in their area. The results of these surveys then form part of the discussions we have with contractors at our monthly meetings.

Weekly

• Sweep and weed hard surfaces
• Litter picking
• Empty dog and cigarette bins where these are in place
• Clean bin stores
• Clean and inspect play areas

Fortnightly

• Flower bed maintenance between May and October

Monthly

• Jet bin stores between May and October
• Hedge and shrub trimming, but pruning only twice in the season
• Flower bed maintenance between November and April

Grass cutting

Grass cutting requirements cannot be known precisely because the weather will affect how quickly the grass grows. This is what the specification tells our contractors:

• Between February to November the frequency may be weekly or fortnightly
• In the early part of the season, we would expect the grass to be cut every 7-10 days
• We expect the grass to be cut approximately 18 times during the season
• Irrespective of the frequency, we say the grass should be kept 25mm and 65mm in length
• We normally expect clippings to be collected and removed from site, but where a contractor has a ‘mulcher mower’ which chops the clippings finely these can be left on the lawn