The short answer on janitorial vs commercial cleaning: janitorial service is routine, scheduled cleaning that keeps a building clean and stocked day to day, covering trash, washrooms, floors, dusting and restocking. Commercial cleaning is the broader term for cleaning non-residential buildings, and it’s often used for periodic or specialized work such as carpet extraction, floor refinishing, high dusting, pressure washing and post-construction cleaning.
In practice the two overlap, and the words are often used interchangeably, so the label on a proposal tells you little. What matters is the written scope: which tasks, in which areas, how often, and who supplies what. This guide explains how the terms are used, what’s included in commercial cleaning programs, and gives you an office cleaning checklist to adapt for your building.
Janitorial vs commercial cleaning: how the terms are used
Usage varies from company to company, but when people do draw a line between the two, it looks like this.
| What differs | Janitorial service | Periodic or specialized commercial cleaning |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Keep the building clean, safe and stocked every day | Deep-clean or restore surfaces, or handle a one-off event |
| Frequency | Daily, several times a week or weekly | Monthly, quarterly, yearly or as needed |
| Typical tasks | Trash and recycling, washrooms, kitchens, dusting, vacuuming, mopping, restocking | Carpet extraction, strip and wax, high dusting, interior glass, pressure washing, post-construction cleaning |
| Crew and equipment | A regular crew on a fixed schedule, sometimes a day porter | Crews with specialized machines, scheduled around occupants |
| Pricing | Monthly flat rate or per visit | Per project or per task |
Canada’s National Occupational Classification (NOC) draws a similar line between jobs. It places janitors, caretakers and heavy-duty cleaners (NOC 65312), who clean and maintain commercial, institutional and residential buildings and their grounds, in a different group from light duty cleaners (NOC 65310), who clean lobbies, hallways, offices and rooms. Specialized cleaners (NOC 65311) are a third group, described as cleaning and refurbishing building exteriors, carpets, ventilation systems, windows and other surfaces with specialized equipment and techniques. The split shows up in pricing too; see how much commercial cleaning costs.
What a typical janitorial program includes
A janitorial scope is organized by frequency. The exact list depends on the building, but most office and common-area programs are built from tasks like these.
Every service visit
- Empty trash, recycling and organics, replace liners and take bags to the central bins
- Clean and disinfect toilets, urinals, sinks, counters and mirrors, and restock paper and soap
- Wipe kitchen and break-room counters, sinks, tables and appliance fronts
- Wipe high-touch points: door handles, push plates, light switches, elevator buttons and railings
- Vacuum traffic lanes and mop hard floors at entrances, washrooms and kitchens
- Spot-clean entrance glass and fingerprints on doors
Weekly
- Vacuum all carpeted areas, including under desks that are clear
- Dust ledges, sills, partitions and furniture
- Mop all hard floors
- Clean interior glass partitions and door glass
- Clean microwaves and wipe cabinet fronts
Monthly
- Dust vents, baseboards and reachable high ledges
- Wipe scuffs from walls, doors and door frames
- Deep-clean washroom partitions and floor drains
- Machine-scrub or burnish hard floors as the finish requires
- Report maintenance issues such as burnt-out lights, leaks and damaged fixtures
Metro Vancouver notes that separating food scraps has been mandatory for businesses and residents in the region since January 2015, so kitchen scopes there should include organics. A day porter is a common variation: a cleaner on site during business hours who restocks washrooms, handles spills and keeps lobbies and meeting rooms tidy, for buildings where waiting until evening isn’t practical.
Periodic and specialized commercial cleaning
Periodic services restore what routine cleaning only maintains. They need specialized equipment, often need the space empty, and are scheduled around the people who use the building.
| Service | What it involves | When it’s scheduled |
|---|---|---|
| Carpet extraction | Hot-water extraction to pull embedded soil out of carpet | Every few months to once a year, based on traffic; entrances after the wet season |
| Strip and wax | Removing worn floor finish from resilient flooring and applying fresh coats | When the finish wears through; the area stays closed until the finish cures |
| High dusting | Vents, light fixtures, beams, ledges and signage above normal reach | A few times a year, or before inspections and events |
| Interior glass | Full cleaning of partitions, atrium glass and the inside face of windows | Monthly to quarterly, or as needed |
| Pressure washing | Walkways, entrances, plazas, garbage areas and parkades | Before and after the wet season, to control moss, algae and grime |
| Post-construction cleaning | Removing construction dust and debris in stages after a renovation or fit-out | Before handover or move-in |
Periodic work can be priced as one-off projects or built into a monthly contract as an annual calendar. A calendar makes budgets predictable and keeps the work from being forgotten. For exterior and parkade work, see pressure washing and our parkade cleaning guide; for renovations and fit-outs, see post-construction cleaning.
Commercial vs residential cleaning
Many of the tasks are the same, but the job around them is different. Residential cleaning is organized around a household. Commercial cleaning is organized around a business or a building, and the person paying often isn’t there when the work is done.
- Insurance. Ask a commercial contractor for a certificate of general liability insurance before work starts, with limits that suit your building.
- WorkSafeBC. WorkSafeBC advises people hiring an independent business, homeowners included, to make sure it’s registered and making its payments, because a customer could be held responsible for unpaid premiums. Businesses can confirm this with a WorkSafeBC clearance letter.
- Scheduling and access. Commercial work fits around business hours, often evenings, early mornings or weekends, and involves keys, fobs, alarm codes and security procedures.
- Equipment and chemicals. Commercial scopes rely on machines such as auto-scrubbers, burnishers and carpet extractors. Cleaning companies with staff are employers, and WorkSafeBC’s WHMIS requirements say employers must label hazardous products, make safety data sheets readily available to workers and provide worker education and training.
- Written scopes and reporting. Commercial cleaning runs on a written scope, a frequency table and some form of inspection or reporting, so a manager can confirm the work without being on site.
Homeowners have their own WorkSafeBC questions. Hiring an independent business makes you its customer, while hiring your own worker for work at your home may mean registering as an employer, depending on the total hours the job takes. WorkSafeBC’s guidance for homeowners explains the difference.
Office cleaning checklist by area and frequency
Use this office cleaning checklist as a starting point. Strike out what doesn’t apply, adjust frequencies for your headcount and traffic, and send the same version to every bidder.
| Area | Every visit | Weekly | Monthly or periodic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entrance and lobby | Empty bins; vacuum mats; mop hard floors; spot-clean door glass | Dust ledges, signage and furniture; clean all door glass | Scrub or burnish floors; high dusting; pressure wash the exterior entry |
| Open office and workstations | Empty trash and recycling; vacuum traffic lanes | Vacuum all carpet; dust clear desk surfaces and partitions | Dust vents and baseboards; spot-treat carpet; extraction as scheduled |
| Private offices and meeting rooms | Empty bins; wipe tables | Vacuum or mop; dust furniture and sills; clean whiteboards if cleared | Clean interior glass; dust blinds |
| Washrooms | Clean and disinfect fixtures, counters and mirrors; restock; mop | Wipe partitions, doors and dispensers; descale fixtures | Deep-clean grout and floor drains; dust vents |
| Kitchen and break room | Wipe counters, tables, sinks and appliance fronts; empty organics; mop | Clean microwave interior; wipe cabinet fronts | Wipe fridge exterior and vents; machine-scrub floor |
| Halls, stairs and elevators | Wipe elevator buttons and handrails; spot-clean floors | Vacuum or mop fully; clean elevator doors and panels | Dust railings and ledges; scrub stair treads |
| Storage, copy and server rooms | Empty bins | Vacuum or mop open floor | Dust surfaces; server rooms by arrangement only |
Strata buildings have different priorities, such as lobbies, parkades and garbage rooms. Our guide to how often to clean strata common areas covers them.
How to decide what your building needs
- List every area and how it’s used. Note floor types, washroom fixtures, headcount and visitor traffic.
- Set a routine frequency for each area. Start with washrooms, kitchens and entrances, then decide how often low-use spaces really need attention.
- Add a periodic calendar. Choose which of carpet extraction, floor refinishing, high dusting, interior glass and pressure washing you need, and when.
- Plan for the seasons. Metro Vancouver’s wet season brings water and grit to entrances from fall to spring. Fraser Valley buildings add snow, ice and de-icer in winter, and dust, pollen and in some years wildfire smoke in summer.
- Flag one-off events. Renovations, fit-outs and tenant move-outs need post-construction or turnover cleaning, priced separately.
- Decide how you’ll verify the work. Signed checklists, regular inspections or photo-documented condition reports all work.
If you’d rather not build the scope from scratch, ask for a walkthrough and an itemized, written scope with the quote. You can see how a scope is organized on our commercial cleaning service page.