You can't improve what you don't measure. Yet most facility managers have no visibility into their cleaning vendor's performance beyond "looks clean." This is how you end up overpaying for mediocre service. Here are the KPIs that actually matter.
The Three Categories of KPIs
Not all metrics are created equal. I organize them into three categories: Financial, Operational, and Quality. Together, they tell the complete story.
FINANCIAL KPIs
Cost Per Square Foot
What it is: Total monthly cleaning cost divided by square footage of your facility
Why it matters: Lets you compare pricing fairly across facilities of different sizes. Benchmarks: office space typically costs $0.40–$0.60/sq ft/month; retail $0.50–$0.80/sq ft/month
How to track: Create a spreadsheet with monthly costs and square footage. Recalculate quarterly.
Year-over-Year Cost Change
What it is: Percentage change in your cleaning costs from year to year
Why it matters: Identifies if you're being priced fairly or if inflation is being passed to you disproportionately. Target: 2-3% annual increase (inflation + service improvements)
How to track: Compare total cleaning costs for Q1 this year vs Q1 last year
Cost per Incident (Emergency Requests)
What it is: Total cost of emergency cleaning requests divided by number of emergencies
Why it matters: High emergency costs indicate you're using reactive cleaning instead of preventive. Should be <2% of total monthly budget
How to track: Log every emergency request and its cost
OPERATIONAL KPIs
Response Time for Urgent Requests
What it is: Average time from when you request urgent cleaning to when crews arrive
Why it matters: Indicates vendor reliability. Spill in the lobby? Can they respond in 1 hour? Target: <2 hours for urgent requests during business hours
How to track: Document time of request and time of arrival for each emergency
Service Completion Rate
What it is: Percentage of scheduled cleaning tasks actually completed as specified
Why it matters: Reveals consistency. If they complete 92% of tasks, something is systematically being skipped. Target: 98%+ completion rate
How to track: Compare your service schedule to actual work performed (check daily logs or inspections)
Tenant/Occupant Complaint Rate
What it is: Number of cleaning-related complaints per month from tenants or occupants
Why it matters: Directly reflects customer satisfaction. Target: <5 complaints per 50,000 sq ft per month. More than that, and quality is suffering.
How to track: Keep a log of all complaints. Ask tenants to report issues through a central channel.
Vendor Reliability Score
What it is: Percentage of scheduled service days where cleaning was performed as promised
Why it matters: Measures dependability. Missed schedules = broken promises. Target: 99%+ reliability
How to track: Note any missed service days and calculate (days performed / days scheduled) × 100
QUALITY KPIs
Quality Inspection Score
What it is: Your facility manager's objective assessment of cleaning quality (on a scale of 1-100) based on defined standards
Why it matters: Provides objective, repeatable measurement of quality. You need a checklist: floors (dust, debris), restrooms (cleanliness, supplies), common areas (spotlessness). Target: 85+/100
How to track: Conduct inspections monthly using the same checklist. Trend the data.
Time to Resolution (Issues)
What it is: Average days from when you report a quality issue until it's corrected
Why it matters: Shows responsiveness to problems. A vendor that takes 2 weeks to fix a recurring issue isn't committed to quality. Target: <3 days
How to track: Document issue reports with dates and resolution dates
Compliance Violations
What it is: Number of OSHA, health department, or facility-specific compliance failures identified
Why it matters: For healthcare, food service, or regulated industries, this is non-negotiable. Target: 0 violations
How to track: Track any compliance findings from external audits
Safety Incidents
What it is: Number of cleaning-related safety incidents (spills left unattended, chemical hazards, injuries)
Why it matters: Indicates whether they're following proper safety protocols. Target: 0 incidents
How to track: Maintain an incident log with description, date, and resolution
The KPI Dashboard: What to Measure
You don't need to track all of these perfectly. Start with the core few and build from there. Here's my recommended starting point for most facilities:
START HERE - Track These 5 KPIs:
- 1.Cost Per Square Foot (monthly)
- 2.Service Completion Rate (monthly)
- 3.Tenant Complaint Rate (monthly)
- 4.Quality Inspection Score (quarterly)
- 5.Vendor Reliability Score (monthly)
These 5 metrics give you 80% visibility into vendor performance. Add others as you mature.
How to Present KPIs to Your Vendor
When you introduce KPI tracking to your vendor, frame it positively:
- "We want to measure what's important." - Makes it about clarity, not blame
- "This helps us improve together." - Positions it as partnership, not oversight
- "Good vendors appreciate transparency." - Good vendors will embrace it
A vendor who resists KPI tracking is a red flag. Professional vendors welcome measurement because they know they perform well.
The Bottom Line
You're probably spending $500K–$1M+ annually on cleaning. You deserve to know exactly what you're getting for that investment. KPIs let you measure, compare, and optimize.
Start with the core 5 KPIs this month. By next quarter, you'll have clarity you've never had before.