People often ask us about the differences between the Mero Control Centre and other methods of cleaning validation.

They come to us because they’re facing the same issues:

1. They don’t know what’s happening with their cleaners on-site

With a workforce spread across buildings and territories, it’s impossible to know what everybody’s doing.

Many cleaning executives are currently operating in good faith, with no real visibility of how efficient their employees are, how they’re spending their time, or what tasks they’ve completed or missed.

2. Their clients have repeatedly asked for it

The importance of tracking and proving cleaning tasks is one thing property managers and cleaning providers can universally agree on.

Neither wants to operate in the dark. Property managers want to make sure that they are getting what they’ve paid and be proactively warned if a site isn’t cleaned on time.

BSCs want to know what’s happening on-site, where their employees are, and make sure cleaning is done according to the scope of work.

3. They’re tired of their current method or mixture of solutions

They’ve had bad experiences implementing methods that were unreliable and disruptive to cleaners while providing low-quality information.

That’s why we’ve interviewed commercial cleaning executives and categorized 7 different ways to track and validate cleaning tasks. They are ranked from best (S-Tier) to worst (F-Tier).

This guide will help you:

  • Know what other BSCs are using
  • Avoid making the same mistakes
  • Understand the pros and cons of each method
  • Fast-track your research and avoid falling behind the competition

Grading criteria: 6 questions to evaluate cleaning validation methods

After talking to janitorial companies and in-house facility teams, from mid-sized to some of the largest in North America, here are the 6 most important criteria they consider for a cleaning validation method.

1. How much extra work will it add to my cleaners?

Cleaners are busy and human memory isn’t reliable.

Any method that requires cleaners to stop in the middle of their task, and remember to do extra work lowers productivity, increases frustration, and has a high risk of noncompliance.

Takeaway: The ideal solution is one that requires zero to minimal extra work for cleaners.Questions to ask:

Questions to ask:

  • Will this disrupt my cleaning team’s day-to-day?
  • Does it require my cleaners to carry and manage a mobile phone?

2. How long does it take to get up and running?

Taking months to roll out solutions isn’t uncommon.

Owners and executives are baffled by how much they’ve underestimated the amount of training required to implement new solutions while overestimating the tech skills of the average employee.

Every extra task assigned to your employees is a point of failure. It requires cleaners to be trained on how to do it, comply with it every day and continuously remember to do it.

What might seem like trivial actions on an app can lead to mistakes that are magnified a hundredfold when managing a larger cleaning team.

Some admitted to us that the lengthy training process, human mistakes, and non-compliance canceled any benefit they’d hoped for.

Takeaway: The best solution for fast rollouts is one that requires little to no training:

Questions to ask:

  • How long does it take to set up?
  • How long will it take to train my cleaners to stick with this new system?
  • What happens if cleaners forget or make mistakes?

3. What information does it give me?

In other words, how useful is the data? Can you put it into action?

Questions to ask:

  • Can you spot incomplete tasks at a glance across your sites?
  • Can you use it to pinpoint potential issues & improve your operations?
  • Can you use it to prove how good of a job you’re doing to stakeholders?
  • Can you use it to defend against slip and fall claims?

4. Is it built with cleaning in mind?

With so few polished solutions purposefully built for the commercial cleaning industry, some companies have resorted to using generic employee tracking apps. These one-size-fits-all solutions weren’t built with the specific needs of commercial cleaning.

This forces them to manage a mixture of solutions, waste time reinventing workflows, and try to fit their approach to the solution instead of the other around.

Questions to ask:

  • Can I use to it manage my scope of work and create new work orders?
  • Can I use it to respond to complaints?
  • Can I use it to schedule periodic tasks?

5. How much does it cost?

We’re not just talking about the cost of the software or hardware — we’re also including hidden opportunity costs: the extra time it takes to set up, train employees, modify workflows, etc.

6. How scalable is it?

This is a combination of all the previous factors. Methods that require extra work for cleaners, long set-up time, and training are not scalable.

Picture a single cleaner that’s required to log into an app, press buttons, take pictures, and attach files -  after every task they complete.

Now multiply that across dozens or hundreds of cleaners. The risk of missed check-ins and mistakes increases exponentially.

Questions to ask:

  • How quickly would this solution take to deploy across hundreds of sites?
  • How will this reduce the headache of monitoring my distributed labor force?

The Tier List

S Tier — Bluetooth beacon (The Mero Control Centre)

Overview

The Mero Control Center lets you see, validate, and prove what your cleaners are doing across your sites, without adding any extra for your cleaners.

You can see what tasks your cleaners have completed, which ones they’ve missed, and how productive your employees are - so you can surface potential issues early and provide proof of service with a detailed audit trail.

Mero uses Bluetooth beacons the size of keychains carried by cleaning staff combined with base stations installed in your buildings. This lets you track the location and time spent by your cleaners in specific areas, such as restrooms.

Our main differentiator

What separates Mero Control Center from other cleaner validation methods is that it doesn’t require any manual input, mobile phone, or training for cleaners.

That means no need to carry a phone, log in to an app, remember to clock in and out of every shift, take pictures, or scan a QR code.

It was designed to add zero extra work for your cleaners while providing reliable and actionable data.

Strengths

  • Zero extra work or device required for your cleaners

    No manual inputs, login, training, or mobile devices are required for your cleaners. They can complete their tasks normally without distraction.

  • Provides impartial data that stakeholders can trust

    Because it requires no intervention from your cleaners, your audit logs are impartial and free of human error.

  • Can be set up in 1 hour

    It can be self-installed in a building within one hour.

  • Works without WiFi

    Bluetooth beacons work independently of WiFi networks.This ensures that cleaner activities are tracked regardless of the presence or strength of WiFi signals.

    This is especially crucial when cleaners are working in spaces with limited or no WiFi coverage, when they need to move across multiple buildings, or where WiFi might be intentionally restricted or inaccessible due to security protocols.

  • It’s completely private

    A key advantage over GPS tracking is that privacy is guaranteed for your cleaning staff. Mero’s hardware collects no personal information from building visitors and cleaner identities stay private.

    Once the beacons are off and cleaners leave the area, their location is no longer monitored.

  • Highly accurate for spaces from 3x3 to 100x100 feet (30x30 meters)

    You can monitor areas down to a single washroom or meeting room.

  • Superior latitude tracking lets you track across multiple floors

    This is a significant advantage over solutions that use GPS because cleaning commercial buildings often involves multiple floors.

    This advantage is particularly crucial for cleaning multi-floor commercial buildings including warehouses, offices, and airports.

Weaknesses

  • Beacons require a change of battery every 2-4 years

  • Requires the installation of base stations in key locations

Pricing

Pricing is simple: pay a monthly subscription based on the size of your building. The monthly plan includes unlimited zones and base stations.

A Tier — Wi-Fi geofencing

After talking to janitorial companies and in-house facility teams, from mid-sized to some of the largest in North America, here are the 6 most important criteria they consider for a cleaning validation method.

Overview

Wi-Fi geofencing uses WiFi access points to create virtual boundaries around specified areas. These geofenced areas could include different rooms, floors, or zones that require cleaning.

Cleaning staff are assigned smartphones with a geofencing app installed. These devices connect to the building’s WiFi network. As staff members enter or exit the geofenced areas, their devices interact with the WiFi network, triggering the geofencing app to record the timestamps of the events.

The app then logs the time spent by each cleaner in various areas, and can potentially be integrated with task management software to track the completion of specific cleaning tasks.

Supervisors can monitor the movements and activities of cleaning staff in real-time, ensuring that all areas are cleaned as per schedule and standards.

Strengths

  • High precision

    Geofencing is one of the more accurate technologies on the market for defining areas. The level of precision provided allows you to set up a geofence that matches the contours of your building and understand when people are entering and exiting specified areas.

  • Wider range than Bluetooth

    Geofencing works well for wide-open indoor & outdoor spaces.

Weaknesses

  • Expensive

    Wi-Fi devices can cost up to 20x more than Bluetooth devices, making them cost-prohibitive for most companies when it comes to covering indoor spaces like office buildings or retail stores.

  • Depends on WiFi

    Areas with poor or no WiFi coverage can lead to gaps in tracking data, potentially impacting accuracy. If the building goes offline, all tracking goes out with it, leaving you in the dark.

  • Heavy maintenance and implementation requirements

    Wi-Fi geofences require a lot of time and setup to work properly. They need power and data connections to function, as well as backend infrastructure to administer user access and permissions.

    While some solutions use existing Wi-Fi infrastructure, companies have to wrestle with the building owners and their IT departments to install the technology.

    Plus, an extensive calibration process is required to ensure that Wi-Fi signals have strong accuracy across your building. This process needs to be repeated after any significant movement of equipment in the building. It’s also necessary to perform routine checkups to ensure that the routers being used are working properly.

    These complexities might deter building owners from adopting Wi-Fi geofencing due to potential implementation failures and cyber security risks.

  • Can be overloaded during busy periods

    If there are a lot of users connected to the network, Wi-Fi can quickly become overloaded.

  • Struggles to track people across floors

    While WiFi geofencing can be reasonably accurate for determining a device's location within a single floor or a specific area covered by the same set of access points, it generally struggles to accurately determine vertical location (i.e., which floor of a building a cleaner is on) without additional information or infrastructure.

B Tier — Janitorial & inspection software using GPS tracking

Overview

Janitorial software uses GPS to track cleaner movement, allowing supervisors to pinpoint their locations on a digital map. They also help with scheduling, time tracking, receiving status updates, and communicating more efficiently.

Cleaners have to carry a phone, log in, and check into their shifts. They are provided a task list that they can check off. Common workflows often involve taking a picture before and after each task is done.

Strengths

  • Features designed for cleaning

    These solutions are built for smaller to midsize cleaning companies and meet the specific needs of the commercial cleaning industry.

    You can use them to manage work orders, plan shifts, message cleaners, run inspections, and track time and payroll.

Weaknesses

  • Wastes up to 1 hour of work per cleaner each shift

    Manually checking in, going into an app, checking boxes, taking pictures, and uploading files can add up to an hour of extra work for every cleaner, on every shift.

  • Cleaners won’t comply 100%

    It’s virtually guaranteed that your cleaners will forget to check in, input tasks, or scan QR codes. This makes your data less reliable.

  • They require cleaners to carry a mobile phone

    Clients might also not understand the reasons why cleaners are on their phones during their shifts and think cleaners are wasting time.   

  • Not reliable for tracking in multi-story commercial buildings

    GPS tracking struggles with vertical accuracy, making it unsuitable for distinguishing between different floors.

    Its primary design is for horizontal positioning, and the signal attenuation from building materials further hampers its ability to provide precise indoor vertical location.

C Tier — Employee tracking and scheduling software

Overview

Just like janitorial software, these applications rely on GPS for time tracking & monitoring staff’s real-time location.

You can use them to manage employee timesheets and payroll, create and update schedules, add shift details, and send reminders.

Strength

  • Cost-effective for small teams

    If you’re managing a team of 10-20 cleaners and don’t need to proactively show clients which sites are cleaned, employee tracking software can be a cost-effective solution.

  • You can use it for work order management

    If you have the patience and time to make it work, you can use its features to schedule, manage, and track work orders for your cleaning staff.

Weaknesses

  • Time-consuming to adjust workflows

    Working with generic software that wasn’t built from the ground up for cleaning is like fitting a square peg in a round hole. Here’s what the owner of a cleaning company told us:

    We had to trick the system to create checklists and have photo documentation.
  • Adds more administrative work for your supervisors

    We needed to add a full-time employee just to keep schedules up to date, verify photos, and overwrite missed check-ins and check-outs.
  • It’s as falsifiable as pen and paper

    We can't tell you the number of times people have told us that their records don't correspond to their work logs. Often, the logs don't even get done.

  • It adds extra work for cleaners

    Every time they check in for a shift, they have to log into their application. Every time they finish a task, they have to stop what they were doing and register it with a new tap.

    The constant switch between work and record keeping can waste cleaner time for up to an hour per shift.

  • Cleaners need a mobile phone

    To use the application your cleaners must have a mobile device. That’s just another thing for them to remember to bring, not lose, or be distracted by.

  • Clients might not like it

    Your clients might see a mobile phone in your cleaners’ hands while entering information.

    We’ve found that some building owners complain about this, thinking cleaners are not completing their tasks.

D Tier — QR Scanning

Overview

It works by placing QR codes in areas that cleaners service.

Cleaners are required to scan the QR code after each task and often fill out a form and upload pictures.

Strength

  • You can get picture confirmations

    You can see before and after pictures attached to each task to confirm tasks have been completed.

Weaknesses

  • It’s time-consuming for cleaners

    Cleaners have to constantly switch from cleaning to scanning and inputting info into their phones.

  • Requires a mobile phone for every cleaner.

    Companies have to provide a phone for every cleaner. Cleaners have to remember to bring it, use it, & keep it charged.

  • Intrusive for tenants

    Having QR codes plastered all over the building can look messy. Tenants will stumble on them and wonder what they're for.

  • Not reliable

    If tenants move out or your building changes, the QR codes you’ve installed become useless.

  • They’re easily gameable

    We’ve heard of cases where cleaners will just take a picture of the QR code without ever completing assigned tasks.

  • Can’t reliably keep employees accountable

    If a supervisor follows up with a cleaner about an incomplete task, they can simply say that they forgot to scan the code but they’ve completed it.

    There is no real evidence that they did or didn’t do it. 

E Tier — Buttons

Overview

It works by having a button in specific areas. Cleaners press them after they finish a list of tasks. The information is then automatically logged so supervisors can track what has been completed and when.

This essentially works the same as wireless smiley buttons used to gather customer feedback in retail stores or from restroom attendees in airports.

Strength

  • It’s online

Weaknesses

  • Unsanitary

    Cleaners have to physically press something, imagine what that looks like day in and day out.

  • Low compliance

    It relies on cleaners to remember to press a button.

  • Very low-quality data

    All you get is confirmation that someone was present in a space and pressed a button.

    It’s not real proof of work. You won’t be able to see how long they’ve spent there, what happened in between, and if the task was actually completed on time.

F Tier: Pen and paper logs

Overview

The old standard of the industry. Cleaners check off tasks and log the start and end of their shifts on a sheet of paper.

Surprisingly some of the largest and most sophisticated properties, including airports still use this method today.

Strength

  • It’s virtually free if you’re already using it.

Weaknesses

  • Falsifiable and unreliable

    You’re acting in good faith that people are writing down exactly what’s happening and being compliant with your cleaning policies. 

  • It provides zero actionability

    Paper logs don't give you a clear picture of what’s happening.

    The data can’t be easily saved and analyzed to optimize cleaning schedules and staff allocation.

  • It provides zero trust to clients

    Because of their unreliability, you can’t share paper logs with your clients to inspire confidence that your cleaners are doing what they say they’re doing. 

Bottomline

You’ve probably noticed a common thread here: most methods rely on cleaners remembering to do extra work and carry a mobile device. If you want reliable and trustworthy cleaning validation that can scale across your buildings, you need to take human intervention out of the picture.

Only Bluetooth beacons and Wi-Fi geofencing don’t rely on manual inputs from your cleaners.

And Bluetooth beacon is the only method that doesn't require a mobile device on cleaners.

If your goal is to:

  • Track, validate, and prove what your cleaners are doing across your sites without requiring extra work, training, or mobile device.
  • Proactively show your clients when a site has been cleaned, not cleaned, and missed cleanings
  • Let your supervisors spot incomplete tasks at a glance

We’re confident that the Mero Control Center is the most efficient solution. If this sounds like what you’ve been looking for, book a demo to see Mero in action and choose a first site.

Mero Control Centre
See, validate, and prove cleaning tasks without adding extra work
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