It’s not every day you find a “cleaning company” that can handle all the other non-cleaning needs of a 13-story condo in Downtown Vancouver. But this is exactly what we do at Eco Planet.
Pacific Quorum, who managed the building until recently, hired Eco Planet in April 2020 to provide relief work. We were then awarded weekend cleaning services, which became a seven days-per-week cleaning contract thanks to the high quality of our cleaning services.
It’s more important now than ever that residents feel safe from infection in their buildings. Our Building Manager/Janitorial Technician works in The Spot eight hours a day, Monday to Friday, and four hours per day over the weekend.
Full Service Janitorial and Maintenance Before and During COVID-19
Since May 2020, we have provided cleaning, building management and all out of scope services for The Spot building in Downtown Vancouver, managed by Tribe Management. This includes:
- Daily cleaning
- General janitorial upkeep
- Maintenance for floors and amenities
- Out-of-scope services, including power washing
With 13 floors and 196 units, The Spot is a large space with high traffic and shared amenities, including a rooftop garden with a fire pit and more than 10,000 square feet of lounging space.
Outdoor Cleaning Services
The Spot has three heavily used outdoor patios which require daily attention. As part of our daily cleaning services, our team clears garbage off the ground and seating areas so residents can enjoy a clean, tidy outdoor space.
We also provide power washing as an out-of-scope service. The second floor barbecue area, both of the patios on the fifth floor, the thirteenth floor rooftop patio and the underground parkade are power washed annually to address any build up of dirt or unsightly stains. To ensure residents’ safety, power washing is completed from April-October to ensure no surface ice forms from applying moisture to outdoor surfaces.
The front entrance and perimeter of the building is often subject to high levels of dirt and debris. Our team removes garbage from the area daily. As soon as our Building Manager/Janitorial Technician arrives in the morning, he checks The Spot’s exits, back entrances and parkades to ensure they’re secure and residents feel safe.
Strata Common Area Cleaning Services
As part of our out-of-scope services, Eco Planet power washes the lobby, elevators, P1 and P2 levels and the ceramic tiles on floors 2-13 annually. We also deep clean the building’s carpets twice a year, and provide carpet spotting services every quarter. This allows residents to enjoy carpets that don’t just look clean, but are hygienic too.
We have also installed hand sanitizer dispensers in the main lobby area, where the building has the highest traffic. These can also be found on the parking levels 1 & 2, inside and outside the gym, and in the garbage room. To ensure maximum hygiene, Eco Planet’s Building Manager wipes the elevator and intercom buttons on each floor daily to catch any bacteria or germs that can gather there.
To ensure the building remains clean, we have scheduled cleaning for the gym twice daily. In addition to this we have implemented a sign-in sheet for the gym. This means residents can be contacted if there was any exposure to COVID. It also helps manage numbers inside the gym for safe social distancing.
Building Maintenance and Specialty Cleaning
We at Eco Planet have many systems in place to tackle common cleaning challenges. One of these includes a way to neutralize unpleasant garbage room odours using our go-to tool, the PowAir fog machine. This product neutralizes bad odours with nontoxic, natural ingredient products which are safe for residents and their pets.
We spray inside the recycling bins twice a day with the PowAir to remove odour and ensure the avoidance of pests. Because it’s a large garbage room, we have also installed a unit on the wall which releases essential oils using a propeller. This is changed every two weeks, keeping unpleasant odours at a minimum.
How to Make Strata Council and Building Residents Happy
The Spot’s high traffic and high-touch common areas require thorough and regular cleaning. It was therefore important for us to introduce a more organized, transparent approach to how the space is cleaned.
Two-Way Communication Between Property Managers and Cleaning Staff
One of the ways we were able to do this was by introducing SWEPT, an app which offers real-time communication using photos, in-app messaging and more. This means our clients can communicate quickly and efficiently with our managers, and don’t have to be “on site” to check on progress.
In addition, our Building Manager/Janitorial Technician at The Spot acts as an effective “middle man” between the residents and the property management group. This involves showing any contractors to the correct areas and giving them access to these, as well as placing notices throughout the building with additional information for residents. He also oversees move-in and move-outs for residents, scheduling the elevator in advance, explaining how the operation will work, providing keys to new residents and generally addressing any questions or concerns from building residents.
High Quality Cleaning Systems from Professionals Who Care
When carrying out cleaning tasks around the building, our experienced teams always use microfiber cloths to remove all dirt, stains and contamination in a single wipe. These types of cloths attract dust, bacteria and moisture, but do not allow them to penetrate the fibres, meaning less product is required and dirt isn’t being spread from surface to surface.
We also use the Buckeye Proportioning System, which ensures clients and Strata residents experience a safe, clean environment while saving money and reducing waste. Our ‘squeeze and pour’ system allows our cleaning team quick, easy access to Buckeye’s dilutable solutions. This approach reduces the amount of harmful chemicals onsite, allowing for a clean, eco-friendly environment.
We also use the Buckeye Proportioning System, which ensures clients and Strata residents experience a safe, clean environment while saving money and reducing waste. The dispensing unit installed at The Spot allows our janitorial technicians to have quick, easy access to just the right amount of concentrated, automatically diluted solution. This approach reduces the amount of harmful chemicals onsite, as well as the level of airborne germs.
Manufactured with 83% less plastic than rigid containers, Buckeye’s packaging and chemistry are not only eco-friendly, but make economical sense, too. Concentrated products are also a more cost effective option, as you save on additional freight or fuel charges to ship water.
All-In-One Cleaning & Maintenance Solutions for Strata, Property Managers, Cleaners and Residents
Are you interested in an eco-friendly, people-friendly and pet-friendly cleaning provider for your Greater Vancouver property? Sales Manager, Dunja Celic, is ready and looking forward to talking with you about all your cleaning needs. Request a free quote, or contact her via email at dunja@ecoplanetcanada.ca.
