Calculating cleaning times, or production rates, can be a difficult task due to the number of variables in each particular situation. But help is out there if you know where to look.
Because there are so many variables – cleaning frequency, customer expectations, building surfaces, equipment used, and level of quality, to name a few – and accurate production rates are so essential, the best practice is to develop your own building-specific rates. Conducting your own times study is one of the best methods to determine the production for a given task.
How to Perform a Time Study
- Choose a task
- Measure the area
- Note building variables
- Observe and record
- Average the rate
- Adjust for variables
- Fine-tune your rates
The following example comes from ISSA’s Smart Staffing Bidding & Estimating Guidebook.
Task: Remove trash
Area: 15,000 square feet
Density: Normal, no variables
Use the following formula to determine your
production rate: 60 / (average minutes from time study) x (number of square feet in the study)
Average Time 180/6 = 30 Minutes
In this study, the formula would be:
60 / 30 x 15,000 = 30,000 square feet per hour
Since there were no variables, we now know that the base production for trash removal in this building is 30,000 square feet per hour.
Source: Reprinted with permission from ISSA.com
