Choosing a Cleaner
With so many cleaning services to choose from, trying to find the most competent and trustworthy company to invite into your home can be a real challenge.
There are a few very important factors we recommend that you consider when making the decision to hire a professional cleaning company:
Professional Cleaner Certification
It’s very important when choosing a professional carpet cleaner to understand the qualifications and experience of the technicians who will clean your home. Unfortunately, many carpet cleaners operate with little or no formal training. You should only hire a company that is “Firm Certified” by the IICRC.
The IICRC (Institute of Inspection, Cleaning & Restoration Certification) is a non-profit organization that establishes standards, best practices and Certification Training Programs for the carpet cleaning and restoration industry. “Firm Certification” ensures that the cleaning company and its technicians comply with established industry cleaning standards, that the company is committed to Continuous Education for all its technicians, and that the company is committed to the high ethical standards mandated by the IICRC in dealing with its clientele.
Shaw Industries, the largest carpet manufacturer in the World, requires their carpets be cleaned by an IICRC Certified Technician every 12-18 months in order to uphold their warranty. A good source for finding a professional carpet cleaner in your area is the IICRC website.
Insurance
Before inviting any professional cleaner into your home, there are three types of insurance coverage the cleaning company must have to protect you from unforeseen liabilities.
General Liability – This insurance provides coverage to the company for damages to property or injuries caused by the company or its employees. It is a primary line of insurance coverage that all businesses should have.
Worker’s Compensation – Workers compensation provides payments to injured workers for the time lost from work and for medical and rehabilitation costs arising from an accident. In the State of Georgia, employers are NOT required to purchase workers compensation coverage if they have less than three employees. Companies with less than three employees, or that use sub-contractors (not technically employees), are not required to purchase workers compensation coverage!
Workers compensation is the most expensive insurance for most employers, costing as much as 15% of the company’s total payroll. Many cleaning companies do not purchase workers compensation in order to save money and gain a competitive pricing advantage. BEWARE!
As a homeowner, you are assuming considerable risk if you hire someone to perform work at your home who is not covered by workers compensation. Even though you are not the worker’s “employer”, if a worker is injured at your home and his employer does not have workers compensation coverage, some courts have found the homeowner to be liable! To make matters worse, homeowner’s liability insurance policies DO NOT typically cover medical and lost wage costs for employees working in a home.
Before inviting anyone to work in your home you should require proof that the worker is covered by workers compensation insurance.
Fidelity – This insurance is also commonly referred to as “crime insurance” or “bonded”. It provides coverage for losses arising from theft, fraud or other forms of employee dishonesty.
Insurance Certificate - Before beginning any work in your home, the cleaning company should be willing to provide you with an official “Insurance Certificate” as evidence that they have adequate insurance coverage in place.
Click the link to view the Q Care Insurance Certificate
Unfortunately, many companies will quote below market pricing for their work by saving money on insurance coverage and employment taxes, thereby passing the risk of loss onto their customers.
Price Quote
Your carpet cleaner should be willing to provide you with a guaranteed price quote BEFORE performing any service – either over the phone, via website or an onsite visit. The price quoted should cover ALL cleaning steps and procedures necessary to clean your carpet under normal conditions.
There are many unscrupulous cleaners that quote low prices up-front to win business and then after beginning the work inform customers of additional charges for such things as “spot removal” or “heavily soiled” areas…the proverbial “bait and switch”. It is important to clarify exactly what is included in the price quoted before hiring a cleaner.
You should be aware there are certain treatments and procedures that professional carpet cleaners offer that are NOT considered part of the “normal” carpet cleaning process, and are generally not included in price quotes unless specifically specified. Services such as pet odor & stain treatments, repairs, stretching, carpet protection, soil filtration, etc are not considered “normal” cleaning procedures and are typically charged separately. You should notify your carpet cleaning professional of these issues when scheduling a service to ensure that they factor these services into the price quote.
Employees
It is very important to chose a cleaner that uses employees, not sub contractors! Make sure a uniformed employee in a lettered company truck will be cleaning your home. There are some carpet cleaning companies who are really not carpet cleaning companies…they are just marketing companies. They advertise, book the jobs….and sub it out to an independent carpet cleaner. In this situation the actual company who books the job has little if any control over the qualifications and character of the technician in your home!
Ask if the company performs background checks on its employees and what type of employee screening the company employs. You need to be certain that you are inviting honest and trustworthy technicians into your home!
Find out what kind of formal training and professional certifications the cleaning company and its employees hold. Both the company AND its employees should be Certified by the IICRC. This certification proves that the company has been properly trained and passed uniform exams pertaining to carpet cleaning. Request proof that the firm is Certified or go to the IICRC web site.
Cleaner’s Warranty
The cleaning company should warranty their work for a reasonable period of time after the cleaning is completed. They should be willing to return to your home to take care of any issues that may arise following their work.
Cleaner’s References
The company should be willing to provide references. It pays to check references to avoid potential headaches after the fact. An easy way to check references is to use the internet. Check customer ratings on websites such as KUDZU, YAHOO, etc. If the company posts testimonials on its website these are helpful especially if they identify the names of customers.
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