Cleaning and maintenance services provide and perform building or facility cleaning and maintenance or repair on a daily, weekly, or ad hoc basis. Services can include office cleaning services, janitorial services, facilities maintenance personnel, and building maintenance and repair companies. Providers of building cleaning services and maintenance services work in warehouses, factories, laboratories, retailers, restaurants, schools, hospitals and other types of commercial or industrial environments. By contrast, maid services or housekeeping services address the residential market. Many building cleaning and maintenance services focus on a specific geographic area or a particular aspect of cleanup or repair. For example, some companies specialize in the removal of debris and salvage of repairable items in structures that have been damaged by fire or water.

Many small businesses cannot afford the cost of hiring full-time building cleaning and/or maintenance staff. As a result, building cleaning and maintenance services are available on a contract basis. They can serve multiple businesses in the same building or office park, or provide multiple services within the same building or facility. For example, office cleaning services and maintenance services may clean all of the offices on one of or more floors of a high rise building. They may also perform basic repairs to desks, chairs, and cubicles. A janitorial service may clean corporate suites on a daily basis and perform activities such as window and carpet cleaning several times a year. Typically, a commercial cleaning company begins work after a business’ normal working hours. In this way, personnel can perform potentially disruptive or noisy activities without affecting worker productivity. Landscape management and pest control are other functions of some building cleaning and maintenance services.

Companies that hire a business building cleaning service may also hire separate cleaning and maintenance services to service mechanical or electrical systems. For example, some building cleaning services and maintenance services can also repair in heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. Others can repair plumbing, heating, or electrical systems. Building cleaning and maintenance services that specialize in air quality or painting are also available. Cleaning companies are located across the United States and around the world, and differ in terms of cost and capabilities.