It is very unlikely that private colleges and universities would be using history books—or even worse, textbooks on software or computers—that are more than a decade old. On the other hand, it is quite likely they are using requests for proposals (RFPs), especially for the cleaning and maintenance of their campuses, which are usually a decade old or more.
An RFP is designed to list all of the services, frequency of service, and other information required to keep campus buildings clean and healthy. They are used for two key purposes:
- For school administrators, so that they are familiar with the cleaning needs of their own facilities
- For cleaning contractors, so that they can review all of those cleaning needs and submit an estimate—a monthly or annual charge—for maintaining a school’s facilities.
But, there are flaws in many RFPs used today. In all due respect, all kinds of settings, from private schools and universities to high-tech corporate campuses throughout the country, use RFPs that are very outdated. While there may be a variety of reasons for this, including it just being an old habit, in my experience administrators at educational facilities, public and private, have simply not kept up with changes in the professional cleaning industry.
While it is true that for decades the cleaning industry changed very little as to products and procedures, that all changed about twenty-plus years ago. That’s when the industry got much more Green and sustainability focused; when ergonomics and worker productivity began playing a bigger role in the way cleaning tools and equipment were designed; and when the cost of cleaning started mounting.
Cleaning costs are as much as 90 percent labor related and as wages and related employment costs started escalating, so did the cost of cleaning. So this tells us that an outdated RFP can have serious cost repercussions, which is something no private college or university wants if they can avoid it.
