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One may polish the lobby each day, and the bin enclosure at the back of the building may stink, while the drain next to the loading bay may fill up with litter, and an overfilled waste area may cause complaints. For a cleaning services company, these areas can highlight how easily responsibility becomes unclear when different contractors are involved.
Not a single one of the contractors can be said to be “technically wrong”.
The cleaner says that external waste is not included in the contract. Plants are not the problem of the landscaping contractor. The waste collector empties the bins but does not clean the enclosure. The Facilities Management assumes that another person is taking care of all three.
It seems like this building has a serious management problem.
The distinction between different contracts is an issue that is slowly gaining significance within the growing facilities management sector of Malaysia. The Works Ministry mentioned in August 2026 that the CIDB database showed 1,541 facilities management and maintenance projects worth RM39.59 billion between 2023 and 2025.
The message here for property managers and businesses is clear and action-oriented: The cleaning process needs to be embedded within the property itself and not merely a list of items to clean and polish. A reliable cleaning services company can play an important role in identifying where these responsibilities overlap.
Recent tenders show how broad “cleaning” can become
Consider how cleaning contracts in Malaysia’s public sector are handled.
The green procurement tender, which was published in June by the Property Management Division of the Prime Minister’s Department (PMD) in Kuala Lumpur, has a contract for cleaning buildings, roads, drains and sumps, as well as grass-cutting, landscaping and rubbish collection services in a government residential complex in Kuala Lumpur.
The contracts for cleaning buildings and outdoor areas also include environmentally friendly requirements.
That is about the property as a whole.
Visitors do not view a building’s services as separate packages. They see the approach, parking area, lift lobby, washroom, grounds, and surroundings as one entity.
The overall experience can suffer when maintenance responsibilities are divided.
For a cleaning services company, this broader view of the property is important because cleaning responsibilities can extend beyond the obvious areas inside a building.
The problem usually sits at the boundary
Therefore, a business selecting a cleaning services firm would need to be careful about exclusions.
Consider a commercial bathroom. This service provider would be expected to clean the floors, fixtures, and basins. But who would be called in to fix a leaky tap, replace a broken-down dispenser, or clear a blocked floor trap?
A cleaning crew may be the first to spot the problem but not be responsible for rectifying it.
The situation repeats itself elsewhere.
The cleaning team finds signs of pest infestation in a waste room. Pest control services are carried out once a month by a pest control company.
The drain in the loading bay gets filled with rainwater after a heavy downpour. A landscaper spots this problem, but another company manages it.
These crucial observations may be ignored if communication channels are not in place between the different contractors.
It is precisely in such areas, which cleaning teams regularly visit but managers may not, that cleaning crews can offer valuable observations about the building. This is also where a cleaning services company can contribute information beyond its routine cleaning tasks.
Waste deserves its own line of responsibility
Cleaning and garbage collection are closely related, although they are not identical tasks – cleaning is one part of waste management.
Generation of commercial, industrial and institutional solid waste is controlled under the terms of the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Act 2007, where appropriate, states SWCorp.
According to the regulations, waste generators have to separate recyclable and non-recyclable waste and use only licensed waste collection services, with sanctions being imposed on those that fail to comply with the regulations.
In compliance with the decision made by the Cabinet on 29 July 2026, the state of Selangor is going to implement Act 672 in phases throughout all of its 12 local authorities.
The job of a property manager serves as a reminder of the need to separate these tasks that can be conveniently grouped under “rubbish”.
There has to be someone who will clean internal bins. Bin areas have to be cleaned. Someone has to collect the waste and take it away.
Separation of recyclables might be needed. Special measures have to be applied to bulky waste, scheduled waste, or specialized waste.
A cleaning services company should be able to provide information about these tasks and their extent.
Write outcomes into the scope, not only frequencies
Cleaning specifications for the traditional method of cleaning are similar to a calendar:
Toilets cleaned twice per day, floors cleaned daily, windows cleaned monthly.
Frequency helps, but is not always the aim.
A better specification involves the task to be done and the desired condition.
Instead of saying that the waste room should be cleaned three times per week, the contract should clarify that any smell, spillage, or dirt should trigger additional cleaning of the waste room.
It doesn’t need to specify that the drains should be cleaned every month, but rather should clarify who is responsible for reporting any puddling or blockage noticed between scheduled visits.
This leaves room for judgment without introducing any vagueness into the contract.
This will also create a fairer system of evaluating performance.
Contractors are evaluated on how they perform in relation to things they have control over, and not based on any complaint about work allocated to another person.
A cleaning services company working under clearly defined outcomes can therefore understand where its responsibility begins and ends while still reporting problems that require attention elsewhere.
Several contractors need one reporting chain
In bigger sites, it may be sensible to have different people for cleaning, landscaping, waste disposal, pest control, and mechanical maintenance.
It does not mean that having all dimensions through one contractor is the best option.
What matters most is the exchange of information.
A practical system can be simple:
- one facilities contact receives cross-service issues;
- contractors know what they are expected to report;
- photographs or work-order records show unresolved problems;
- responsibility for recurring boundary areas is written down;
- contract reviews examine repeated handoff failures, not only completed checklists.
This is something positive to look for when choosing a cleaning agency. Provide the would-be contractor with the following scenario: “Your cleaner finds the presence of water puddles and insects in the back area of your waste room.” “What happens next?”
The response will provide you with more insight than the number of cleaners the company employs. This is one reason a property manager should assess how a cleaning services company communicates problems rather than looking only at staffing numbers.
Cleanliness is an outcome shared across the property
The fact that a building is a system becomes more apparent with the growth of the facilities-management industry in Malaysia.
Cleaning may just be one area, but invariably, it will always involve interaction with waste disposal, maintenance, landscaping, pest control, and human beings using the building.
Even if a contractor is able to do everything stipulated in the agreement, there may still be issues for the client.
Instead of wondering whether all the tasks have been allotted, it is much better to ensure that each task is assigned effectively and efficiently.
That is because every problem needs a clearly assigned owner.
For property managers, choosing a cleaning services company that understands these boundaries and reports issues clearly can help ensure that cleanliness remains an outcome shared across the entire property.
Looking for affordable house cleaning services near me? Trust Jashan Corporation for reliable, professional cleaning solutions across Malaysia. Contact info@jashan.com.my or WhatsApp +6012-3836905 today.
