Most facilities managers ask the same question within five minutes of a walk-round: how often should this really be deep cleaned? The honest answer is that there isn't a single number — and anyone quoting one without seeing the site is guessing. But there is a defensible framework, and after forty-five years of cleaning commercial premises across Somerset, we use the same one for every contract we quote.
This is what it looks like.
Maintenance cleaning vs deep cleaning
Two different jobs. Worth separating them before anything else.
Maintenance cleaning is the daily or weekly visit — bins, washrooms, kitchens, high-touch points, vacuuming, hard-floor mopping, glass at hand height. It keeps a building presentable and hygienic on a rolling basis.
Deep cleaning is periodic. It addresses what maintenance can't reach: detail work on grouting, descaling, high-level dusting, behind and under fixed furniture, full carpet extraction, kitchen extractor canopies, ventilation grilles, sanitary fittings down to the brackets. It exists because daily cleaning, however thorough, builds residual soiling over time. Deep clean cycles reset that.
The two are complementary. A site with strong maintenance still needs deep cleans; a site with infrequent maintenance and one annual deep clean will look tired three months in.
The frequency framework
Deep clean cadence is driven by four variables:
- Footfall — how many people pass through, daily
- Sector risk profile — hygiene-critical, public-facing, low-traffic admin
- Surface type — carpet vs hard floor, high-glass vs low-glass, food prep vs office only
- Compliance overlay — sector-specific frameworks (CQC, Ofsted, food safety) that set their own minimums
Sites in the same sector can sit at very different frequencies once you weigh those four together. A 40-person rural primary school is not the same job as a 600-pupil town academy.
That said, here are the bands we see most often.
By sector
Offices
- Maintenance: typically 3-5 visits per week, depending on occupancy
- Deep clean: quarterly is the standard for most offices; twice-yearly for low-occupancy or split-shift sites
- Watch for: carpet wear paths, kitchen extractor build-up, washroom grout discolouration
Schools and academies
- Maintenance: daily during term, plus reactive
- Deep clean: every school holiday — five times a year minimum. Half-terms get a focused deep clean; summer is the full reset including carpet extraction, hall floor strip-and-seal, and high-level dust.
- Watch for: Ofsted hygiene expectations, EYFS settings (additional cadence), kitchen compliance
Healthcare and dental
- Maintenance: daily, with documented sanitisation
- Deep clean: monthly to quarterly depending on clinical area and CQC inspection rhythm
- Watch for: colour-coded equipment, validated chemistry, BICSc-trained operatives, audit trail. This sector has the least margin for ambiguity.
Hospitality and retail
- Maintenance: daily, often twice
- Deep clean: monthly for kitchen-led sites; quarterly for retail. Front-of-house glass and entry matting are weekly tasks, not deep clean tasks.
- Watch for: extractor canopy compliance under TR/19, customer-facing washroom condition (the brand-damage risk is highest here)
Communal residential blocks
- Maintenance: weekly or fortnightly common area cleans
- Deep clean: every six months for entry, lifts and stairs; annual for bin stores and refuse rooms
- Watch for: leaseholder visibility — block residents notice the things the contract often forgets (skirting, light fittings, lift mirrors)
Builders cleans
- Cadence: one-off, but sequenced. Sparkle clean before handover, then a follow-up two to four weeks in once trades have finished snagging.
What good looks like
If you're reviewing whether your current deep clean cadence is right, three quick checks:
- Document the scope. A deep clean without a scope sheet is a tidy-up. Every cycle should list the surfaces, methods, and chemistry, with a sign-off.
- Walk the site within 48 hours of completion. Anything you spot then is feedback for the next cycle. Photo the issues.
- Match cadence to the audit calendar, not the calendar year. Schools deep clean to half-terms, healthcare to CQC, food sites to EHO. Don't fight that rhythm — work to it.
When to increase frequency
A few signals that quarterly isn't enough:
- Carpet appearance dropping inside week three of each quarter
- Washroom complaints from staff or visitors
- Visible build-up on white grouting, extractor surrounds, or air vents
- New compliance requirement (e.g. healthcare contract change, food safety upgrade)
- Major change in occupancy or use pattern
In each case, the answer is usually a focused interim — a kitchen deep, a washroom deep, a carpet extraction — rather than rebuilding the whole cycle.
The KS approach
For every contract we quote, we walk the site, weigh the four variables above against the client's compliance overlay, and propose a maintenance schedule plus a deep clean calendar that maps to their year — not a generic template. The schedule is documented; the audit trail is photo-verified; and the cadence is reviewed every twelve months in case use patterns have shifted.
That's the honest answer to "how often should we deep clean": as often as your sector, footfall and surfaces demand, no less, and rarely more. Anyone selling a one-size cadence is selling convenience, not cleaning.
Thinking about deep clean cadence at your premises? Request a site visit and quote — we'll walk the building and write a schedule that matches the building, not a template.