Does a Cleaning Company Need Special Permission to Enter an Office Building After Hours?

The Three Documents

Most managing agents want the same three things before anyone receives a badge.

A Certificate of Insurance naming the correct entities as additional insured, at the limits the handbook specifies.

A vendor registration. A form, sometimes an online portal, occasionally both. Company details, contacts, proof of workers' compensation, and acknowledgement of the building's rules.

A named roster. The people who will actually hold credentials. Buildings vary in how much they want about each person, and in how quickly they will add somebody later.

Freight, Hours and the Operator

Access is more than paperwork. Many commercial buildings have freight-only access for service vendors, with restricted hours and a required operator. Outside those hours the operator is generally billable, and handbooks often describe the rate as prevailing without publishing a figure. Establish this with your agent before you compare proposals, because whether it sits inside a company's figure or is passed through to you can account for the entire difference between two quotes.

The Alarm

Somebody has to be on the authorised list, somebody has to hold the code, and somebody has to be called if it goes off at two in the morning. Sort that before the first shift rather than during it.

What a Realistic Answer Sounds Like

"We already hold access in your building, so we can start Monday" is a real answer.

"We will submit the certificate this week, registration usually takes your agent about ten days, and we would plan on the first Monday after badges are issued" is also a real answer, and a better sign than the first if the company is not already in the building.

"We can start tomorrow", with no mention of any of this, means either that they already work in your building and did not say so, or that they have not read your handbook. Ask which.