What Notice Period Should a Janitorial Contract Have?

Common janitorial contract notice periods by clause

A cleaning agreement usually has several exits, each with its own notice. Read them together, because a generous convenience clause can be undone by an early termination fee or an auto-renewal deadline that has already passed.

Termination for cause: notice, cure and proof

A cure notice should name the failure, cite the contract section it breaches and set a date by which it must be fixed. "Cleaning has been poor" gives the vendor nothing to cure and gives you little to rely on later. "Restrooms on floors 3 to 5 scored below the SLA threshold in three consecutive monthly inspections" does.

Cure periods are usually short, commonly ten to thirty days depending on the failure, and safety problems may warrant less. Add a repeat-failure provision, so a vendor cannot cure the same problem every month indefinitely, and list events that allow termination without any cure, such as theft by staff, a lapse in required insurance or loss of the vendor's janitorial registration with the Labor Commissioner. Keep the evidence: inspection reports, photos, request logs and correspondence.

Leaving early for convenience

A termination for convenience clause lets either side end the agreement for any reason with notice. Without one, an owner unhappy with service may be bound to the end of the term unless it can prove cause. Ask for the clause in every janitorial agreement, and check what it costs to use.

Some vendors include early termination fees to recover startup costs, equipment bought for the site or supplies stocked in closets. Negotiate these down or out, or replace them with a declining schedule and a clear inventory buyback at cost, and confirm who owns any dispensers installed for the contract.

California's displaced janitor rule and your notice

California's Displaced Janitor Opportunity Act, Labor Code sections 1060 to 1065, adds steps when a janitorial contract ends and a successor takes over. When the owner or manager terminates the contract, its notice must say whether a successor contract has been or will be signed and, if so, identify the successor. The outgoing contractor then has three working days to give the successor each site employee's name, hire date and job classification.

The successor must generally retain employees who worked at the site for the prior four months or longer for a 60-day transition period. The Act applies to contractors with 25 or more employees and to workers on at least 15 hours a week, and the statute expects the requirement to appear in initial bid packages. Ask counsel how it applies to your contract before you send notice.

Transition duties to write into the clause

The notice period protects the building only if the contract says what happens during it. These duties cost little to include and prevent most end-of-contract friction.

• Full scope and staffing continue through the final night of service
• Keys, cards, badges and alarm codes returned against a signed log
• Vendor-owned equipment and chemicals removed on an agreed date
• Owner-owned supplies counted and left in place
• Inspection records and service logs delivered to the owner
• Reasonable cooperation with the successor, including employee information required by law
• Final invoice prorated to the last service date

Documentation that supports a fair exit

Cure notices depend on records, and EBS keeps them as a matter of course. Supervisors log inspections in the eHub system, track each deficiency through corrective action to documented completion, and keep the client's facility contact informed, so problems tend to surface and get fixed long before anyone reaches for the termination clause.