Who can you trust to care for your facility? This is a common concern among business owners and facility managers. After all, no one understands your operation the way you do, but there’s only so much you can do to keep your building and assets operational and sanitary. The facility partner you hire to help you maintain your facility must be experienced, reliable, and highly focused on your unique needs. Any janitorial or cleaning service provider can claim to meet these requirements, but only a select number of them can back it up with hard evidence. This evidence often comes in the form of certification – a third-party acknowledgment of a facility partner’s expertise and trustworthiness. And when it comes to rating cleaning and janitorial services, there’s no greater proof of a company’s worth than a CIMS (Cleaning Industry Management Standard) certification issued by the International Sanitary Supply Association (ISSA).

Let’s explore what CIMS certification entails, how cleaning providers earn it, and what it represents in those facility partners carrying it.

What to Know About CIMS Certification

What Is CIMS Certification?

From ISSA’s website, “The Cleaning Industry Management Standard is the first consensus-based management standard that outlines the primary characteristics of a successful, quality cleaning organization.” In other words, CIMS lays out what a cleaning service provider should bring to the table to deliver the best possible service for each and every client. Indeed, CIMS is highly customer-centric, aimed at helping facility partners understand their clients’ needs and goals to establish a higher-quality and more efficient management framework. A CIMS certification is official recognition that a building cleaning company has met the necessary standards outlined by ISSA after going through proper training and rigorous assessment.

How Cleaning Service Providers Achieve CIMS Certification

As alluded to above, becoming CIMS-certified requires several steps, education, and a strong commitment to quality of work. Both organizations and individuals can earn CIMS certification through slightly different means. In either case, however, the certification protocol is as follows:

• Talk to a CIMS Account Executive after deciding to go for CIMS certification and determine the price and timeline

• Complete an application with a non-refundable deposit

• Schedule a third-party ISSA assessment and start reviewing your documentation

• Receive the assessment before it’s sent to ISSA for approval

• If accepted, receive CIMS certification and notify stakeholders

Moreover, to remain CIMS-certified, an organization must apply for re-certification every two years. With so many steps involved and hurdles to overcome, only a select group of janitorial companies actually achieve CIMS certification.

The Benefits of Working with a CIMS-Certified Facility Partner

Because CIMS certification is a rare honor, cleaning companies that have earned this accolade are automatically a cut above the competition. As a business owner or facility manager seeking a reliable partner, finding a CIMS-certified partner is a major boon for your business because the hard work of feeling out a candidate’s work ethic, knowledge base, and degree of customer service is handled for you.

When working with a janitorial provider with CIMS certification, you’ll receive consistent, quality service from a team committed to efficient operations and continuous improvement. This is because, as outlined by ISSA, “The CIMS Program is designed to assist cleaning organizations in thoroughly understanding the customer’s service requirements.” As a result, CIMS facilitates the creation, maintenance, and ongoing improvement of a facility management system that allows organizations to meet their goals. In short, working with a CIMS-certified facility partner provides your organization with a customer-focused management framework. So, no matter how unique your needs or goals may be, a CIMS-certified partner is equipped to help you tackle these challenges in the most efficient way possible.

What The Budd Group’s CIMS Certification Means for Our Clients

After decades of providing quality janitorial services to our large customer base, The Budd Group was awarded CIMS certification in late 2014 and has continued to hold onto this prestigious honor ever since. Beyond the standard CIMS credentials, our company has earned CIMS Certification with Honors as well as CIMS-Green Building Certification with Honors, placing us at the peak of what ISSA has to offer. The CIMS Certification with Honors demonstrates that The Budd Group is structured to deliver consistent, quality service and is committed to efficient operations and continuous improvement; The CIMS-Green Building Certification with Honors demonstrates a commitment to the delivery of environmentally preferable services designed to meet customer needs and expectations. And by implementing these principles, we’ve established our capability to provide green cleaning services and assist customers in achieving LEED certification.

Our wide range of honors and certifications – including CIMS and its variations – reflect the kind of business and people we are. Business owners and facility managers want what’s best for their people and assets. We feel the same way, which is why we deliver the highest quality janitorial, cleaning, building maintenance, landscaping, disinfection, and specialty services to our clients across all industries. And it’s why so many facility managers trust our 3,000+ highly trained service associates to care for their facilities.

To learn more about our values, credentials, and wide range of services, give us a call today at 800-221-8158!