At 7 p.m. the last employee leaves and sets the alarm. At 7:30 a cleaning crew disarms it and lets itself in. Until morning, the only people inside work for someone else. Most of the time, that is completely routine. Even so, it places real security responsibility on the cleaning provider. Janitorial Cleaning Services in Chicago often involve after-hours building access, making proper security procedures an important part of the service.
Every key handed to a cleaning crew is part of the building’s security plan.
Tracking Every Key
A cleaning provider usually receives at least one key or card. Where that key goes next is the real issue.
Each one should be numbered and signed out, so the provider can say which crew member had it on any given night.
If an employee leaves, the key should be returned within days, not discovered in a car glove box months later.
Why Janitorial Cleaning Services in Chicago Need Individual Alarm Codes
Sharing a single alarm code across an entire crew makes it impossible to tell who entered and when.
Individual codes solve that. The alarm log then shows a name next to each arm and disarm.
If a door is found unlocked one morning, the facility manager can see exactly who closed up the night before.
How Janitorial Cleaning Services in Chicago Handle Restricted Areas
Certain rooms are off limits to the nightly crew, or nearly so. That usually means the server room and wherever HR keeps its files.
In medical buildings, the pharmacy and lab are often on the list too.
Some are cleaned only with a staff escort. Others are excluded entirely.
Janitorial services should follow those boundaries exactly, and the scope of work should list them by name.
Lockup Is Part of the Job
The last task of a shift matters as much as the first.
- Interior doors returned to their original state.
- Lights off where they should be off.
- Windows checked on the ground floor.
- Then the alarm is armed and the time written down.
Skipping any of it means the building ends the night less secure than it started.
Staff Changes Need a Process
Cleaning crews change over time, as any workforce does.
Each change should trigger a few routine steps: codes removed, keys collected, the client notified.
Without those steps, a former employee’s code may still work months later.
Any provider should be able to explain its turnover process in a sentence or two.
Janitorial Cleaning Services in Chicago Make Security Part of the Service
In the morning, a client notices the floors.
Nobody notices the locked doors or the alarm log, which is how it should be.
Janitorial Cleaning Services in Chicago that treat access control as part of the job give facility managers one less thing to worry about after hours.
Contact Us
Keys, codes, and restricted rooms deserve the same care as the floors.
Power Bright Cleaning Services provides commercial cleaning and Janitorial Cleaning Services for offices, schools, healthcare facilities, retail stores, and other commercial properties throughout Chicago.
Questions about building access, or about our janitorial services in general, can go to (312) 312-7866 or Info@powerbrightcleaning.com.