Hiring a commercial cleaning company means giving someone recurring access to your building. That crew will have keys, alarm codes, and unsupervised time in your facility. Who shows up matters as much as how well they clean.
Five criteria separate a trustworthy commercial cleaning crew from one that will create headaches. Ask whether every employee passes a background check and reference check before their first shift. Ask whether the company runs surprise inspections after the crew leaves. Ask whether the owners still work alongside their staff. Ask whether the company will name its bond carrier, not just say “bonded and insured.” Ask whether you get a walk-through quote before any contract is signed.
Frisco Brothers Janitorial Service meets all five. Founded in March 2001, bonded and insured, 26+ staff, 65+ active clients, and a 5.0 rating across 56 Google reviews. Frisco Brothers serves businesses across Collin and Denton counties, and a free walk-through quote costs you nothing. Call (214) 618-0816 or visit our commercial cleaning services page to get started.
Know Who Is Actually Coming Into Your Building
The crew walking into your building tonight has access to everything in it. That is not a service-quality question. It is a security question.
The first thing to ask a commercial cleaning service is whether the crew passes background checks and reference checks before setting foot in your building. These are two different screenings. A background check confirms identity and criminal history. A reference check confirms that prior employers vouched for the person’s character and work record. Both matter. A company that can clear one but skip the other has not completed the process.
Ask specifically how the screening works: Who administers the background check? Is it standardized across every hire, or handled case by case? A janitorial service that cannot answer this clearly has not standardized its hiring process. That is worth knowing before you sign.
The second question is whether the crew is employed directly by the company or sourced through a subcontractor network. This distinction trips up a lot of buyers.
The hiring here is local, not from gig-labor platforms. Mark McGlothlin’s standard for new hires is direct: “We are quite picky about who we hire.” Every employee passes background and reference checks before their first assignment. The hiring bar is high because the building access they receive is real. Screening at the hiring stage is the first layer of accountability. It is not the only one.
Ask Whether Inspections Happen After the Crew Leaves
Most buyers ask about cleaning standards during the sales conversation. Fewer ask who checks those standards once the contract starts.
Any crew can perform well for an initial visit or a scheduled review. The question that separates accountable companies from everyone else is this: does the company conduct unannounced inspections of its active accounts? Surprise spot inspections, with no warning to the crew, are the real quality-control mechanism. They catch skipped areas, wrong chemicals, rushed work, and crew substitutions the client was never told about. A scheduled inspection tells you how the crew behaves when they know someone is watching. A surprise inspection tells you how they behave on an ordinary Tuesday.
Ask the company directly: Are your inspections announced or unannounced? How often do they happen? Who conducts them? A vague answer (“we check in regularly”) is not the same as a specific inspection policy.
A cleaning company that runs surprise spot inspections, hires locally, and has owners who clean alongside their crews offers a different accountability standard than a franchise or subcontractor network. Mark runs what he calls “regular surprise spot inspections.” Not pre-announced, not on a published schedule, not contingent on a complaint. Regular and unannounced. For clients who have dealt with crews that perform on day one and drift by month three, this is the accountability mechanism that changes that pattern.
Surprise inspections work best when the people running them are invested in the outcome. That brings us to the next question.
Look for Owners Who Are Still Hands-On
A franchise or large-chain cleaning company typically puts a contract manager between you and the work. The manager handles your account. The crew is whoever showed up that night. There may be no owner involvement at any point after the contract is signed.
The accountability structure changes when the owners are still in the field. Owner-operators who clean alongside their crew see quality problems the same night they happen, not in a complaint email a week later. A cleaning company where the owner is present on accounts delivers a different standard of responsiveness than one managed entirely from a desk.
Mark and Sandra McGlothlin are both personally active in the cleaning of client offices and facilities. Mark’s own words: “Both Sandra and I are very much active in the cleaning of our clients’ offices and facilities.” Sandra is also bilingual in Spanish and involved in hiring and estimates. They are in the work, not behind it.
This matters practically. When a facilities manager notices something wrong at 9 PM, there is a direct line to someone who cares about the outcome, not a ticketing queue.
Ask the company you’re evaluating: Will I deal directly with an owner or with a contract manager? Does the owner visit active accounts? Frisco Brothers has been operating this way for 25 years. It is not a policy adopted for marketing purposes.
The full team story, including the hiring process and supervisor backgrounds, is on the about page. For a buyer comparing crews, the relevant fact is that owner involvement here is structural, not ceremonial.
Demand Transparency Before the Contract Is Signed
Two areas where cleaning contracts go wrong before they start: pricing and bonding. Both are transparency questions.
On pricing, a free walk-through quote is the professional standard for commercial cleaning. Any company that quotes a price by square footage alone, without walking the space, is estimating without understanding what the job requires. Square footage does not tell you how many restrooms need servicing, what floor types are involved, whether there is a breakroom that needs attention daily versus weekly, or what specialty services the scope includes. Ask for a walk-through before accepting any number. While you are at it, ask what the quote includes and what gets billed separately. Restocking, carpet extraction, and floor work sometimes appear as add-ons after signing. Get those answers in writing before you commit.
On bonding, the phrase “bonded and insured” is the floor, not a credential. Every legitimate bonded cleaning service should be able to name its carrier. A company that cannot or will not name its bond carrier has not verified its own coverage in any meaningful way. Ask for the carrier name and whether a certificate of insurance is available on request.
Frisco Brothers carries the bond and offers free walk-through quotes for all new commercial accounts in Frisco and the surrounding service area. No surprise add-ons after signing. For the full scope of commercial cleaning services Frisco Brothers offers, that page has the detail.
Frequently Asked Questions About Hiring a Commercial Cleaning Service
How do I know if a commercial cleaning company is bonded?
Ask for the name of the bond carrier. A company that is genuinely bonded can name it without hesitation. Saying “we’re bonded and insured” without a carrier name is not verification. Hartford Insurance is the bond carrier here. A certificate of insurance is available on request for clients who need it for their own records.
What is the difference between a background-checked employee and a subcontracted gig worker?
An employee hired through a background and reference check process was vetted by the company before they ever walked into a client’s building. A subcontracted worker was vetted, or not, by a third-party platform. In a subcontract arrangement, the cleaning company may not know specifically who shows up for a given job. That is a meaningful difference in accountability. Ask which model the company uses before signing.
How often should a commercial cleaning company inspect its own accounts?
There is no industry-standard inspection frequency. The right answer is “regularly and unannounced.” Some companies inspect only when a client complains; some do scheduled reviews that the crew prepares for. Neither is the same as a surprise spot inspection. The cadence here is account-specific, not published on a fixed schedule, because the point is that the crew does not know when an inspection will happen.
Should I expect the same crew at every cleaning visit?
Crew consistency is a reasonable expectation for a recurring commercial account. Ask whether the company assigns dedicated crews to accounts or rotates staff across jobs. High rotation is often a sign of subcontractor sourcing rather than a stable direct-hire workforce. Companies that hire locally and retain their staff are better positioned to deliver consistent crew assignments. Turnover is the hidden variable; ask about it directly.
What does a free walk-through quote actually include?
A proper walk-through quote covers a full assessment of the cleaning scope: square footage, surface types, frequency, restrooms, breakrooms, and any specialty services. It produces a written price. It also names what is and is not included so there are no surprises after signing. Free walk-through quotes are standard for all new commercial accounts. To schedule one, call (214) 618-0816.
What Frisco Brothers Brings to Every Contract
The five criteria in this post describe more than two decades of operational practice under the same ownership and the same standards. These are not policies adopted recently or promises made during a sales call.
The full service area covers Frisco and surrounding cities across Collin and Denton counties, serving an active roster of commercial clients across Collin and Denton counties. Background checks, reference checks, surprise spot inspections, owner presence in the field, the bond, and free walk-through quotes are all in place right now.
When you are ready to compare, a walk-through costs you nothing and takes less than an hour. You will see the scope, get a written price, and meet the people who will be in your building.
Frisco Brothers Janitorial Service Frisco, TX 75033 (214) 618-0816