Custodial Services

On this page:
Customer Service Information
Routine Cleaning
Cleaning Following a Move and/or Renovation
Periodic Additional Cleaning
Special Requests
Hours of Service

Customer Service Information

The Office of Research Facilities provides custodial services to most NIH buildings on and off-campus. Services available in leased and owned facilities may differ; those available in leased facilities vary based on the requirements of the specific lease. In some cases, services are provided by other organizations. Use the following table to direct your questions about custodial services to the right source.

For questions about . . .	Contact	Phone
Animal care areas	Animal Facilities Managers for each individual building	Varies with building
Animal facilities – administrative office space, bathrooms, and lobbies outside animal care areas	Customer Service	301-435-8000
Baltimore , Maryland facilities	Sheila Zichos	410-558-8041
Patient areas in Building 10 and the CRC	Housekeeping Services	301-496-2417
Non-patient areas in Building 10- bathrooms, labs, offices, corridors,support areas	Customer Service	301-435-8000
Conference Centers in Buildings 10 (Masur and Lipsett); 45; and 31C, 6 th floor.	Marianne Bachmann	301-435-1677
NIEHS facilities	Ron McMillan	919-541-7838
NIH owned and leased facilities (except Building 10)	Customer Service	301-435-8000
Parking garages (MLP8, 45, 38A) – interior and lobby areas of elevators and stairwells	Customer Service	301-435-8000
Parking garages – parking areas	Customer Service	301-425-8000
Rocky Mountain Laboratories services	Mark Mora	406-363-9203
Special custodial requests	Customer Service	301-435-8000

Routine Cleaning
Routine cleaning consists of cleaning tasks performed on a frequent basis and requiring no special scheduling or planning. These services include:

Daily: Empty trash receptables. Clean drinking fountains. Sweep and damp mop or scrub bathrooms. Clean all toilet fixtures and replenish toilet supplies. Dispose of all trash and garbage generated in or about the building.
Dailey Sweep floors and vacuum carpets in entrances, lobbies, stairs, and corridors. Or as needed.
Weekly: Dust horizontal surfaces that are readily available and visibly require dusting. Vacuum carpet in offices. Or as needed.
Every two weeks: Spray buff resilient floors in secondary corridors, entrance and lobbies. Damp mop and spray buff hard and resilient floors in office space. Or as needed.
Monthly: Thoroughly dust furniture. Sweep storage space. Spot clean all wall surfaces within 70 inches of the floor. Wash all trashcans in the break room(s), eating and vending area(s), and all hallway trashcans. Or as needed.
Every two months: Damp wipe toilet wastepaper receptables, stall partitions, doors, windowsills, and frames. Or as needed.
Twice a year: Wash all interior and exterior windows. Strip and apply four coats of finish to resilient floors in toilets. Strip and refinish main corridors and other heavily trafficked areas.
Annually: Wash all Venetian blinds and dust six months from washing. Vacuum or dust all surfaces in the building up to 70 inches from the floor, including light fixtures. Vacuum all drapes in place. Strip and refinish floors in offices and secondary lobbies and corridors. Shampoo carpets in corridors and lobbies. Clean balconies, ledges, courts, areaways, and flat roofs.
As needed: Shampoo carpets in all offices and other non-public areas on an as-requested basis.

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Cleaning Following a Move

When a move occurs general cleaning is done in staff areas (office, lab, file room, conference room). This consists of:

Cleaning cabinets, sinks and counters, and walls
Dusting vents, ledges, pipes, and lights
Cleaning floors thoroughly

There is no extra charge for this service if the space is already included in the cleanable space inventory and service can be scheduled Monday through Friday.

Periodic Additional Cleaning

Most periodic cleaning is performed after 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, to minimize impact on occupants. Periodic cleaning consists of the following:

Once a year – strip and refinish hard-surfaced floors
Every two years – extract carpets in offices
Every six months – bonnet-buff or shampoo carpets
Monthly – restore and burnish hard-surfaced floors
NOTE: For scheduling purposes, occupants are required to submit a Work Order for all staff areas.

Prior to performing periodic cleaning, contractor personnel will post a note listing the type of work and the date of performance one week in advance. If, upon notification, an occupant does not wish that the service be performed or would like to schedule it for another day, the occupant should call the number provided on the notification.

Special requests

There are two types of special cleaning requests those included in the fixed contract price and those for which there’s an additional charge. Special requests included in the price are such things as periodic floor cleaning in restricted lab and office areas, bulk trash removal from file purges, and moves. For such requests, please submit a work request by calling the help desk, 301-435-8000. You may also submit a work request through the website: http://58000.nih.gov.

For an additional charge, the contractor will perform custodial services such as cleaning areas such as mechanical rooms and certain storage areas not covered in the contract, as well as cleaning upholstery and fabric covered walls and panels. Call the help desk at 301-435-8000 to submit a work request or submit one through the website: http://58000.nih.gov.

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Hours of Service

Custodial services are provided during the hours of 7:00 am and 4:00 pm. In Montana, custodial hours of service are 3:00 pm to 6:30 am. Off hours services are available as requested by IC.