Measuring the effect of cleaning in buildings

Traditionally, the requirements imposed on cleaning quality have been a subject of subjective judgement. A Scandinavian standard (NS-INSTA 800) has now been agreed upon by the Nordic countries and is described in this article. The goal of the standard is to describe a quality measurement system that will make it easier to define different cleaning qualities and thus to help customer and supplier to specify clearly defined requirements. The new standard describes in detail how to measure the cleaning quality and how much dirt should be allowed to remain within each level of quality. The standard describes five quality levels and the measurements are taken on four different surface categories: furniture and fixtures, floors, walls and roofs. Four types of dirt are defined: waste and loose dirt, dust, spots and surface dirt. The cleaning quality achieved is judged by visually counting all impurities on easily accessible surfaces and on surfaces with difficult access (very small horizontal surfaces, horizontal surfaces above 180 cm, panelled ceiling etc)