Facilities Management conducts regular quality control inspections to help ensure an optimum environment for the University's facilities and building occupants.

Beginning in 2012, Facilities Management's custodial program and North Zone manager, Ray Mosley, began implementing regular custodial inspections aimed at proactively identifying and addressing potential cleaning issues before they developed into problems.

Two years later, the inspection program has grown into a more formalized process with the addition of three full-time experienced inspection staff. The quality control, random inspections assess and grade the different areas and tasks performed by the custodians, looking for ways to improve and expand on the services provided.

All buildings are inspected quarterly at a minimum, whether they are cleaned by in-house University staff or outsourced staff. For the current academic year which began Sep. 1, 2013, 374 inspections have been conducted. Custodial inspections are graded as good, average or poor. The inspection rating must be 75 percent or better and any issues discovered must be corrected within two weeks. At the end of the two-week period, a follow-up inspection is performed. The current campus-wide average rating is 79.5 percent.

The feedback provided by the inspections not only helps ensure that cleaning standards are being met but they also help Mosley plan and schedule specific custodial projects like the pre-semester "make-ready" intensive cleaning conducted prior to the return of students. Inspection results are also used to identify training needs for the staff.

After a recent inspection in one building, carpet care was rated as poor and after investigating, Mosley discovered the custodial staff was not properly diluting the carpet cleaner solution so it was not providing optimum cleaning. He used this as a training opportunity to explain that when the solution is not diluted properly, the residual detergent left in the carpet actually becomes a magnet for dirt and soil easier and quicker. The inspections also help identify high-performing staff members for recognition and potential for further advancement.

"Since implementation, our overall average inspection scores have been on the rise campus-wide. The number of buildings that have been rated as unacceptable has continuously declined," Mosley said. "Our goal is to constantly improve by raising the benchmark. We now have a tool that will help us attain and exceed our custodial standards."

For questions pertaining to the custodial inspection program, please contact Mosley at 832-842-4872 or rmosley@central.uh.edu. If you would like additional information regarding a facility's inspection rating, schedule of inspections, and cleaning frequency schedules, please contact your building coordinator.