

“We used focus groups, consultants, had three committees, and took the feedback to build CIMS,” he said. We decided to go with ISSA because we had to have a neutral organization that represented all market verticals.”įrank is proud of CIMS for many reasons, and in the beginning because it included a vigorous process that other standards have not. “We started with a ‘clean piece of paper’ and identified all stakeholders.

“The first step was identifying the unique characteristics of the market,” according to Frank. At times, it was a painful and slow process, but a necessary one. It went through a heavy vetting process in its creation. The CIMS program wasn’t just written up and launched. You can get all the details online at There you can review all components of CIMS, including CIMS-GB. “So CIMS-GB makes you a more desirable company to work with, under LEED, and portrays the company to a market that is becoming more and more environmentally conscious.” “In an ever growing need to be more sustainable, the sixth element, Green Building, meets the requirement for LEED O+M: Existing Buildings, version 4,” according to Janowicz. The presentation of the CIMS-GB certification is all you need, and you not only meet the requirements, but in many cases exceed them. The second is CIMS Green Building (GB) certification, which only comes in addition to successfully completing the traditional CIMS program.ĬIMS-GB was implemented as the sixth dimension of CIMS, with the criteria and designation offering cleaning organizations a certification that is closely tailored to provide their customers with what they need to secure the requirements under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for existing buildings. The first is the flagship CIMS certification, five elements put together by the input of up to 100 industry experts, which provides those who qualify a way to improve virtually all aspects of their organization. The CIMS certification program is actually comprised of two main elements.
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Presenting the certificate and the checklist can be very powerful.”ĬIMS certification takes the same pathway as the well-known ISO 9000 family of standards, meaning the framework is in place for service organizations using CIMS. The most exciting part is the marketing aspect of CIMS from current customers and to prospects. “Standardization increases productivity and efficiency, which create an immediate financial saving. “The intrinsic benefit should not be overlooked,” according to CIMS Account Executive Charlie Janowicz. For facilities, such as hospitals or schools, it’s a guaranteed way to maximum and track cleaning efficiency and productivity, saving costs, and more. What does this mean? For BSCs, it’s a competitive edge as many “requests for proposals” or RFPs, request CIMS certification from those submitting bids. After a period of time, with compliance and many adjustments, an organization can be granted CIMS certification. Initially, it is rare that any are without going through the CIMS system. The CIMS program uses third-party accredited assessors in the field to investigate, analyze, and determine if applying cleaning organizations are compliant with CIMS protocols and requirements. ISSA is the sales and managing organization for the entire CIMS program. Since then, ISSA has worked with both Frank and business partner Jim Peduto, who operate the American Institute for Cleaning Services (AICS), which serves as the registrar for CIMS. It was launched about 12 years ago by industry veteran Dave Frank, with ISSA acknowledging the value and adopting the entire concept. The nuts and bolts of CIMSĬIMS is a comprehensive management and operations standard for cleaning organizations. It’s also a great cleaning management program for facilities and in-house cleaning organizations.Īt this time, there are some 200 organizations with CIMS certification.

It’s about changing how a cleaning organization operates and creating a real competitive edge for building service contractors, which makes up the majority of CIMS-Ĭertified organizations. But not just your normal type of certification, where you attend a workshop or conference and take a test. It is especially a game-changer for cleaning business owners, specifically building service contractors working in a competitive marketplace. If you weren’t involved with the cleaning industry, you would have no idea what “CIMS” stands for.ĬIMS is the acronym for the Cleaning Industry Management Standard. Categories: Bidding & Workloading, Cleaning Applications, Cleaning for Health, Innovations, Trends & Technology, ISSA By Jeff Cross | << Back to Articles
