ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Management
ISO 14001 for cleaning and facility services
Property managers and purchasing departments increasingly ask cleaning and facility companies how they manage chemicals, water, waste and vehicle use. ISO 14001 is the standard that answers that question. With Zertify you complete an online self-assessment and receive the certificate within 4 hours after passing and payment.
01: Demand
Why do clients of cleaning and facility companies ask for ISO 14001?
A cleaning contract puts your staff, your products and your vehicles inside the client's building every day. Property managers know this. When a supplier questionnaire or a tender contains a question about an environmental management system, it is a quick way to separate suppliers who manage that impact from those who do not.
The certificate answers the question with a document. You attach the PDF to the quote, and the buyer checks the number or scans the QR code on the verification page. For a company that wins work on price and reliability, it is one more line in the tender that you can tick.
Facility services add a second angle. If you run technical services or waste handling for a client, your decisions show up in the client's own environmental figures. Clients with environmental targets prefer suppliers who record what they do.
02: Risks
Which processes in cleaning and facility services does ISO 14001 address?
The standard asks you to identify environmental aspects: the points where your work meets the environment. In cleaning and facility services they are easy to name.
- Cleaning agents and disinfectants
- Concentrates, dosing, storage and what ends up in the drain. Overdosing costs money and adds to wastewater.
- Water use
- Mopping, scrubbing machines, window cleaning. Where the client supplies the water, you still decide how much you use.
- Waste at client sites
- Packaging, bin liners, disposable wipes, worn cloths and empty canisters. The question is what you separate and where it goes.
- Travel between sites
- Vans and cars on daily rounds. Route planning and vehicle choice change fuel consumption.
- Machines and batteries
- Scrubber dryers, vacuum cleaners and their batteries. Charging, maintenance and disposal of old equipment are all part of it.
- Spills and incidents
- A canister that tips over in a stairwell or a leak in a storage room. The standard requires that you have thought about this before it happens.
- Building services you operate
- If your contract includes heating, ventilation or lighting settings, the energy use you influence belongs in your register.
03: Requirements
How does a cleaning company meet the key requirements?
The requirements are the same for every industry. What differs is the evidence. This table shows what a cleaning or facility company can point to for each one.
| Requirement | Example in a cleaning or facility company |
|---|---|
| Environmental aspects and impacts | A register by site type listing products, water, waste and vehicle use, with the larger impacts marked. |
| Compliance obligations | A list of the waste, chemicals and wastewater rules that apply to you, with the person who checks them and the date of the last check. |
| Environmental policy | One page signed by management, with a commitment to reduce impact and meet obligations. It hangs in the depot and goes to new staff. |
| Objectives and actions | Dosing systems for concentrates at all sites by the end of the year, with an owner and a date. |
| Emergency preparedness | A spill procedure on the storage room door, absorbent material in every van, staff briefed on the first steps. |
| Monitoring and reporting | Monthly figures for chemical purchases, fuel and waste, discussed in the management meeting. |
In the structure of the standard, clause 6 (Planning), clause 8 (Operation) and clause 9 (Performance evaluation) carry most of this work.
04: Getting started
Where should a small cleaning company start?
You do not need a project team. You need an owner, a few hours and the records you already keep.
Walk through one typical site
Follow a cleaning round from the depot to the client and back. Write down every product, machine, waste stream and trip.
Collect your purchase records
Delivery notes and invoices show which chemicals you buy and in what quantities. That is your first set of figures.
Write the policy and name a responsible person
Management signs the policy. One person keeps the register, the obligations list and the objectives up to date.
Set two objectives you can measure
For example, less chemical use per square metre cleaned, or fewer vehicle kilometres per week. Review them every quarter.
ISO 14001 follows the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle and belongs in management, not in a side office. If the owner reviews the figures, the system works.
05: With Zertify
How do you get ISO 14001 with Zertify?
You answer 34 yes/no questions online. Of these, 14 are mandatory requirements of the standard and must all be answered yes. Among the other 20, at least 14 yes answers are needed to pass. You do not need an account to buy.
After you pass and pay, the certificate arrives within 4 hours. It is issued by G6 Agency AG under licence from SICE, and SICE reviews every assessment before the certificate is released. Every certificate can be verified publicly by number and QR code, so a buyer can check it without calling you.
The price is CHF 699 (€699) in the first year, then CHF 469 (€469) per year including the yearly online re-audit. The certificate is valid for 3 years. Billing is an automatic yearly subscription that you can cancel at any time in your customer account, effective at the end of the current year. If you cancel, the certificate ends with the paid year. Customers in Switzerland and Liechtenstein pay prices including 8.1% VAT.
Many cleaning and facility companies also hold or plan another standard. For two standards the discount is 20%, for three or more 30%, also on the yearly fee.
06: Tenders
Will the client accept an online certificate?
Read the tender wording before you order. Some tenders ask for a valid ISO 14001 certificate that the buyer can verify. Others name the classic route with an on-site audit by a certification body. Which one applies is a matter of the individual client.
The Zertify certificate rests on an online self-assessment, involves no on-site audit and is confirmed every year by a short online re-audit. If a tender is unclear, ask the buyer one direct question before you start: does a publicly verifiable certificate from an online assessment meet the requirement?
07: FAQ
Questions about ISO 14001 for cleaning and facility services
08: Guide
Related pages
Check whether your company passes ISO 14001
The self-assessment has 34 questions and shows you at once where you stand.
Free and without registration