Question: I work for a large commercial carpet cleaning company and thought you'd be the best person to ask. I am looking for precise information on commercial carpet life, an asset tracking management process. At the end of the day, I want to be able to show in dollars the savings on the bottom line by working with us. Factors I would think need to be considered are: benchmarking current carpet state, adding in the maintenance program costs, replacement costs and other savings.
I have asked a number of people in the industry and no one appears to have charts indicating costs savings from new to replacement. Have you information on this?

Answer:  According to DuPont, the average life expectancy for residential carpet is 12.4 years; for commercial carpet, it’s between 7 and 8 years.  A properly formulated maintenance and cleaning program can literally double asset life expectancy, while providing desired aesthetics as well.  

 I know of no canned program that enables one to make the calculation that the writer is requesting information on, since there are so many variables that have to be considered, such as:

1. a building’s intended and current use;
2. occupant population;
3. work activities within the building;
4. quality and durability of the carpet investment (asset life expectancy);
5. building management objectives (asset life; customer impression; IEQ);
6. actual replacement – both real and hidden - costs including:

            a.. building preparation (IT consideration; furnishings and fixtures removed or manipulated)

            b.  lost employee productivity (carpet replacement preparation, delays in completion schedules)

            c.  removing old carpet

            d.  disposing old carpet

             e.  subfloor preparation

            f.  IEQ issues created (dusts, allergens, adhesives, new carpet odor triggering allergic reactions or absenteeism)

7. impact of other building systems (e.g., HVAC) and programs on carpet maintenance and cleaning;
8. exterior maintenance and cleaning, especially walkways and entry aprons;
9. barrier matting systems;
10. building services program (daily janitorial services);
11. maintenance programs (e.g., routine spotting, vacuuming), and
12. interim and restorative cleaning programs.

Of course, assumptions must also be made regarding potential cost savings derived from programmed maintenance and cleaning.  Moreover, carpet cleaners are at the mercy of janitorial contractors and other building maintenance professionals.  If they don’t do their jobs, then the best formulated carpet cleaning program falls apart.

 Of course, the three-day IICRC-approved Commercial Carpet Maintenance and Cleaning course covers all this and more.  Fundamentally, it’s a technical course on cleaning, but it necessarily has to explore all the reasons why commercial carpet cleaning can be complex, and how to formulate a comprehensive maintenance and cleaning program.

 This is what got one firm  into the building services business.  A larger bank couldn’t get anyone who could maintain the facility, after having tried every janitorial service in town.  Its president noticed the quality of the carpet cleaning program and decided to force them into a janitorial service.  

Finally, let me cover an overly simplified and extreme example by way of an actual experience.  Years ago, I offered a contract on a shopping mall to clean their newly installed 27,000 ft² of light-beige carpet in all common areas.  Of course, the mall manager was far more intelligent than I and opted to purchase a dry foam machine for his maintenance man to use to cut my price by half. I suggested that he not lose my business card. 

With the first Coke spill, the DF machine was passed over it with good results; but within a week or so, the spot returned, only much bigger.  So the cleaning process was repeated. Long story short, within a year, spots were eight feet in diameter and merchants were forming a lynching committee. 

The mall manager called and pleaded with me to make the carpet last one more year before the owner had agreed to remove and replace the carpet at a cost of some $60,000.  The cleaning plan I came up with was going to cost some $8100 annually, but was projected to (and did!) extend the carpet life by some 8 years. 

So do the math:

Depreciation with a 2-year life expectancy ($60K ÷ 2)                                  $30,000

Cleaning                                                                                                          $  4,000

                Total                                                                                                $34,000 annually 

In fact, we did take over the program and after some initial restorative cleaning, we were able to make the carpet last another 7 years (total of 8). 

Depreciation over 8 year life ($60K ÷ 8)                                                        $  7,500

Cleaning program                                                                                $  8,100

                Total                                                                                                $15,100 annually 

OK, dramatic and overly simplified example (albeit real), but more realistic would be a program in which, after considering all the factors cited above, the carpet life was extended by 40%, say from 6 to 10 years.  Use a spread sheet and put a cost on all the factors above and you begin to see the benefit of a professionally formulated maintenance and cleaning program. 

If, for another example, the company payroll in a high-rise office building was $100K weekly and it takes employees ½ day to prepare for carpet replacement and ½ day to recover (furniture replacement; IT trouble shooting; general reorganization), that’s a cost of $20,000 added to the cost of carpet replacement.  Allergic reactions, absenteeism resulting from IEQ issues?  Anyway, that’s an additional cost to factor into the mix with a 6-year versus a 9-year expectancy. 

Well, you get the idea. 

We all want quick and simple; but sometimes the questions are complex.  The CMT course should help provide perspective on this and other management issues as well.