The Optus Glean promise: predictability
Three pillars. Three commitments. No exceptions.
Predictable cost. One fixed monthly fee, set against a defined scope and an annual indexed review. No variable hours. No surprise invoices. No padded callout charges. Budgeted once, paid by Direct Debit, reviewed once a year.
Predictable presence. The site is cleaned every day it is meant to be cleaned. A named primary cleaner is rostered to your contract, supported by a named relief who is already vetted, inducted, and trained on the same colour-coded system and IPC standard. The schedule does not depend on whether one person is available on one day.
Predictable freedom. A single point of accountability. One contract. One named manager. One number to call. Cleaning is no longer a problem the office has to manage — it is a service that runs.
Why cleaning in Ireland is structurally hard to get right
Most cleaning provision in Ireland — including in healthcare-adjacent settings — is delivered by a workforce that is structurally part-time and casual. A significant proportion of operatives across the sector also work as healthcare assistants in nursing homes, residential care, and acute hospitals. Cleaning shifts are typically taken when healthcare shifts are not available, and released when they are. This pattern is consistent with CSO labour data on accommodation, food, and administrative-support employment, and it is the underlying reason that buyers across Ireland encounter inconsistency from agencies they have contracted in good faith.
The pattern is reinforced by two background pressures specific to Ireland. Housing affordability limits the catchment for any role paying at or near the minimum wage. The Contract Cleaning Employment Regulation Order rate of €14.80 per hour for 2026, set under the Labour Court's sectoral employment framework, sits close enough to flexible care-sector pay that operatives drift toward whichever shift pays slightly more on the day. Both pressures pull cleaning staff away from contracted shifts and toward casual healthcare work.
The result, from the buyer's perspective, is the experience most practice managers, facilities leads, and procurement officers in Ireland describe: a clean that is half-completed when the contracted cleaner is available, missed entirely when they are not, and accompanied by recurring conversations with the agency about cover that may or may not arrive.
This is the structural problem Optus Glean is built to solve. Our operatives are fully PAYE-employed with guaranteed weekly hours, paid leave, and pension contributions under Irish auto-enrolment. They are paid above the ERO floor deliberately — because the structural reliability of the service depends on the cleaner choosing to remain in the role rather than rotating through casual healthcare shifts. A named primary cleaner is assigned to your site, supported by a named relief, both Garda-vetted and trained to Optus Glean's documented HIQA-aligned IPC standard.
Ireland: A European Data Centre Hub
Ireland hosts over 127 data centres with more under construction or in planning. Dublin alone accounts for approximately 25% of all European hyperscale data centre capacity. Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, Meta, Equinix, Interxion (Digital Realty), and dozens of colocation providers operate facilities across Ireland. This concentration makes Ireland one of the most important data centre markets in Europe — and creates a growing demand for specialist data centre cleaning services.
Data centre cleaning is fundamentally different from any other type of commercial cleaning. The environment is controlled: temperature, humidity, and air quality are maintained within strict parameters. Introducing standard cleaning chemicals, fibrous mops, or unfiltered vacuums would contaminate the very environment you are trying to protect. Data centre cleaning requires HEPA-filtered equipment, anti-static products, ESD-safe procedures, and operatives who understand the sensitivity of the environment they are working in.
Optus Glean provides specialist data centre cleaning for hyperscale facilities, colocation centres, enterprise server rooms, and communications rooms across Ireland. Our teams use industrial-grade HEPA equipment and follow ASHRAE guidelines for data centre contamination control.
Data Hall Cleaning
The data hall is where racks, servers, storage, and networking equipment are housed. Every surface in the data hall must be kept free of particulate contamination. Our data hall cleaning covers:
- Raised floor tiles: HEPA-vacuumed top surface, tile edges, and grommets
- Rack exteriors: front doors, side panels, and top surfaces HEPA-vacuumed and anti-static wiped
- Cabinet tops: dust removal with HEPA vacuum (never compressed air)
- Perforated floor tiles: HEPA-vacuumed to clear blocked perforations that restrict airflow
- Hot and cold aisle containment structures: curtains, doors, and frame surfaces wiped
- Cable management: overhead cable trays and vertical cable management dusted
- Fire suppression equipment: external surfaces of detection panels and nozzle housings wiped
- Lighting: light fittings and diffusers cleaned
Critical rule: We never use compressed air, standard household vacuums, spray chemicals, or fibrous cleaning materials in a data hall. All equipment is HEPA-filtered to 0.3 microns. All wipes are anti-static and lint-free. All chemicals are data-centre-approved, non-residue formulations.
Subfloor Cleaning
The raised floor void (subfloor) is the hidden contamination risk in every data centre. Dust, construction debris, cable jacket particles, and zinc whiskers accumulate in the subfloor over time. When disturbed by airflow changes or maintenance activity, these particles become airborne and are drawn into IT equipment by server fans. The result can be overheating, short circuits, or hardware failures.
Our subfloor cleaning process is methodical and non-disruptive. Floor tiles are lifted in controlled sections using suction lifters (never pry bars, which damage tiles and generate particles). The subfloor void is HEPA-vacuumed, including the underside of tiles, pedestal tops, cable trays, and cable bundles. Each section is cleaned, inspected, and tiles are returned to their exact original positions before moving to the next section. Airflow patterns are preserved throughout.
Ancillary Area Cleaning
- Meet-me rooms and cross-connect areas: HEPA-vacuumed, patch panels wiped
- UPS and battery rooms: floor cleaning, equipment exterior wiping (non-conductive products)
- Generator rooms: floor cleaning, equipment exterior wiping
- Loading docks and staging areas: sweeping, mopping, contamination barrier maintenance
- Offices and NOC (Network Operations Centre): standard office cleaning
- Washrooms and break rooms: standard commercial cleaning
- External areas: car parks, pathways, entrance areas
Data Centre Cleaning Pricing
| Service | Price Range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Server room clean (10-20 racks) | €2,000 – €4,000 | Full clean including floor |
| Data hall clean (50-200 racks) | €4,000 – €8,000 | Data hall, ancillary, offices |
| Hyperscale hall clean (200+ racks) | €8,000 – €15,000+ | Full scope, method statement based |
| Subfloor cleaning (add-on) | +30–50% | Tile lifting, void cleaning, inspection |
| Monthly maintenance clean | €800 – €3,000 | Between full cleans, high-touch focus |
| Particle counting survey | €500 – €1,500 | Baseline and post-clean measurement |
Note: All data centre cleaning is priced individually following a site survey and agreed method statement. Pricing depends on rack count, facility age, contamination level, and access restrictions.
Post-Construction and Commissioning Cleans
New data centres and facility expansions require a specialist post-construction clean before IT equipment is installed. Construction generates enormous quantities of dust, concrete particles, metal filings, and packaging debris that, if not removed completely, will contaminate equipment from day one. Our post-construction clean for data centres follows a phased approach: initial gross debris removal, detailed HEPA cleaning of all surfaces including subfloor, particle counting to verify cleanliness levels, and a final inspection before handover. This clean is typically specified in the building contractor's scope of work and must be completed to ASHRAE contamination standards before the facility can be energised.
Serving Data Centres Across Ireland
With 127+ data centres currently operational in Ireland and more in the pipeline, the demand for specialist data centre cleaning is growing. Optus Glean serves colocation providers, hyperscale operators, enterprise data centres, managed hosting providers, telecommunications facilities, and corporate server rooms. Our teams operate under NDA, comply with security clearance requirements, and can work within hot/cold aisle containment environments, secure cages, and restricted access zones.
Frequently asked questions
How much does office cleaning cost in Ireland in 2026?
A corporate office is priced as a fixed monthly fee per site (or per floor, for multi-tenant buildings), tied to a defined scope and frequency. The Contract Cleaning ERO 2026 sets a €14.80/hour labour floor across the sector, but reputable providers quote the contract — multi-year term, annual indexed review, single monthly Direct Debit — not the hour. Pre-opening reset windows and out-of-hours deep cleans are inside the fee.
What standards apply to office cleaning in Ireland?
The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 obliges the employer to maintain a safe workplace, supported by the General Application Regulations 2007. The cleaning programme should produce a documented audit trail — chemical SDS, signed-off task records, training register — that supports the office manager's safety statement and ESG reporting on supply-chain labour standards.
Why is cleaning consistency such a problem in Irish office buildings?
Most Irish cleaning provision is delivered by part-time or casual operatives, frequently subcontracted from one agency to another without disclosure, often paid at or near the ERO floor with no continuity to the site. The result is a different cleaner most weeks, no real quality baseline across floors, and tenant complaints that surface six months into a 36-month contract.
What does ESG-aligned cleaning supply actually mean?
ESG-aligned cleaning means the labour in your supply chain is documented and lawful: PAYE-employed staff (not casual), paid above the Contract Cleaning ERO €14.80/hour floor, with paid leave and PRSI/pension contributions. It also means the chemical regime has SDS on file, waste streams are tracked under the Waste Management Acts, and the provider can answer a tenant or auditor question on day one. ESG is not a sticker — it is auditable supply-chain integrity.
What's the difference between PAYE and casual cleaning contracts in corporate?
A PAYE-employed cleaner is on payroll with the company that signs the contract, paid above the Contract Cleaning ERO floor, with paid leave and pension. A casual or self-employed operative is none of those things — and is often subcontracted in via a labour agency the buyer never signed with. PAYE staffing is the only model that supports a named primary cleaner per floor with continuity, and the only one that survives an ESG supply-chain audit.
How do I evaluate a cleaning provider for a multi-floor office?
Three checks. One: are the operatives PAYE-employed by the company that signs the contract, or subcontracted? Ask for a written commitment, not a tagline. Two: who is the named primary cleaner and named relief per floor or zone? Three: can the provider produce a transparent reporting pack — daily/weekly logs, audit scores, tenant feedback — that ties scope to evidence?
What should be in a cleaning contract for a corporate office?
Scope and frequencies per zone (workstations, meeting rooms, washrooms, kitchens, lift lobbies, reception), pre-opening reset window, named primary cleaner and named relief, the chemical regime with SDS, ESG and supply-chain confirmations, fixed monthly fee, annual indexed review, transparent KPIs and reporting, and a clean exit clause. No per-hour pricing. No undisclosed subcontracting.
How often should an office be professionally cleaned?
A typical corporate office runs a daily out-of-hours core clean (workstations, washrooms, kitchens, communal areas), a pre-opening morning reset where occupancy is heavy, weekly periodic tasks (high-level dusting, glass), and quarterly or six-monthly deep cleans (carpets, soft furnishings, fabric). In Ireland, multi-tenant buildings often add a midday washroom check and lift-lobby reset.
How Optus Glean handles staff shortages
Every Optus Glean contract is staffed on a redundancy model rather than a single-person model. A named primary cleaner is assigned to the site at contract start. A named relief is assigned alongside them. Both are PAYE-employed by Optus Glean, both are Garda-vetted, both are inducted on the site's specific layout, access protocols, and colour-coded equipment system, and both are trained to the same documented HIQA-aligned IPC standard. Substitution is built into the contract from the first day, not arranged on the day cover is needed.
Sick day cover. When the primary cleaner is unable to work, the named relief is deployed. The office site contact is notified by 06:30 on the morning of the absence by SMS or email, with the name of the relief who is attending. The relief follows the same task list, uses the same equipment, and finishes within the same window. The standard of clean is unchanged because the relief was prepared for this scenario before the absence happened.
Annual leave cover. Annual leave is rostered weeks in advance and the relief is scheduled to cover the full leave period. The office is informed at the start of the leave period — not on the morning leave begins. This is the same model used in clinical rota management: known absences are pre-staffed, not improvised.
Long-term cover. If the primary cleaner is absent for more than two weeks (extended illness, parental leave, bereavement leave), cover is drawn from the wider trained bench rather than relying on the single named relief. The office is kept informed of the cover plan, the named individuals involved, and the expected duration. Continuity of standard is maintained because every operative on the bench is trained to the same documented standard.
Permanent reassignment. If the primary cleaner moves to a new permanent role within Optus Glean — promotion, relocation, retirement — the relief is promoted to primary on a planned timetable, a new relief is trained on the site, and both are introduced to the office before the handover takes effect. There is no day on which the office discovers, after the fact, that their cleaner has changed.
Substitution is Optus Glean's operational problem, not the office's risk to absorb. The buyer pays a fixed monthly fee for a defined scope to be delivered, every day it is meant to be delivered. The mechanism by which we deliver it — primary, relief, bench, retraining — is our cost to manage and our risk to carry.
Last reviewed: 2026-05-06
