City Of Toronto Mandates CIMS

Twitter bannerThis FM Alert is brought to you by RealStreet 2015, a new event sponsored by Facility Executive and Business Facilities magazines.

Posted by Heidi Schwartz

The City of Toronto Custodial Services-Facilities Operations in Canada has mandated that all future outside service providers will be required to be certified under ISSA’s Cleaning Industry Management Standard (CIMS) and CIMS-Green Building (GB) program.

CIMS and CIMS-GB are nationally recognized certification programs that provide third-party verification for cleaning operations that seek to develop a comprehensive green cleaning program and offer sustainable cleaning services. The CIMS-GB framework is designed to improve performance in the areas of sustainable product usage, improved occupant wellness, asset preservation, and waste diversion. This all-inclusive green building and service standard provides facility managers, building owners, and service providers a concise framework for identifying and implementing a sensible and measurable green building operating system that is flexible enough to apply to all sizes and type of buildings.

FMAlertToronto’s Custodial Services-Facilities Operations went through the internal certification processes in 2013 and obtained CIMS and CIMS-GB Certification with honors. Having witnessed the value of certification, the City of Toronto issued the prerequisite for all future requests for proposals.

CIMS certification brings benchmarking and validation to operations and to the service provider selection process. According to Toronto Manager of Custodial Services-Facilities Operations Lindsay Bauckham, “CIMS and CIMS-GB offers internationally recognized metrics that the city can use as a benchmark for its own systems and processes.”

Across Canada, the City of Edmonton also has begun integrating CIMS into its operations. Robert Kuziw, with Edmonton project management and maintenance services, says, “This [CIMS certification] will establish a recognized management standard and certification program relevant to our industry that is structured to deliver consistent, quality services.”

Both the Toronto City Council and the City of Edmonton see the commitment to CIMS as a key element in the desire to provide clean and healthy environments for their clients, visitors, and staff.

In achieving certification for its self-performed cleaning services and requiring that all third-party cleaning contractors be certified, the City of Toronto has become the first municipality in the world to make a full commitment to certification for all custodial operations.