Government custodial services
When custodial work in a Secure Area or restricted area depends on an escort, that cost does not land in the Performance Work Statement (PWS). It lands on your schedule, your staff, and the downtime you absorb before the shift starts.
Uncleared custodial labor is the usual reason. Every visit needs a cleared escort at the door. You find that person, you wait, and you absorb hours that never hit the custodial line.
You reduce those hours with a self-performed crew and a cleared workforce under one owner. An active Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code is what lets the crew get cleared. For Intelligence Community Directive 705 (ICD 705) Secure Area work, you start faster, and you can produce the record when an audit asks who was in the space.
High Security Cleaning
Whether your spec calls it high security cleaning, secure cleaning, or just custodial, it’s the same job: unescorted cleaning work inside a Secure Area, done by people cleared to be there.
This isn’t cosmetic work. It’s contamination control and security, and it needs to be treated that way. Dust, residue, and waste in a Secure Area are risks to manage, not just a mess to clean up. Handle them right, and the space stays ready and your operation stays on schedule.
Public specifications usually say Secure Area or restricted area and tie the requirement to Intelligence Community Directive 705 (ICD 705). Contracting officers write “custodial.” Prime-plant and integrated facility management (IFM) buyers write “janitorial.” Different words on different documents, same requirement underneath: a cleared custodian working unescorted in your controlled space.
That’s the standard we hold every custodian to, on the same self-performed crew, not carved out to a subcontractor.
The Cost That Never Hits the Custodial Line
Whether the pricing sheet looks cheaper with an uncleared vendor, or the bid says the crew will clear after award, the job is the same: custodial work inside the space without your staff at the door.
That cheaper number is not the cost. The cost is the cleared person who walks them in, waits, and walks them out. Those escort hours are management time, badge traffic, and schedule risk, and they never hit the custodial line. Write that the crew will clear after award, and you own the delay.
DD Form 254, the contract security classification specification, belongs on the proposal. That’s the standard we hold: an already-cleared, self-performed custodial crew and one owner, not a transition after the award date.
If the site is on the AbilityOne Procurement List, a commercial firm cannot win custodial as prime. Check the list before you rebid.
Already Cleared, Self-Performed
When a custodian cannot enter, or cannot stay, the job is still the same: unescorted custodial work, done by people cleared to be there.
An uncleared vendor leaves you walking someone in while a replacement waits on a badge. That wait is measured in months, not in a shift.
We are the cleared workforce. Government custodial is self-performed with grounds and operations and maintenance (O&M), under one owner. See how it fits with the rest of our cleared facility services. An active CAGE code (1JXW7) and System for Award Management (SAM) registration mean that crew is already in the buying system.
The work runs through R³ Secure FacilityOps: Reliability so the space stays ready, Responsiveness so a missed area does not sit, Reduction so escort hours and rework are not absorbed as overhead. If someone isn’t performing, they come off the site. The next person is already cleared, so you are not waiting months on a replacement.
What the PWS Usually Names
Whether the PWS names space cleaning, prestige areas, or Secure Area work, it’s the same job: a crew that can enter that space unescorted.
A commercial crew is still often hired against those names. They cannot enter. You then run the period with escorts, or you watch the first weeks slip.
Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) 1503010 Custodial is one place those names appear. That’s the standard we hold: a cleared custodial crew that can enter the space the PWS already named, on the same self-performed crew.
- Custodial for Department of Defense (DoD), installation, and Secure Area scopes
- Janitorial for prime-plant and IFM statements of work
- Cleared custodians instead of an escort-dependent shift
- DD Form 254 on the proposal. The crew is already cleared, not a transition after award.
Before you award the next custodial period, ask one question. Are you still escorting the custodial shift, or is the crew already cleared?