One facility vendor or several?

How properties end up with too many vendors.

It usually happens one problem at a time. The lot gets dirty, so someone hires a sweeper. The entries look stained, so a pressure washing company comes in. Before long a single building has a janitorial company, a porter service, a floor contractor, a landscaper and a handyman, each with its own schedule and its own point of contact.

None of that is wrong on its own. The cost shows up in the coordination: the calls, the scheduling conflicts, the work that falls between two vendors.

When separate vendors still make sense.

Specialist trades belong with specialists. Electrical, plumbing and HVAC systems, roofing and structural repairs should stay with the contractors who do that work. Bundling is about the recurring services that keep a property clean and presentable: cleaning, porter, floors, exteriors, grounds and light maintenance.

Count the real cost of coordination.

Before deciding, list every recurring vendor at the property and what each one touches: the schedule, the contact, the invoice and the areas they cover. Then note where those areas meet. The restroom the janitorial crew cleans at night is the same one the porter checks by day. The walkway the sweeper clears is the one the washing crew cleans. Those seams are where complaints start.

Next, estimate the hours your team spends each month scheduling, chasing and reconciling vendors. That figure, more than any line-item price, shows what a fragmented vendor list really costs.

Portfolios change the math.

One building with three vendors is manageable. A portfolio with three vendors per building is not: the contacts multiply, and each property drifts toward its own standard. Consolidating across a portfolio puts every property on the same checklist and inspection routine, which makes buildings easy to compare.

Consolidating one region first, then bringing other properties onto the same program as their current contracts end, keeps each handover small. Our guide to switching facility vendors covers planning each handover.