Duties of a day porter

January 6, 2023

18 Duties of a Day Porter You Never Knew Existed [Ultimate Guide]

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A Day Porter also called a Day Matron is responsible for taking care of commercial buildings such as offices, shopping centers, malls, and other common places. Their main job is to keep these places with higher footfall clean! However, their duties involved more than just cleaning. They help to uphold the image of the facilities and ensure that the places look pristine to the customers and occupants.

In many places, a day porter’s job also involves cleaning the flower beds in the surrounding areas, touching up the restrooms, patrolling the entranceways, and so on.

The wide range of duties of a day porter explains how invaluable their service is for a commercial building. Apart from holding a high school diploma or an equivalent degree, a day porter should also be neat, polite, and trustworthy. 

For all these inevitable reasons, the role of day porters is integral in property management. If you own a commercial property or building and want to make it look clean and welcoming to the guests, then hire the day porter cleaning service in NYC from a reliable company. Here this blog explains to you in every detail the role of a day porter. Give it a read to know how you can be greatly benefitted from their services.

How is a Day Porter Different from a Custodian?

Most commercial places confuse the service of a day porter and a custodian. While both terms can be used interchangeably, the professionals in the janitorial department can clearly state the differences.

There are many stark differences between a porter and a custodian despite a few overlapping responsibilities like cleaning visitors’ areas, greeting the guests, and restocking the essentials in the restrooms. However, the custodian’s role is more involved in maintaining a place and keeping it hygienic. For instance, the custodian is responsible for cleaning the restrooms while a day porter will be only responsible for restocking them with essential supplies. 

The key role of a day porter involves cleaning and maintaining the common areas in the building, such as the entranceway, parking lots, surrounding walkways, hallways, reception areas, waiting areas, and so on. A porter keeps those areas neat where they are higher traffic during the day. They do the cleaning and all other related tasks in the early morning or between shifts. 

The day porter duties also involve many on-site activities. They must be present during work hours when employees are present, and visitors come and go. They are responsible for welcoming visitors, running facility-related errands, providing employees with essentials, etc. For this reason, the person becomes a vital part of the company and must provide services keeping up the company’s values and commitment to the customers/employees/visitors.

A custodian, on the other hand, is more involved in tasks that require handyman skills. It includes the ability to do minor repairs in the facility, painting the fences and walls of flowerbeds, vacuum cleaning the carpets in the walkways, and so on, which are outside the scope of day porter job duties.

What Makes For a Successful Day Porter? 

There are several qualities and responsibilities that a day porter should develop to be successful. In many ways, the upkeep and sanitation of a commercial facility depend on the day porter. In other words, the duties of a day porter involve ensuring the health of the employees, customers, and others who dwell at the facility. 
If you are looking for a day porter service, then know about the qualities that make a day porter successful in its role.

1. Punctual

A day porter job duties involve cleaning and maintaining the public areas of a commercial facility. The person must be punctual in delivering the duties so that the normal workflow at the facility is not hampered in any way. 

For instance, if the restrooms are not restocked, with necessary supplies or trash is not removed from the bins before the start of working hours, the employees/visitors will face problems. They can feel uncomfortable using the restrooms, and the unclean situation may hamper their health. Thus, the day porter should start work at the right time (probably, in the early hours of the day) and make the full facility ready for use.

2. Responsible and reliable

The day porter must realize that their duties are important for the office or business of the facility. They play a very important role in daily office cleaning checklist .So, they must show up for work regularly and do their jobs dedicatedly. Many of their tasks are detail-oriented, and so they should do them carefully, without creating a mess in the place. 

Since, they access all over the building to deliver their duties, reliability or trustworthiness is another vital quality they should possess. They must not replace or damage any property items while doing their tasks.

3. Value their position

The day porters also should take pride in whatever they do. They should understand that their role is immensely important in running a business or workspace. Their role makes a huge difference in how the building appears to employees, customers/clients, stakeholders, etc., who are vital to the business.

4. Good at communication 

Lastly, the employees must be good at communicating with employees, clients, and others who visit the office or commercial facility. They are the go-to persons for clients or visitors. So, they must be able to respond to visitors, handle customer requests, or report maintenance issues on time to the concerned staff.

The Duties of a Day Porter 

The day porter is responsible for cleaning your commercial space or building, and making everything look clean, presentable, and posh. They are in charge of routine cleaning along with maintaining the facility without interfering with the business or office activities. There are widespread day porter responsibilities and which ones your porter needs to deliver depends on your building and needs. 

Here are the most common duties delivered by a professional day porter in every type of commercial facility or building.

1. Cleaning parking lots 

The day porter ensures that the parking lots are cleaned thoroughly so that the cars can be droved and parked smoothly. If debris, litter, plastics, or any waste is on the ground of the lots, the porters clear them. 

They also power wash the entire lot at a few days’ gaps or at the request of the building owner. They do so for removing the stains caused due to drink/food spills, dirt from car wheels, or other wastes. If there are potholes or cracks in the parking lots, the porters are also responsible for reporting to the building supervisor or the property owner, who can take action to repair them.

2. Clearing sidewalks and emptying trash

Every commercial property, big or small has walkways and sidewalks which get maximum footfall during the day. So, they get a lot of trash, dirt, and dust on regular basis from the shoes. The day porter sweeps and cleans those areas regularly to make the exterior of the building look inviting to the guests, customers, and employees. 

There are trash bins and dumpsters placed on the walkways and sidewalks. The porters remove the trash bin liners and clear all the debris or waste from the Dumpster. They also regularly power wash the areas to remove graffiti, commercial posters, or stains.  

Porters also empty the ashtrays from time to time and replace the sand. They also take care of the properties that are placed on the sidewalks or walkways, such as resting benches, light/lamp posts, company signage, and flower pots. They dust, clean, and wipe them regularly to make your building’s exterior look appealing.

3. Tending flower beds

Most commercial buildings or properties have flower beds around them, which make their entrance and outdoors aesthetic and welcoming. It is also the duty of a day porter to trim the shrubs and landscape the flower beds. They regularly water the plants, remove debris or dirt from the flower beds, and put pine straws around the plants. 

The day porter also changes the plants in seasons or when they notice any damage. The porters replace the plants and prepare the flower beds for fresh plants accordingly.

4. Maintaining the premises

There are a lot of maintenance activities required for the outdoors of a commercial property or building. They include addressing structural damages, cleaning fences, covering the graffiti or replacing them, power washing, removing debris after construction/repair works, and many more. The porters are wholly responsible to clean and maintain the outdoors at regular intervals. 

For all these day porter duties, the commercial property managers largely depend on the porters. They rely on the porters to identify the issues in the exteriors and apprise them to the professional repair services provider to address them.

5. Lobby maintenance

The lobby is the common area within the building which leads to several other rooms. It is typically the hall or walkway near the entrance of an office, commercial space, or hotel. It too gets greater footfall during the day. So, cleaning and maintaining the lobby is one of the duties of the day porter. 

There are many essential structures and items placed in the lobby, which include seating areas, check-in desks, a security screening area, signage, and a water station. Many commercial places also keep decorative pieces in the lobby like lamp stands, corner tables with flower vases, mirrors, paintings, television, etc. The porters dust, wipe and clean every structure and item frequently to maintain cleanliness in the lobby.

6. Cleaning and maintenance of kitchens, cafeterias, and patios

Kitchens, cafeterias, and patios are integral parts of every commercial building or facility. Cleaning and keeping those places hygienic also fall on the list of day porter job duties. These places must be cleaned regularly. Kitchens must be cleaned in the early hours before the cook, and other staffs come to work. They arrive sometime before the office/business hours.

Here is the comprehensive commercial kitchen maintenance checklist you can follow.

The porters also clean the cafeteria after the kitchen so that employees can have their first coffee in the morning peacefully in a neat and clean place. Both the kitchen and cafeteria comprise a whole lot of furniture and stuff. Porters tidy up everything, starting from the kitchen tabletops, ovens, frying machines, and cutting slabs to chairs and tables in the cafeteria. 

The patios are the paved outdoor areas, adjoining the building. The patios include sitting benches and tables for employees, customers/clients, or visitors. Employees hold casual meetings or take breaks while sitting at the patios. The porters frequently clean the paved grounds, free them from debris or litter, and keep the sitting areas tidy.

7. Polishing entrances to make them look their best always

For any commercial property, entrances create the first impressions! Dirty, messy, or littered surfaces at the entrances will make visitors perceive the unprofessionalism of your commercial unit/office space. Also, the entrances have flower beds, signage, carpets, and rugs to make the building welcoming to everyone. 

The porters tidy up the floor, clean the mess, dust the signage boards, and vacuum the rugs and carpets daily. They also cover the graffiti or make new ones that will look fresh and appealing. So, whether you have clients, guests, or new employees to visit, they make sure to keep the entrances of your office/commercial building polished and inviting.

8. Monitoring and servicing restrooms

When it comes to the restrooms of a public or commercial facility, hygiene is the first concern. The porters are responsible for monitoring the cleanliness of the restrooms. They sanitize and disinfect all touch surfaces, including the sink tops, basins, floors, and door handles. 

The porters also keep eye on the cleanliness of the toilet seats and help the janitorial staff with appropriate cleaning solutions for removing odors and stains. The porter takes care of whether the floors are dry, replaces the trash can liners, and ensures that the restrooms always look clean and sanitized.

9. Removing trash and debris

The most important duty of a day porter is to remove dirt, grime, trash, or debris from within and outside the building. The person makes the floors look super-clean and regularly vacuums the carpets spread in the common areas. 

After collecting the trash and debris, they collect them in dumpsters or trashcans, which they empty every day. 

Your day porter is also responsible for cleaning mud, debris, and dead leaves or flowers from the flowerbeds in the entrances, parking lots, or sidewalks.

10. Restroom restocking

A day porter job duties also include many trivial yet important tasks, such as taking care of the essential supplies at the restrooms. The person regularly looks for the stuff required in the restrooms, like soaps, toilet tissues, paper towels, and other cleaning supplies. They restock every item at the proper time so that nothing ever runs out and causes trouble to the users. 

A day porter is also responsible for monitoring the water supply, faucets, geysers, lights, and other appliances in the restrooms to ensure no one faces any inconvenience while using them.

11. Meeting setup

Meetings or conferences are a crucial activity in every office or commercial place. There are frequent client meets or visitors coming to the place. The meeting rooms have to be prepared for the guests or clients. This comes as one of the duties of a day porter. The person dusts the chairs, cleans and sanitizes the table, and sweeps the floor. 

The porter sets up the room for the meeting by putting water bottles and other refreshments at the tables for the guests or clients. They also keep all the essentials like pens and writing pads that they might need during the meeting.

12. Dusting surfaces

The duty of a day porter is to maintain the commercial property in the best form. The person hence keeps an eye on every surface and dusts them regularly. 

A commercial facility comprises several structures including, cabinets, lockers, desks, desk partitions, wall hangings, etc. The porter dusts them up regularly.

Besides, there are several hundreds of items in a commercial setting, which include computers, laptops, printers, coffee machines, kitchen appliances, projectors, and many more. While most of them are used regularly, many devices are just stored and used rarely for specific purposes. The porter dusts everything ensuring that they are usable all the time.

13. Cleaning glass doors and windows

After cleaning the surfaces, furniture, structures, and miscellaneous objects in your place, what a day porter also needs to take care of is cleaning the glasses of doors and windows. It is necessary because windows get mist or mildew, and if they are not cleaned regularly, the shininess will fade away. 

Likewise, the doors are handled by hundreds of people every day. The knobs or handles get sweat and dirt from the hands. The wooden or glass surfaces of the doors also accumulate dust. The porter carefully wipes away the dust and cleans the doorknobs to make sure the doors look clean to the visitors.

14. Dusting furniture

A commercial place consists of lots of furniture, starting from chairs, tables, desks, sofas, and ottomans to different outdoor furniture including sitting benches. The porter should daily tidy up all the furniture so that they are usable and remain in tip-top condition. 

Most of the furniture is made of precious quality material including, wood, fiber, iron, or leather. If not cleaned regularly, the furniture will accumulate dust, grime, moisture, or rust. The porters wipe and gently rub them to make them look clean and shiny. They also vacuum the furniture that is made of fiber and leather at regular intervals.

15. Vacuuming carpets and floors

Carpets are spread across all the common areas in a commercial property, including the entryways, hallways, lobby, and sidewalks. These areas continuously get footfall, so the carpets accumulate a huge amount of dirt and debris. 

So, one of the daily duties of a day porter is to vacuum the carpets and rugs. They should look neat and welcoming to the guests/clients/visitors. Many times carpets get hard stains from shoe dirt, and so it’s also the job of a porter to remove them by using specific carpet cleaning methods.

16. Reporting maintenance issues to the proper staff member

The duties of a day porter also include identifying any issue regarding the maintenance of the building and reporting it to the right authority member or service provider. Anything could happen, such as damage to the water pipe, faulty escalator or elevator, cut in electricity or water supply, nonfunctioning of basic appliances like coffee machine, issue in water station, damage to doors or furniture, etc. 

One of the key day porter responsibilities is to monitor the inside and outside of the premises including, parking lots and sidewalks to identify any issue that could cause inconvenience to the employees or guests. The person should get all the contacts of service providers who help in the maintenance of the property. On noticing any issue, the porter should immediately report the concerned person or contact the service provider to get it resolved.

17. Sweeping and mopping floors

This falls under the daily job porter duties. Any commercial building gets visitors day and night. Besides, the dwellers, i.e., the staff and employees are never really conscious about practicing hygiene like wiping feet before entering, and not throwing papers or packets on the floor. Also, accidental food or drink spills happen often which makes the floor dirtier. 

A porter hence needs to sweep and mop the floors regularly to make the building look neat and hygienic. The floor is the first thing that anyone notices after entering a building or an office. By sweeping and mopping the floors daily, a porter helps in uplifting the image of the office.

18. Watering plants

The day porter also does many small tasks which include regularly watering the plants placed outside on the sidewalks or entranceways. 

Also, many offices keep different indoor plants to improve the aesthetic of the building or office space. The porters regularly water the plants as required and help in keeping the building’s interiors and exteriors beautiful.

Day Porter Job Description 

Businesses, service-based companies, hotels, hospitals, malls, shopping centers, and community centers need reliable day porters. They need them to perform all the day-to-day activities for maintaining the business or office space in the finest condition. The overall duties of a day porter include cleaning up the floors, removing trash and debris, restocking restrooms, and identifying all maintenance-related emergencies. 

To be a successful day porter, one needs to be highly organized, focused, and dedicated and should have an eye for detail. The person should also be able to multitask as they are several routine tasks and cleaning duties to perform. They should set a work timetable and follow them every day to never miss out on any duty.

Responsibilities of A Day Porter 

The day porter job description includes the following responsibilities. 

  • Doing small maintenance repairs and improving the condition of the building.
  • Cleaning and taking care of the common areas, lobbies, parking areas, restrooms, break rooms, cafeterias, etc. 
  • Placing the safety hazard signs wherever required. For instance, in front of a mopped wet floor, parking lot/entrances if they have cracks or potholes, or when there’s wet paint on the railings.
  • Monitoring the washrooms, cleaning, restocking items, and servicing the restrooms.
  • Quickly responding to any cleaning crisis, like a major spill, odor in the kitchen, and mess in the restrooms.
  • Preparing the conference rooms before a meeting by cleaning them and keeping all essentials that might be needed by guests. 
  • Ordering the supplies from time to time to restock the items required for facility maintenance.

Requirements

A successful day porter must have some special skills and abilities to dedicatedly perform a huge number of tasks every day. 

To fulfill the list of day porter duties, make sure that you hire someone, who has the following qualities.

  • High school diploma or any relevant educational qualification.
  • At least 6-12 months experience in the porter job.
  • Trustworthy and maintains professionalism.
  • Must be comfortable working on a flexible schedule, which includes weekends, evenings, and nights.
  • Able to perform all routine cleaning duties and various maintenance duties promptly. 

Why Do You Need A Day Porter Service? 

There are many ways to keep a commercial building clean and maintain its hygienic condition. The janitors or caretakers of the building can dust the surfaces and mop the floors once a day. But, you need a day porter for its extensive responsibilities! A day porter job description includes maintaining the cleanliness of the facility as well as assisting in the operations of the facility.

That’s why porters are also referred to as facility coordinators. Apart from the cleaning and maintenance duties, they also attend to the guests and take care of the reception services. In other words, they are a vital part of the company and hence, must be able to go by the values and commitment of the company. 

Here are four reasons that specifically explain why you need a day porter service.

1. Cleaning services

The most important of all duties of a day porter include cleaning the facility and maintaining the hygiene of a place. From mopping the floors to disinfecting the surfaces, and dusting the furniture to tidying up restrooms, the porters do every fundamental cleaning activity. They clean and disinfect the structures in the restrooms, which include sinks, toilets, mirrors, and doors.  

Apart from keeping the inside of the building clean, a day porter also removes debris and trash from open areas like entrances, parking, sidewalks, or patios. They also keep the terrace, hallways, and lobbies clean by sweeping them regularly.

2. Security services

A day porter also helps in maintaining the security and safety of a commercial building. Their duty hours begin much earlier before business hours and finish sometime after business hours. In the early hours, they take a quick walk-through of the entire premises to check if there are any alarming occurrences anywhere or whether the furniture, devices or appliances are intact in place. 

Similarly, the porter walks across the building after the business hours end to see if the lights/appliances are turned on, if any doors are kept unlocked, or if the main gates are left open. They also are responsible for visitor control. A porter keeps an eye on who is coming or going and checks any illicit persons from entering the building. The person also supervises the parking lots and reports any damages or potholes to the building authority for repairing them soon.

3. Facility maintenance services

One of the chief duties of a day porter involves maintaining the facility to make it habitable or usable in every way. Apart from cleaning, there are several tasks that a porter needs to do for the upkeep of a building, such as restocking the supplies, checking the water supply, restoring the furniture or structures in case of breakage, and so on. 

They take care of the restroom supplies like soap and tissue paper. They make sure to refill every item before they completely run out. A porter also restocks the basic items needed in the kitchen, cafeteria, and coffee/drinks counter.

4. Information services

The list of day porter job duties includes contacting and communicating with the facility managers, office personnel, or any person required for reporting any cleaning or maintenance issues. They also should have contacts of necessary service providers and reach them directly to address any issue on their own. 

A day porter should have the ability to respond to emergency or unforeseen situations such as a fire accident, elevator fault, water pipe burst, or any other infrastructural failures. The person should know to take temporary protective measures, keep the dwellers of the building safe and report the incident to the right authority.

Choosing the Right Day Porter Service for Your Company 

Considering the vast range of cleaning and maintenance activities that a day porter performs, you need to choose the right and reliable service provider for your company. The building creates the first impression of your company on anyone, whether it’s a client, a stakeholder, or an employee who wants to join you. So, you must keep it clean, high-class, and presentable in every way for the benefit of your office or business. While hiring a day porter service, make sure to find someone who understands the importance of cleanliness in a commercial facility. Apart from cleaning, the porter should also have the skills for performing various maintenance activities.

To choose a reliable day porter service for your company, consider the following:

1. Have specialized experience

The day porter job duties are far beyond the janitorial duties. They should have specialized experience in maintaining every nook and corner of the building and making it shine in and out. They are a valuable part of your company and must be able to coordinate with the other cleaning staff. They also address the various repairs needed in your building to prevent any inconvenience or accidents.

2. Must be trained professionals

Choose a day porter who has acquired special cleaning skills and techniques through proper training and experience. The person should be a great fit for your commercial space and must be able to complete all the assigned tasks diligently without interrupting the business operations or office work.

3. Ready to deliver extended hours

The day porter must be able to juggle time and perform duties to keep everything in your company clean and beautiful all the time. If that requires extending their duty hours a bit, they must be flexible for it. No matter what time of the day it is, a day porter should make sure that your facility looks top-notch to the guests and remains comfortable for your employees.

Hire Trusted Day Porter Service from Sterling Cleaning! 

A day porter services will benefit your business by keeping your building premises tidy and presentable. Whether it’s the guest or your employees, a clean building improves the image of your company and represents your professionalism. As you now know the comprehensive set of duties of a day porter, just make sure to hire the service from a dependable agency. 

At Sterling Cleaning, we are a team of cleaning experts who understand well the situations of a busy business environment or office space. We can provide you with reliable day porter service to ensure the building and various physical aspects of your company remain clean and usable. Our professional day porters make sure to take all safety precautions and disinfect the surfaces to ensure the hygiene of the occupants. By hiring our day porter service, you can keep your office or business building spotless all day! Contact us today.

Frequently Asked Questions:

1. What are the skills of a day porter?

The chief skills required for a day porter are cleaning, dusting, servicing, and monitoring the areas or parts of the building, starting from entrances, parking lots, and lobbies to restrooms, cafeterias, and kitchens. They also need communication skills to respond to crises by reporting to the right persons. A porter also receives the guests in the office and communicates with them to provide whatever they need. They also should have supervisory skills and must notice whenever any basic supplies run out, or there is any damage in the building’s infrastructure that needs to be repaired.

2. Why is it called a day porter?

A person, who is called a day porter stays all day in the building, cleans the main areas and common spaces, and does many routine duties for maintaining the facility. Hence, the term, ‘a day porter’!

3. How are porters different from cleaners?

Day porters are different from cleaners due to a stark dissimilarity in their duties. Cleaners only do the cleaning activities like mopping floors, vacuuming carpets, cleaning toilets, disinfecting surfaces, and dusting furniture. Whereas, porters are responsible for these cleaning duties as well as some major maintenance tasks such as looking after the flower beds and plants, restocking the supplies, and painting/repairing external structures like walls, fences, or gates.

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