Executive Summary
Maintaining consistent cleaning standards across multiple student accommodation sites is difficult to manage day to day. High turnover, shared spaces, and constant use increase the risk of inconsistency and reactive work.
UniLodge Christchurch reviewed its cleaning model following feedback from residents and frontline colleagues. OCS was engaged to introduce a more structured cleaning model across seven sites, improving visibility of service delivery, and reducing day-to-day management pressure, while enabling UniLodge to focus on resident wellbeing and pastoral care.
4 Fast Facts
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7
Sites
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2580
Residents
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33
OCS colleagues onsite
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1200 athletes +
Support crew accommodated during National Summer Games
The brief
UniLodge required a structured cleaning model across a diverse accommodation portfolio, with consistent standards, clearer communication, and greater visibility and control of service delivery.
- Cleaning across shared and private spaces
- End-of-tenancy and event turnaround cleaning
- Reactive and on-call response cleaning
- Onsite supervision and contract management.
Services needed to adapt to different site layouts, occupancy levels, and usage patterns while maintaining consistent standards across all locations.
The portfolio spans a mix of multi-level buildings, apartments, dormitories, and standalone houses across on- and off-campus locations. Each site operates differently, with varying occupancy levels, usage patterns, and cleaning requirements, increasing the risk of inconsistency, missed standards and issues only being picked up after they’ve already affected residents.
The outcome
A structured, onsite-led cleaning model brought greater control across all seven sites, reducing variation and improving visibility of what was happening day to day.
This model has strengthened day-to-day service delivery, reduced variation across sites, and supported UniLodge’s focus on resident wellbeing and pastoral care. It has also demonstrated the ability to respond to peak demand without disrupting standards.
Key actions and results included:
Continuous improvement
The service continues to be refined as site usage and requirements change, including:
- Trials of robotic vacuuming in multi-storey buildings
- Ongoing review of cleaning frequencies based on demand
- Alignment of service delivery with operational needs and budgets
Applying this model in other environments
This approach is suited to environments where occupancy, usage and expectations shift throughout the year, and where maintaining consistent standards across multiple sites is a challenge. It reduces variation, improves oversight, and supports consistent service delivery across complex, multi-site environments.
“The customer and I can talk about anything with honesty. When UniLodge asks us to do something, they trust that we’ll not only do it, but we’ll do it well. That’s the most important thing.”
Rosalie Riley
Operations Manager, OCS New Zealand
