Housekeeping and Facility Standards
What this domain tests
Housekeeping and facility standards cover cleanliness, room status accuracy, linen and supply control, safety and the presentation of public areas. Exam items ask for the correct cleaning sequence, the meaning of room status codes, par-stock calculations and safe handling of chemicals and lost property.
Core rules
- Clean top-to-bottom, dry-to-wet and clean-to-dirty; work from the far corner toward the door.
- Standard room status: VC (vacant clean), VD (vacant dirty), OC (occupied clean), OD (occupied dirty), OOO (out of order), and sometimes DND (do not disturb).
- Knock and announce before entry; wait; do not enter a room with a DND sign unless emergency procedures require it.
- Use colour-coded cloths: bathroom cloths must not be used on food-contact or guest-room surfaces.
- Linen par stock covers the laundry cycle plus safety stock. A simple par = daily requirement × (laundry turnaround days + safety days).
- Lost property is logged with date, room, description and finder, stored securely and returned against identification.
- Chemical containers stay labelled and diluted to the manufacturer's ratio; never decant into drink bottles.
Worked example
A 300-room hotel runs at 80% occupancy, so 240 rooms need linen daily. Laundry turnaround is two days, and the hotel keeps one safety day. Par stock = 240 × (2 + 1) = 720 sets. If occupancy rises to 90%, daily need is 270 and par stock becomes 810 sets; the housekeeping manager must order additional linen before the peak, not after shortages appear.
Traps that cost marks
Confusing VD with VC; skipping the knock-and-wait; carrying dirty linen through food areas; using the same cloth for toilet and basin; forgetting to log a found item; and treating OOO as simply dirty when it must be removed from sale.