Bristol & Bath Exterior Solutions

Commercial exterior cleaning across Bristol & Bath

Last updated: 2026-05-21 · Founder-led · £5m insured · 7-day rework

£5m Public LiabilityEA Upper-Tier Waste Carrier7-day rework guaranteeRAMS & COSHH on every visitBS & BA postcodes

Owner-operator. Bristol-based. We clean offices, shops, forecourts, car parks, cladding and managed estates across BS and BA postcodes. Hot wash, soft wash, cold high-pressure, doff steam where the stone is at risk. Same crew on the job most weeks. Photo handover after every visit. We work nights and weekends if your asset trades during the day.

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Public liability

£5m, broker-issued.

Waste carrier

EA Upper-Tier registration.

Rework guarantee

7 days. In writing on the job sheet.

Compliance pack

RAMS, COSHH, photo pack on every visit.

Why choose BBES for commercial exterior cleaning

Right. Most contractors who quote on a commercial frontage in Bristol or Bath have done a few houses and a couple of pubs. They turn up with a cold pressure washer, a half-empty bottle of patio cleaner, and a vague idea of what an interceptor does. We are not that. BBES has been on the tools across BS3, BS4, BS6, BS7, BS9, BS10, BS11, BS32, BA1 and BA2 for years, the back half of every month spent on commercial work, the front half on the residential book that funds the kit. The crew that turns up to a Filton car park job is the same crew that did the Whiteladies render last week, just with bigger pumps and more paperwork.

The reason commercial buyers ring us is rarely the cleaning itself. It is the audit trail. The site induction that does not get fluffed. The waste-water capture that does not flood the interceptor. The RAMS that lands in your platform before the van rolls. Most of the time the actual lance work is the easy bit. We had a forecourt manager once tell us he did not care if a contractor was the best washer in the county, if his AP team got 40 invoices instead of one he was binning the contract on the next cycle. That is the bar. We hit it.

We used to run cold-only. Switched after a 2,800 m² loading apron at Avonmouth came up patchy in light rain six weeks after the clean. Cold had emulsified the brake-dust and re-deposited it across the slab. Now we run hot for any hydrocarbon-loaded substrate, cold where the substrate is delicate, soft wash where biology is the target, and doff steam where the stone is too soft to take pressure at all. Four methods. The right one for the job. Most of the time it is obvious which is which. Sometimes it depends a bit on the substrate and we will tell you on the survey.

Sectors we serve

Each block here is a short brief. The deeper sector pages sit at the end of this page if you want the full version with the procurement-grade detail.

Offices

Aztec West, Almondsbury, Bath Brassmill, Aspire, Cribbs Mead, Filton, Emersons Green, Temple Quarter. Cladding wash to ACM and rainscreen panel within the manufacturer pressure tolerance, entrance pavement detail, signage clean, fascia and soffits, smoking shelter deep clean. Most of our office work runs 04:00 to 07:00 so reception is clean and dry by the time the first tenant walks in. No premium on early-morning starts. We hold the audit calendar for multi-site groups and schedule visits to land seven to ten days ahead of the brand walk-through.

Shops & retail frontages

Bristol high-street stock and Bath SouthGate parade. Pavement gum removal with steam-and-scrape (a Bristol frontage of 30 metres carries 30-80 spots per linear metre at the doorway). Fascia clean, awning soft-wash, glazing detail, trolley-bay apron, kerb upstand. Pre-06:00 windows so the frontage opens dry. We run the gum unit on a daily-rate option if your estate manager wants a longer stretch done in one shift. Photo pack delivered same morning before the doors open.

Forecourts (petrol & dealer)

Pump-island aprons, drive lanes, fill-point hard-stand, jet-wash bay run-off zone, HGV diesel lane. 90°C+ at the lance, surfactant-grade degreaser, dwell, full vacuum recovery, bunded bowser transit, EWC-coded waste transfer note for every load. We work post-23:00 or full-overnight on 24-hour sites and cone one pump-island at a time so the site stays trading. Method statement is interceptor-aware. We never push hydrocarbon to the surface drain.

Car parks

Multi-storey deck wash, surface car park, underground bay. Tyre-scrub lift, oil-stain treatment, ramp degrease, gum removal, bay-line refresh prep so your line-marker walks onto a clean substrate. Stairwell wash-down. We schedule around peak occupancy windows for retail and hospital trusts, and around term times for university estates. Quoted by deck m² and shift duration. Annual cycles get the deepest route-density discount where multiple decks sit on one management book.

Cladding (powder-coated, ACM, brick-slip, composite)

Soft-wash and TMV-controlled hot water for ACM, Trespa, Rockpanel, Eternit, Equitone, brick-slip rainscreen, terracotta panel, profiled metal, curtain-wall systems, K-Rend and through-coloured render. We run pressure to manufacturer spec (typically 1,500-2,200 PSI for ACM, lower for powder-coat) and pH-neutral biodegradable detergent so anodised finishes and EPDM gaskets are not stripped. MEWP or rope-access partner above 3m. Warranty positions are protected. Batch numbers and dilution records logged for COSHH traceability.

Managed properties

Block management, mixed-use schemes, podium courtyards, communal entrances, bin chambers, fire-escape routes, balcony soffits. Section-20 evidence files supplied where required. Our crew stays the same week to week so residents see familiar faces, which matters more than people think on a leasehold scheme. CIS deduction routed correctly through the managing agent's finance team because getting that wrong once costs you the next quarter. Single PO per cycle. Per-site cost lines on the invoice for cost-centre allocation.

Landlords & lettings portfolios

Pre-let frontage cleans for letting agents at 48 hours notice. Gutter clearance with CCTV verification on the downpipes, render soft-wash on K-Rend and silicone topcoat, brickwork algae knock-back on shaded north elevations, hardstanding and drive wash, garden wall make-good. We work to the agent's photo brief so the marketing shots come out the way they need to. Per-property rate card for portfolios above six units. One invoice at month end with property-coded line items.

Facilities managers

Single-vendor cover for FM and PM firms running residential blocks, mixed-use schemes and multi-site commercial portfolios. RAMS uploaded directly into Property Inspect, Re-Leased, Plentific, Trade Interchange, OpenAccounts, Elogbooks, Riskwise, MRI or Yardi before mobilisation. KPI-reported cycles. Photo evidence per visit zipped into one cycle pack. CSV export so your AP team drops it into Sage or Xero without rekeying. Named contracts lead. Monthly call. Quarterly review. No call centre.

Methods we use

Four methods. We pick the right one for the substrate, not the one we feel like running that day. The wrong method on the wrong substrate is the single biggest cause of avoidable damage in this trade. We will tell you on the survey which we are using and why.

Hot washing

Diesel-fired hot-wash unit delivering 90°C+ at the lance. The only method that breaks the bond between hydrocarbon contamination and concrete or asphalt. Used on forecourt aprons, loading bays, refuse compounds, car park decks where oil bloom is the issue. Cold cannot touch this. Wash water is captured at point of discharge by vacuum recovery and consigned under our Upper-Tier carrier registration, never run to the surface drain.

Soft washing

Low-pressure biocidal application at typically 100-200 PSI, dwell, rinse. Used on render, painted brick, cladding panel, roof tile, anywhere biology (algae, lichen, gloeocapsa) is the problem rather than dirt. We run sodium hypochlorite at about a third of the dilution most contractors use because heavier mixes ghost on K-Rend after six months. Slower, but the finish holds. Cill protected, lead flashing protected, planting flushed before and after.

Cold high-pressure

Cold water at 2,000-3,500 PSI through a flat-surface rotary cleaner for paving, hardstanding, courtyards, brick paver and concrete flag. Stripe-free coverage at pace, no thermal shock to the substrate, lower environmental footprint than hot. We use cold where biology is not the target and hydrocarbon is not the loading. Rotary head sized to the surface area so a 1,500 m² courtyard runs in a single shift not three.

Doff steam where the stone is at risk

Doff is low-pressure superheated water (140-150°C, 100-150 PSI). Used on Bath stone, Cotswold stone, lime render, listed elevations, anything soft enough that conventional pressure would etch the face. The heat kills biology and lifts soiling without mechanical damage. We bring a Doff unit out for stone on Royal Crescent fringe properties and Clifton Georgian frontages. Slower, more expensive per m², the only safe method on the substrate.

Out-of-hours and planned work

Most of our commercial work runs outside trading hours. Pre-06:00 starts on high-street frontages so the doors open dry. Post-23:00 on forecourts so the diesel pump is not blocked. Overnight on logistics yards between last delivery and first dispatch, typically 22:00 to 04:00. Sundays and bank holidays for retail estates that cannot close on a weekday. The out-of-hours uplift is published on the rate card (25% weekday OOH and Saturday, 40% Sunday and bank holiday) and quoted in advance. No retro-billing.

Planned work means the paperwork lands before the kit. RAMS specific to the site, signed by the contracts lead, uploaded to your platform 48 hours ahead of mobilisation. COSHH assessment per chemistry. Traffic-management plan submitted to the centre management office where vehicle movement is in scope, with cone-and-sign layout drawn against the GA. Lone-worker comms (we run a check-in cycle every 90 minutes on overnight shifts, recorded against the job number, escalation route to the contracts lead). Site induction completed by the supervisor 30 minutes before the crew unloads.

One thing worth flagging because it kills more night jobs than anything else. Most logistics yard managers do not have authority to grant access for a contractor working past 22:00 without it being on the gate book 48 hours in advance. The night-shift gate man will turn you away even with a valid PO if you are not on his sheet. We send dates to the site manager, get them confirmed in writing, and copy the gate-house too. Do this once and you never get sent home at 23:30 with kit half-rigged. (We learned that one the hard way at a Severnside depot in 2023.)

Compliance and paperwork

The pack lands with the quote, not after you sign. It is the same pack we send to procurement teams running PQQ frameworks and to FM directors running approved-supplier lists.

Capability deck

The BBES Commercial Capability Deck is a 14-page PDF written for procurement and FM buyers. Company facts, insurance and EA registration evidence, sector mini-case-studies, equipment list, chemistry list, sustainability statement, KPI framework, sample reporting pack, and the standard contract clauses we accept. Useful for PQQ submissions and approved-supplier onboarding.

Read more on our commercial page or contact a contracts lead to request the capability deck.

Commercial handover photos

Every visit closes with a photo pack. Below are the slots reserved for real handover sets. We will not publish stock images or fabricated composites.

Scheduled maintenance plans

Most of our commercial book is on a fixed cycle, not reactive. The economic case is straightforward. Service-charge consultations stop being annual surprises because the figure is locked at contract signature. Pre-AGM and pre-inspection scrambles disappear because the cycle has already done the work. Brand presentation is consistent across the portfolio because every asset is cleaned to the same standard on the same cadence. One PO per cycle, one accruals line, one reconciliation. Your FM accounts team recovers hours.

Cycle options: quarterly (recommended for high-traffic retail, hospitality and forecourts), bi-annual (block management, schools, mid-traffic offices), annual (industrial estates, low-traffic depots, charity sites). Custom cycles available. A Russell Group university estate may want pre-graduation and pre-Welcome-Week intensives plus a Christmas-vacation deep clean. We build the calendar around your operating reality.

Related services

FAQs

Are RAMS provided?

Yes. Generic RAMS go out at PQQ stage and accompany the quote. Site-specific RAMS are written before mobilisation on any new site, signed by the operations lead, and reissued whenever scope, access or chemistry materially changes. Templates align to standard FM-sector expectations. If your framework requires us to populate your own RAMS pro-forma, we do that. Uploaded directly into Property Inspect, Plentific, Elogbooks or whichever platform you run.

Do you carry COSHH assessments?

Yes. One COSHH assessment per product in active use, current SDS in the on-site folder, batch numbers and dilution records logged on the job sheet. The supervisor can produce any SDS within 60 seconds of being asked. Sodium hypochlorite blends, biocidal soft-wash chemistry, alkaline degreasers and neutralising rinses are all covered. We do not carry chemistry on the van that does not have a current assessment.

Can you produce an insurance certificate?

Yes. £5m public liability cover, broker-issued, dated within the current policy year, downloadable as a PDF. Named insurer printed on the certificate. We can name your organisation as additional insured on written request, and provide broker contact details for verification. Scalable to £10m where the contract requires it. Certificate reissued within 24 hours when a tenant procurement portal asks.

Do you work out of hours?

Yes, routinely. Pre-06:00 on high-street frontages, post-23:00 on forecourts, full overnight (22:00 to 04:00) on logistics yards, weekends and bank holidays for retail. The out-of-hours uplift is published on the rate card (25% weekday OOH and Saturday, 40% Sunday and bank holiday) and quoted in advance. No surprise overtime invoices, no retro-billing, no minimum-callout charges on cluster days.

Are recurring contracts available?

Yes. Most of our commercial book runs on quarterly, bi-annual or annual cycles. Annual cycle pricing attracts an 8-15% reduction against ad-hoc rates with index-linked uplift (CPIH-capped) at renewal. Single PO per cycle, consolidated invoice with per-site cost lines, CSV export for upload into Yardi, MRI, OpenAccounts, Sage or Xero. Termination for convenience accepted with 30 to 90 days notice, mutual.

Talk to a contracts lead

The person who answers the phone runs the route. Not a call centre. We respond to commercial enquiries within one working day, with a survey booked within five working days for sites in the Bristol and Bath travel zone. Phone 07944 014 111. WhatsApp +44 7763 741067. Email enquiries@bristolandbathexteriorsolutions.co.uk.

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