CLEAN PRO EXPO 2026 in Friedrichshafen: The Guide for Cleaning Contractors – and Where to Find Us

From 15 to 17 September 2026, CLEAN PRO EXPO takes place in Friedrichshafen – the international trade fair for cleaning technologies and solutions. For cleaning contractors, facility management firms and anyone selling cleaning as a service, this is the industry date in the four-country region around Lake Constance. We are there with our own stand: you will find us at stand A7-430 in hall A7. This article sums up what awaits you, what is particularly worth a look – and how to meet us.

CLEAN PRO EXPO 2026 at a glance

The fair positions itself as a trade event for professional cleaning and is aimed explicitly at decision-makers, not at consumers. Friedrichshafen as a location is no accident: from here the economically strong four-country region around Lake Constance is within reach – southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland and northern Italy.

The current opening hours and ticket information as well as the free trade visitor ticket are available directly from the organiser. Plan this in advance – without an online ticket you will not get onto the grounds.

Who the visit is worthwhile for

The fair addresses specialists and managers from building cleaning and facility management, from industry, production and the trades, from hotels and hospitality, from healthcare and education, and from public procurement. Put differently: everywhere cleaning is either bought in or delivered as a service.

The visit is particularly worthwhile if one of the following topics is currently on your desk:

• You are looking to replace machines at the end of their service life and want to compare alternatives side by side.
• You are assessing whether autonomous cleaning systems are realistic for your site sizes – at the fair they run in demonstration areas under practical conditions.
• You lose too much time to paper: timesheets, proof of service, site inspections.
• You have to prove to clients that a service was actually delivered – and end up arguing about recollections instead.
• You feel the shortage of skilled staff and are looking for ways to relieve the people you have rather than hire more. The supporting programme picks up exactly this topic.

The exhibition areas: software now stands next to the machine

The exhibition areas at CLEAN PRO EXPO cover the full breadth of the industry:

• Mechanical cleaning technology
• Manual cleaning equipment and accessories
• Chemical products and cleaning agents
• Washroom equipment and sanitary technology
• Digital technologies and automation
• Software solutions and management systems
• Occupational safety and security
• Sustainability and environmental management
• Waste management and pest control

It is notable that two of these areas are digital. A few years ago, software at cleaning fairs was a footnote between scrubber dryers and microfibre cloths. Today it is an exhibition area in its own right – because the most expensive machine is of no use if nobody can prove who worked in which building and when.

What to look for in software for building cleaning

If you use the fair to compare software vendors, a few test questions will save you a lot of trouble later. From our experience with cleaning companies, these are the decisive ones.

1. Does recording work without a signal?

Cleaning staff work in basements, underground car parks and plant rooms. An app that cannot clock in there will not be used. Ask specifically what happens without a network – and whether the entry is then submitted with the real moment or with the moment of the later transfer.

2. How is presence on site evidenced?

A tick in an app is not proof. An NFC chip in the building, by contrast, physically hangs on site: whoever clocks in was there. That is exactly the difference when a property manager questions a night shift. More on this on our page about time tracking in cleaning.

3. Do your employees speak the software's language?

In hardly any industry are teams as international as in building cleaning. An interface in one language only produces wrongly recorded hours – and nobody will tell you they do not understand it. Make sure every person can set their own language while your reporting stays in yours.

4. Does the proof of service arise along the way – or as a second job?

You have to answer two questions: to the legislator, whether working time was recorded, and to the client, whether the service was delivered. Good software produces both from the same entry. If a vendor needs two separate records for that, you will end up keeping two lists again, and they will drift apart.

5. Does the solution cover quality as well as time?

Disputes with clients are rarely only about hours; they are about quality. Checklist-based site inspections with photos and defect tracking – optionally with a customer signature and an archived inspection report – are the tool with which you settle a complaint factually instead of arguing it out.

6. Is the documentation duty really met?

For building cleaning in Germany, not only the general obligation to record working time under the Federal Labour Court ruling of 13 September 2022 applies, but additionally Section 17 of the Minimum Wage Act: the start, end and duration of daily working time must be recorded no later than seven days after the work was performed and kept for two years. Timesheets that arrive at the end of the month structurally fail that deadline. Details in our overview of recording working time in Germany.

7. How quickly is a new member of staff set up?

Staff turnover in cleaning is high. If onboarding a new person requires training, the system will be worked around in daily use. Feel free to ask directly at the fair: how long does it take to set up someone who starts tomorrow and speaks neither German nor English?

Visit us at stand A7-430

You will find us in hall A7 at stand A7-430 – our entry is also in the CLEAN PRO EXPO exhibitor directory. We will be showing how digital time tracking in cleaning companies works in practice – not as a slide deck, but on the running system:

• Clocking in via an NFC chip on site: hold a phone against the chip yourself and watch the entry appear in the office.
• Site-related proof of service, of the kind a property manager accepts.
• Quality control with a checklist, photos and defect tracking through to resolution.
• Shift planning that lands on the team's phones by push – multilingual.
• Month-end closing and export for payroll.

You are welcome to simply drop by – or book a slot in advance. We will then keep time free for you and prepare the demo around your case: your site sizes, your clients, your documentation duties. In our experience the quietest windows are Tuesday and Wednesday morning. Request an appointment here.

Would you like a look beforehand? You can try Jobilino free of charge at any time and bring your specific questions to the stand. In our experience those make the best conversations at a fair.

How to prepare your visit

• Secure your ticket in advance. Admission is only possible with an online ticket; as a trade visitor you register free of charge with the organiser.
• Plan your journey. Friedrichshafen is easy to reach from southern Germany, Vorarlberg and eastern Switzerland; the travel information sets out the routes in detail.
• Mark stands in advance. Note the stand numbers you want to head for – ours is A7-430 – and arrange them into a sensible route on the site plan.
• Fix appointments beforehand. Three fair days sound like a lot of time and are not. Anyone who schedules their two or three most important conversations in advance goes home with results rather than brochures.
• Bring your own figures. Number of sites, number of employees, how hours are recorded today. That turns a product demonstration into a conversation about your business.
• Do not overload the Thursday. On the final day the fair closes at 15:00.

Conclusion

For cleaning companies in the south of the German-speaking region, CLEAN PRO EXPO 2026 is the date with the shortest journey and the highest density of suppliers. Those who use the visit to question not only their machines but also their own documentation get the most out of it – because contracts are lost to missing evidence more often than to missing technology.

We look forward to your visit at stand A7-430. And if you are based in the region anyway, we are happy to show you outside the fair as well what digital time tracking looks like in everyday use around Lake Constance.