Use this for a sparkle clean or final handover clean. It’s ordered to work top-down, which matters more on a construction clean than anywhere else, anything you clean before the ceiling and high surfaces will need doing twice.
Before you start
- Confirm all trades are finished and off site
- Confirm power and water are connected
- Confirm floor protection can be removed
- Photograph the starting condition
- Check for anything not to be touched (curing sealants, protected finishes)
High level (do first)
- Ceilings vacuumed or brushed for dust and cobwebs
- Ceiling vents and diffusers
- Light fittings, including inside diffusers
- Sprinkler heads and smoke detectors (dust only)
- Exposed beams, bulkheads and ducting
- Tops of door frames
- Tops of cabinetry and joinery
- High-level ledges and reveals
Windows and glass
- Glass cleaned inside and out where accessible
- Paint specks and silicone removed from glass (blade where safe)
- Sticker and label residue removed
- Frames wiped
- Tracks vacuumed, then wiped
- Sills and reveals
- Window furniture and stays
- Mirrors and internal glazing
Joinery, doors and trim
- Doors, both sides, including tops and bottoms
- Door frames and architraves
- Handles, hinges, latches and strike plates
- Skirtings, vacuumed then wiped
- Trim and mouldings
- Stair balustrades and handrails
- Built-in cabinetry, inside and out
- Drawers removed and runners vacuumed
Kitchens
- Inside all cupboards and drawers
- Cupboard doors, both sides, plus edges
- Handles and hinges
- Benchtops and edges
- Splashback, including grout haze
- Sink, tapware, and under-sink cabinet
- Inside oven, including racks and trays
- Rangehood, filter and inside canopy
- Inside dishwasher, including seal
- Inside and behind fridge cavity
- Toe kicks and kickboards
Bathrooms
- Inside vanity cabinets and drawers
- Basin, tapware, waste
- Shower, glass, tray, tiles, grout haze, tapware, waste
- Bath, if present, including the underside of any lip
- Toilet, bowl, seat, cistern, base, behind pan
- Tiles and grout, walls and floor
- Mirror and cabinet
- Extractor grille
- Towel rails, hooks and accessories
- Silicone checked and cleaned
Floors
- Protection removed and disposed of
- Vacuumed with HEPA filtration
- Edges and corners hand-detailed
- Grout haze removed from tiled areas
- Adhesive residue removed
- Hard floors mopped, then buffed if required
- Carpet vacuumed thoroughly, spot-treated if marked
- Thresholds and transition strips
Electrical and fittings
- Switch plates and power outlets
- Data and comms plates
- Thermostats and control panels
- Extract fans and grilles
- Heat pump units, including filters
- Intercom and alarm panels
Final walk
- All surfaces re-checked for settled dust
- Glass re-checked at an angle
- Floors re-checked in raking light
- Any remaining stickers or labels removed
- Rubbish and cleaning materials removed from site
- Photograph the finished condition, room by room
The residue points most commonly missed
- Window tracks. Look full of dust because they are. Vacuum before wiping.
- Tops of doors. Nobody looks up. The client will.
- Grout haze on tiles. Reads as a dirty floor and needs a proper haze remover.
- Silicone smears on glass. Needs a blade and patience.
- Inside cupboard runners and hinges. Full of gypsum dust.
- Behind the toilet pan.
- Light diffusers. Dead insects and dust, visible when the lights go on.
- Extract fan grilles.
- Under the lip of benchtops.
- The oven, if it was installed early.
For the handover pack
Photograph every room in its finished state. A builders clean is the last thing before someone inspects the site critically, having a timestamped record of the condition you delivered it in is what turns a potential dispute into a five-minute conversation.