Most cleaning contracts are written by the cleaner, for the cleaner. That’s not sinister, it’s just who drafts first. But it means the standard template optimises for the provider’s certainty rather than yours.
Here’s a structure that’s fair to both sides, with notes on what each clause is actually doing.
This is a practical guide, not legal advice. For a contract of any significant value, have a lawyer review it.
The sections a cleaning contract needs
1. Parties and term
Full legal entity names, not trading names. Start date, initial term, and renewal mechanism.
Watch: auto-renewal with a long notice period. A 12-month term renewing unless you give 90 days' notice gives you a nine-month decision window. Three months' notice on a 12-month term is reasonable; anything longer favours the provider.
2. Scope of services
This should reference an attached specification, not describe the work in the contract body. The specification lists every task in every area with a frequency.
Watch: wording like "general cleaning as required". That’s not a scope, it’s an aspiration. If it isn’t written down, it isn’t included.
3. Hours and staffing
State the labour hours the price assumes, and whether staff are employees or subcontractors.
Watch: the absence of this clause. It’s the single most useful line in a cleaning contract, and it’s missing from most of them. Without it you have no way to establish whether you’re getting what you paid for.
4. Price and what’s included
One price. Consumables allowance stated in dollars. Periodic work listed separately with frequency and price.
Watch: "consumables at cost plus handling". Ask what the handling percentage is. It’s often 20–40%.
5. Price adjustment
Annual review is normal. The clause should specify:
- When it applies (e.g. annually on the anniversary)
- What it’s linked to (CPI, wage movement, or negotiation)
- Whether it’s capped
- How much notice you get
Watch: uncapped automatic CPI, and "wage and associated cost movement", the second half of that phrase is open-ended.
6. Standards and remedy
What happens when something is missed. This clause is usually vague and shouldn’t be.
A good version specifies: how you report an issue, the response time, the remedy (re-clean at no charge), and what happens on repeat failures.
Watch: no remedy clause at all. Without one, your only leverage is termination.
7. Verification and records
Almost never present in a standard template, and worth inserting.
Suggested wording: "The Provider will maintain a per-visit record identifying the date, the personnel attending, and the completion status of each task in the Specification. The Client may access these records at any time and export them."
If a provider won’t agree to this, that itself is information.
8. Access, keys and security
Who holds keys and alarm codes, how they’re stored, what happens on staff changes, and the process if a key is lost.
9. Insurance
Public liability cover amount, and an obligation to provide the certificate on request and on renewal.
10. Health and safety
Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, you and your cleaning contractor are both PCBUs with overlapping duties. The contract should acknowledge the duty to consult, co-operate and co-ordinate.
11. Staff vetting
Police vetting requirement, whether it applies to relievers (it should), and how often it’s refreshed.
12. Termination
Notice period both ways, immediate termination triggers for serious failure, and what happens to keys and records on exit.
Watch: asymmetric notice, 30 days for them, 90 for you. And break fees equal to the remaining term.
13. Privacy
Relevant if the provider collects any personal information, and if their staff have access to areas containing client data.
Clauses to add if they’re missing
- Hours disclosure. The labour hours the price assumes.
- Verification. Per-visit task-level records you can access.
- Named contact. Who your account manager is and their response commitment.
- Consumables in dollars. A stated annual allowance, not "at cost".
- Prevailing rate defined. If there’s a scope-creep clause, the rate must be a number.
Before you sign
Work through the 22-question contract checklist, it covers the questions this template can’t answer for your specific building.