Most cleaning checklists are written for buildings, not for the eight-person office above a shop. Here’s one scaled properly.
What a small office actually needs
Under ten staff, in roughly 80–150 m², with one or two bathrooms and a kitchenette:
Two visits a week is usually right. Three if people eat at their desks or you have client visitors regularly.
Total clean time: 1 to 1.5 hours per visit.
Every visit (about 60–75 minutes)
Bathroom (20 min)
- Toilet sanitised inside and out, including seat hinges and base
- Basin and tapware cleaned and dried
- Mirror cleaned streak-free
- Floor mopped including behind the pan and corners
- Consumables restocked to full
- Bin emptied and re-lined
- Door handle sanitised
Kitchenette (15 min)
- Bench and splashback
- Sink, tapware, plughole
- Microwave interior
- Fridge exterior and handle
- Under the kettle and toaster
- Table and chairs
- Bin emptied and re-lined
- Floor swept and mopped
Office (20 min)
- All bins emptied and re-lined
- Desks wiped where clear
- Carpet vacuumed, or hard floor mopped
- Meeting area reset
Entry and common (10 min)
- Entry glass, both sides
- Door handles and light switches
- Entry mat vacuumed
Weekly (add 30 minutes)
- Carpet edges and under desks
- Skirtings
- Window sills
- Internal glass
- Kitchen bin washed out
- Bathroom tiles and grout
- Chair bases and castors
Monthly (add 45 minutes)
- High dusting
- Air vents
- Light fittings
- Fridge interior
- Under and behind furniture
- Cupboard interiors
What it should cost
At $35–$50 per hour:
| Frequency | Hours/month | Typical monthly |
|---|---|---|
| 2 visits/week | ~11 hrs | $400 – $650 |
| 3 visits/week | ~16 hrs | $600 – $950 |
Small offices often face a minimum charge, many providers won’t take a job under about $350/month because the mobilisation cost per visit doesn’t work otherwise. That’s legitimate, not a rip-off.
Where small offices waste money
Buying five visits a week. Under ten people, an office simply doesn’t generate five days of soil. Two or three is genuinely enough, and the difference funds the periodic work you’re currently skipping.
Paying for periodic work you don’t need. Carpet in a small office with light traffic can go 18–24 months between extractions.
Not clearing desks. Cleaners can’t wipe a desk covered in paper. If half the desks are always covered, you’re paying for a service you’re preventing.
Where small offices under-spend
Bathroom frequency. One bathroom serving eight people needs attention every visit, not weekly. This is the single most common small-office mistake.
Kitchen bin washing. A bin that’s emptied but never washed is where the smell comes from.
Consumables. Running out of soap or paper is a bigger hit to how the office feels than any amount of vacuuming.
The DIY question
Plenty of small offices clean their own space. It works if:
- Someone genuinely owns it, by name, on a roster
- The bathroom is included (it usually isn’t, and it’s the reason DIY fails)
- You still bring someone in twice a year for a deep clean and carpets
It stops working the moment the person who owned it leaves, or gets busy. The failure is gradual and nobody announces it.
Getting a provider to take a small job
- Bundle with neighbours. Two or three small offices in one building make an attractive single run and often get a better rate each.
- Be flexible on timing. A provider slotting you into an existing route will price better than one making a special trip.
- Accept two visits rather than three. Better a well-done twice-weekly clean than a rushed three.