"Commercial cleaning" is not a defined term. Two providers can quote the same building for wildly different work and both describe it the same way. Here’s what should be in scope, what usually isn’t, and where the gaps hide.
Standard scope, included in almost every contract
Bathrooms
- Toilets, urinals and basins sanitised inside and out
- Tapware and fittings cleaned and polished
- Mirrors cleaned streak-free
- Floors mopped, including behind toilets and into corners
- Consumables restocked (soap, paper, hand towels)
- Bins emptied and re-lined
- Partitions and door handles sanitised
Kitchen and breakout
- Benches, splashbacks and sinks cleaned
- Appliance exteriors wiped (fridge, microwave, dishwasher, urn)
- Microwave interior cleaned
- Tables and chairs wiped
- Floors swept and mopped
- Bins emptied, re-lined, and washed periodically
Office areas
- Desks and workstations wiped (where clear)
- Carpet vacuumed, including edges and under desks
- Hard floors swept and mopped
- Bins emptied and re-lined
- Meeting rooms reset and wiped
Reception and common areas
- Entry glass and doors cleaned
- Reception counter sanitised
- Entry mats vacuumed or lifted and cleaned under
- Seating wiped or vacuumed
High-touch points
- Door handles, push plates, light switches
- Lift buttons and handrails
- Shared equipment (printers, kitchen appliances)
Usually quoted separately
These are legitimate extras, but they should be stated, not discovered:
| Task | Typical frequency |
|---|---|
| Carpet steam cleaning | 6–12 monthly |
| Hard floor strip and seal | 12–24 monthly |
| Internal window cleaning | Quarterly |
| External window cleaning | Quarterly to 6-monthly |
| High-level dusting (above reach) | 6–12 monthly |
| Upholstery cleaning | Annually |
| Pressure washing (external) | Annually |
| Builders / post-renovation clean | One-off |
The tasks providers assume you don’t want
These get silently dropped from most quotes. If you want them, say so:
- Inside the fridge. Almost never included. Ask for it monthly.
- Inside kitchen cupboards. Same.
- Under and behind furniture. Requires moving things; often excluded by omission.
- Skirting boards and door frames. The first thing dropped when hours get cut.
- Window sills and tracks. Frequently missed even when "dusting" is in scope.
- Vents and extractor grilles. Usually only in a periodic schedule.
- Plant care. Never included. Different service.
- Dishwasher loading and unloading. Reasonable to ask; state it explicitly.
- Restocking anything other than bathroom consumables. Tea, coffee, milk, separate arrangement.
What is never included
- Personal desk items and papers (nothing on a desk gets moved)
- Anything requiring height access beyond a step ladder
- Clinical or hazardous waste transport
- Pest control
- Anything requiring a licensed trade (electrical, plumbing, glazing)
How to close the gaps
The fix is a written specification listing every task in every area with a frequency. Not "clean bathrooms", a line for each task.
Two tests for whether a specification is real:
- Could a new cleaner do the job correctly from this document alone, having never seen the building? If not, it’s too vague.
- Does every line have a frequency? "As required" is not a frequency.
If your current arrangement doesn’t have a document like this, that’s usually the root cause of any standards problem you’re having, the cleaner isn’t cutting corners, they’re guessing at a scope nobody wrote down.