Commercial cleaning contracts: what to include

Office and commercial cleaning work is usually won and lost on the contract. A clear one means you know exactly what you are paid to do, the client knows what to expect, and an argument about an unemptied bin is settled by reading a page rather than losing the account. This guide covers what a good commercial cleaning contract includes, whether it is your own template or the client's.

The cleaning specification

The specification is the heart of the contract: what is cleaned, how often and to what standard. Write it area by area, so both sides can check it.

Say what is not included, too: inside cupboards, IT equipment, external windows, waste removal from site. Most disputes are about something one side assumed was included.

Hours, access and keys

• The days and times of each visit, and how long you will be on site.
• How your staff get in: keys, fobs, alarm codes, and who is responsible for them.
• What happens if you can't get in, and whether the visit is still charged.
• Bank holidays and the client's shutdown periods: are visits skipped, moved or charged?
• Site rules: signing in, parking, areas that are out of bounds.

Price, payment and the annual review

• The monthly price, and what it covers: labour, products, equipment, consumables if you supply them.
• Extra work: your hourly rate for ad hoc cleans and the notice you need.
• Payment terms, such as 30 days from invoice, and what happens if invoices aren't paid.
• An annual price review on a fixed date. Link it to wage rises if you can: the National Minimum Wage changes every April, and most of your cost is labour.

Our guide on how to price cleaning jobs covers working out the monthly figure.

Consumables and equipment

Agree who supplies toilet roll, hand towels, soap and bin liners, and how they are charged: included in the price, at cost plus a margin, or bought by the client. Agree where equipment and products are stored on site, and that your COSHH assessments and safety data sheets are kept there.

Quality checks and complaints

1. 1How quality is checked: regular inspections by your supervisor, with a short report, and how often.
2. 2How the client reports a problem, and how quickly you will put it right.
3. 3Regular review meetings for larger contracts.
4. 4What counts as a serious or repeated failure, and what happens then.

Photos and clock in and out times are the easiest evidence that a visit happened and what was done. They settle most "did the cleaner even come?" complaints in a minute.

Insurance, health and safety and staff

Commercial clients will usually ask to see, before you start and again each year:

• Your public liability and employers' liability insurance certificates.
• Your health and safety policy, and risk assessments for their site.
• COSHH assessments and safety data sheets for the products you use there.
• Evidence that your staff are trained, often as a training matrix.
• Right to work checks, and DBS checks where the site needs them.

Our guide on managing staff training, policies and compliance covers how to keep these ready to send.

Term, notice and ending the contract

• How long the contract runs, and whether it renews automatically.
• The notice either side must give to end it, often one to three months.
• A shorter route out for serious, repeated failures, after a chance to put them right.
• Returning keys, fobs and the client's equipment at the end.

TUPE: when cleaners move with the contract

In cleaning, the TUPE regulations often apply when a contract moves from one cleaning company to another. The cleaners who mainly worked on that contract may transfer to the new company on their existing terms. That matters whether you are winning a contract (you may inherit staff and their pay) or losing one (your staff may move). Acas and GOV.UK explain how it works, and it is worth taking advice before you price a contract where it could apply.

How RoomZoom helps with contract cleaning

Every visit on the schedule, and proof it happened

In RoomZoom, a contract becomes repeating visits on the schedule, on the right days, with the site notes and access details on each cleaner's phone. Clock in and out times and photo checks give you the record, and the client can have their own login to see it. Each client's visits are totalled for the month for invoicing.

See RoomZoom for office cleaning or sign up free.