· Michael Blair
Cleaning is one of the few services where the client and the provider often have quite different pictures of the job. Writing the scope down before the first visit resolves nearly all of it.
Usually included
Kitchen surfaces and exterior of appliances, bathrooms fully, floors vacuumed and mopped, dusting of accessible surfaces, beds made, bins emptied.
That is the standard recurring scope at most companies.
Usually extra
Inside the oven and refrigerator, interior windows, laundry, dishes beyond loading, wall washing, inside cupboards, and anything requiring a ladder beyond a step.
Also pet mess and heavy clutter, which slow a visit substantially and are the most common source of an unexpected charge.
- Agree the scope in writing before the first visit
- Say which rooms are excluded, if any
- Name your priorities — the two things you notice most
- Agree how they get in and whether pets are contained
- Clarify what happens if something is broken
Preparation on your side
Tidying before a clean is not silly — cleaners clean, they do not organise, and a cluttered surface gets wiped around rather than cleaned.
Clearing worktops and floors is what turns a visit into a noticeable result.
Insurance and breakage
Ask about liability insurance and whether the company is bonded. Breakages happen occasionally in any cleaning work and it is worth knowing the process before it does.
Also ask whether the same cleaner attends each time — consistency matters more in cleaning than in most services, because they learn the house.