How commercial cleaners win strata cleaning contracts

How it looks from their side

A strata manager hears about the cleaning far more often than they see it. Owners email when the bin room smells, when the lift floor is sticky or when a stairwell light has been full of cobwebs for a month, and the manager has to answer for a contractor they may visit once a year. That is why they care less about how hard you work on the day and more about whether the building looks the same every week, whether you report problems before residents do and whether your paperwork lets them answer the committee without a site visit.

From the manager's side a cleaning contract is also one of the few pieces of work that runs every week of the year, which makes it a standing cost the committee looks at closely at budget time. A clear scope and a steady record are what keep it from being put out to quote every year.

What they’ll ask you for

A scope set out by area and frequency

The committee compares quotes line by line, and in Queensland a cleaning engagement of a year or more must be in a written agreement that states the term, the duties and the payment arrangements.

A hazardous chemicals register and current safety data sheets

If your products are stored in the building’s cleaner’s cupboard, Safe Work Australia’s guidance expects a register with the current safety data sheet for each chemical, and bulk commercial products don’t count as consumer goods.

Your own safety procedures for the site

A body corporate with only residential common areas and no employees is generally not a person conducting a business under work health and safety law, so the safety planning for your work rests with you.

Visit days that match council bin collection

Bins left on the kerb draw council attention. Brisbane, for example, says bins go out no earlier than 24 hours before collection and come in within 24 hours after.

A plan for car park wash water

In Queensland pressure cleaning wastewater is a prescribed water contaminant and must not go into gutters or stormwater drains, and basement car parks often drain to stormwater.

A key and fob register

One fob usually opens every common door in the building, so the manager will want to know which of your staff holds it and when that changes.

The work on offer

Regular common area clean

Lobbies, mail areas, stairwells, corridors and lifts on a weekly or fortnightly visit. Bought as a standing contract with a monthly fee, quoted against a written scope and compared with at least one other cleaner.

Bins and bin rooms

Moving bins to the kerb and back on council days, hosing the bin room and washing bins. Often a separate line in the scope, and the item residents complain about most.

Car parks and driveways

Sweeping, litter and oil spots on the regular visit, with a full pressure clean quoted once or twice a year as a one-off job.

Periodic jobs

High dusting, light fittings, common area glass and corridor carpet steam cleaning. Priced per occasion so the committee can approve them separately from the core contract.

Call-out cleans

Flooded basements, move-in mess in the lift, vandalism or a pre-meeting tidy. Ordered by the manager at short notice, and usually how a new cleaner gets a first look at a building.

A scope the committee can put side by side

Most strata cleaning quotes are compared at a committee meeting by owners who have never priced a clean, so the quote that wins is often the one that is easiest to compare rather than the cheapest. Set your scope out by area and frequency, because that is how the manager will line it up against the other quote, and because a vague promise of a general clean of common areas leaves the committee guessing at what they get for the money. For a mid-sized walk-up block it might look like this.

Area	Task	How often
Entry, lobby and mail area	Vacuum or mop, glass doors, mailbox fronts, clear junk mail	Each visit
Stairwells and corridors	Sweep and mop, wipe handrails, spot clean walls	Each visit
Lift	Floor, stainless steel, buttons and mirror	Each visit
Bin room	Sweep, hose and deodorise	Weekly, with bins washed monthly
Car park	Sweep, pick up litter, spot treat oil	Fortnightly
High areas	Cobwebs, light fittings and vents	Quarterly

Give one price per visit and one per month, and list the periodic jobs (corridor carpet cleaning, a full car park pressure clean, external glass) as separate prices the committee can approve or leave out. Managers like this because they can get the core contract approved without a second round of quotes, and the extras come back to you later as one-off orders. State the term you are offering, the notice either side gives and how the price is reviewed each year. The cleaners page covers how to build the price itself from award rates and hours on site.

Bins and car parks, where the complaints come from

Ask a strata manager which cleaning complaint they get most and the answer is usually bins. Residents notice an overflowing bin room long before they notice a dusty stairwell, and the council notices bins left on the footpath. Brisbane City Council, for example, says bins can go on the kerb no earlier than 24 hours before collection and should come back in no longer than 24 hours after, and it can fine for bins that aren't returned. If the contract includes moving bins, your visit days have to fit the collection day rather than the other way round, and that often decides whether a once-a-week clean works for the building at all. Write the bin days into your scope so the manager can see you have checked.

Car parks bring a different risk. Pressure cleaning water carries oil, rubber dust and detergent, and in Queensland wastewater from pressure cleaning is a prescribed water contaminant that must not be allowed into gutters or stormwater drains under the Environmental Protection Act. Basement car parks often drain straight to stormwater, so say in your quote how you will contain and collect the water, which usually means bunding the drains and vacuuming up the runoff. Other states have their own rules on wash water, so check with your council before you quote.

Keys, chemicals and working in someone's home

A strata cleaner works in the hallway outside people's front doors, often early in the morning and with a fob that opens every common door in the building. Keep a register of which staff member holds which building's keys and tell the manager when someone leaves, and agree your visit times in writing, since a vacuum in a stairwell at six in the morning is a complaint waiting to happen.

Chemicals are the part most small cleaners overlook. Safe Work Australia's guidance on hazardous chemicals registers uses contract cleaners as its example: where cleaners keep their chemicals stored on site, the workplace must keep a register with the current safety data sheet for each one. A 30 kg drum bought for commercial cleaning is not a consumer product, and manufacturers update safety data sheets at least every five years, so the register needs checking as well as keeping. In a residential building this tends to land on you, because SafeWork NSW says a body corporate responsible only for residential common areas is generally not a person conducting a business or undertaking unless it employs a worker. Keep a short register for each building's cupboard, with a copy in the cupboard itself, and send it to the manager with your insurance.

How the contract is approved, and how you get on the list

The approval route depends on the state and on the size of the contract. In Queensland anyone engaged to supply services such as cleaning for at least a year is a service contractor, and a new engagement is decided by ordinary resolution at a general meeting, with the terms of the contract included in the notice. A long-term contract can therefore take until the next general meeting to land, and the manager may offer a shorter arrangement first. Many Queensland complexes also have an on-site caretaker whose agreement already covers some of the cleaning, so ask before you quote, because in those buildings the work available to you may be the periodic jobs the caretaker doesn't do. In NSW, owners corporations must get two quotes from unrelated providers for works to common property over $30,000, so on a large building expect to be one of two even when the manager likes you. The strata managers page covers committee approval and spending limits in general.

Getting onto a strata firm's list usually starts smaller than the contract. Managers keep a short list of cleaners they ring for the call-out jobs, and those jobs are how they learn whether you turn up and report back. Send a photo report after every visit for the first few months, with the date, the areas done and anything you noticed such as a broken light or a leak, because the manager can forward it to the committee without going out. When a contract comes up for renewal on a building where you already do one-offs, you are the obvious second quote. If you'd rather not write the first emails yourself, Curlew writes to strata managers near you in your business name.

A first email you could send

Subject: Second cleaning quote for your Kedron buildings

Hi Karen, I run a small commercial cleaning business in Chermside and we look after common areas for a few blocks nearby. I noticed your firm manages several buildings around Kedron and Gordon Park. If one of your committees wants a second quote at renewal, I can send a scope set out by area and frequency, with bin days matched to council collection and a photo report after every visit. Our safety data sheets and insurance are ready to send. Would it help if I sent a sample scope for one building? Dan If you’d rather not hear from me, just say so and I’ll leave it there.

An example only. The business is made up.

For a version with every line explained, see email to a strata manager.

Mistakes that cost the work

Quoting one lump sum with no frequencies

The committee can’t see what it is paying for, so it picks the quote it can understand, which may not be yours.

Rostering visits that don’t fit bin day

Bins left out or an overflowing bin room are the complaints residents make most, and they land on the manager.

Leaving chemicals in the cupboard with no safety data sheets

It is the first thing a safety audit or a careful manager finds, and it suggests the rest of your paperwork is thin.

Pressure cleaning the car park into the drain

In Queensland it is unlawful to let pressure cleaning water into stormwater, and a council complaint about it is hard to recover from.

Changing staff without telling the manager

Residents notice a stranger with a building fob, and the manager hears about it before you do.

Questions people ask

Do I need a formal contract to clean a strata building?

In Queensland, if you are engaged for a year or more you are a service contractor and the engagement must be in writing, stating the term, the duties and the payment arrangements. One-off and call-out jobs are usually ordered by the manager on a quote and invoice.

Should bin moving be in the main price?

Usually yes, as its own line, because it fixes your visit days to the council collection day. Showing it separately also lets the committee see what it costs if they want it removed.

Who has to keep the safety data sheets?

If your products are stored in the building, keep a hazardous chemicals register with a current safety data sheet for each one and leave a copy in the cupboard. In a residential-only building the body corporate generally isn’t a business under safety law, so expect the manager to rely on yours.

Can I pressure clean the car park and let it run to the drain?

Not in Queensland, where pressure cleaning wastewater must not enter gutters or stormwater. Bund the drains and collect the water, and check your own council’s rules in other states.