How window cleaners get work from strata managers

How it looks from their side

On a low-rise block residents can usually clean their own windows from inside or from the balcony, so the work a strata manager orders is the glass nobody can safely reach: fixed panes, the lobby atrium, the stairwell windows and the facade of anything above a couple of storeys. That makes window cleaning one of the few regular strata jobs done at height, and the manager knows that if something goes wrong on a rope outside level six, the building's anchors and their booking will be looked at closely.

So the questions come before the price. They want to know how you'll reach the glass, whether the anchors on the roof are fit to use, what you need from them, and what papers they can file to show the job was done safely. A cleaner who answers those clearly is easier to book than one who is a little cheaper.

What they’ll ask you for

Anchor records you have actually seen

Permanent anchors should be marked with rated load, load direction, inspection details and installer, and whoever manages them must keep test and inspection records.

An inspection that is current

Anchors are inspected as the manufacturer recommends, or as a competent person recommends, and otherwise at least annually under Safe Work Australia’s rope access guide.

A reason rope access is the right method

The falls code says elevating work platforms or building maintenance units must be considered before industrial rope access is used.

Two independent ropes and a rescue plan

The code expects a back-up line for each person, and a business using fall arrest must have emergency and rescue procedures that have been tested.

Certificates of competency for each technician

Safe Work Australia’s checklist asks whether rope access workers hold a current certificate, and IRATA Level 1 and 2 technicians work under a Level 3’s supervision.

An exclusion zone plan

The ground below the work and around the anchors has to be closed off, which matters at an entrance or over a driveway residents use.

The work on offer

External glass on a schedule

The outside of windows and balcony glass residents can’t reach, cleaned a set number of times a year. Usually a standing price per clean or per year, approved once and booked by the manager.

Rope access facade cleans

Mid-rise and high-rise buildings with roof anchors. Quoted per drop or per building, with a site-specific plan and anchor checks before work starts.

Elevating work platform cleans

Low and mid-rise blocks with good ground access, using a boom or scissor lift. Priced with hire, set-up and any exclusion zone shown separately.

Common area glass

Lobby doors, atriums, stairwell windows and skylights. Sometimes added to the cleaner’s or caretaker’s scope, and sometimes quoted as a separate visit.

One-off cleans

After a repaint, facade repair or storm, or before a building inspection. Often how a new window cleaner first works on a building.

Whose glass it is decides what the manager can order

Before you price a strata building, find out which windows the owners corporation is actually responsible for, because that is all the manager can book. In NSW the government's common property memorandum, which an owners corporation can adopt as a by-law, gives window cleaning inside and out to the lot owner except for surfaces the owner or occupier can't safely reach. The building's job is the glass in between, such as fixed panes, windows over voids and stairwells, the outside of upper floors and the lobby. In Queensland and Victoria the answer turns on the scheme's plan and by-laws, so ask the manager rather than assume.

This shapes the quote. Price the common property glass and the unreachable lot glass as the building's job, and if residents want their reachable windows done on the same day, offer them a separate price they pay themselves. Managers like this because the body corporate isn't paying for work that belongs to owners, and it gives you a second line of work on the same visit.

Anchors: what to ask for before you quote

Rope access depends on the roof anchors, and Safe Work Australia's guide to industrial rope access lists building owners, building managers and body corporates among the duty holders alongside the rope access provider. A business with management or control of fixtures at a workplace must make sure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that they are without risk, and it must keep records of the testing and condition of installed rope access anchors. The guide says anchor devices must be installed, tested and inspected by a competent person such as a qualified engineer, that the supporting structure must be able to take a 15 kN load, and that permanent anchors should be marked with their maximum rated load, the direction of load, inspection details and the installer's details. For selection it points to AS/NZS 5532 and AS/NZS 1891.4.

The inspection interval is the question many managers can't answer off the top of their head. The guide says inspection follows the manufacturer's recommendations, or a competent person's if there are none, and otherwise happens at least annually, and height safety inspection reports written under AS/NZS 1891.4 commonly state that permanent anchors are to be inspected at intervals of no more than 12 months. So ask for the latest anchor certificate and the roof layout drawing before you quote. If the certificate has lapsed, say so politely and suggest the recertification be booked with a height safety inspector before your first clean, because you can't use the anchors until it's done and the manager would rather hear it from you than find out after an incident.

A residential block has a wrinkle worth knowing. SafeWork NSW says a body corporate responsible only for residential common areas is generally not a person conducting a business or undertaking, although work health and safety laws apply where common areas are used for a mix of residential and commercial purposes or where the body corporate employs someone. In a purely residential building more of the checking falls back on you, so treat the certificate as the start of your own checks, and remember the falls code expects a competent person to check fixed anchor points before rope access lines are attached.

Rope access, a lift or a cradle

Managers often assume rope access is the only way up a tall building, but Safe Work Australia's falls code says other methods such as elevating work platforms or building maintenance units must be considered before industrial rope access. Your quote should say which method you chose for each face of the building and why.

Method	Suits	What the manager will want to see
Rope access	Mid and high-rise facades with certified roof anchors and little room at ground level	A current anchor certificate, a rope access plan with two independently anchored ropes for each technician, a rescue plan and certificates of competency
Boom or scissor lift	Low and mid-rise blocks with firm, level ground and space to set up	A licensed operator for booms of 11 metres or more, the set-up position, and an exclusion zone and traffic plan
Building maintenance unit or swing stage	Towers built with a permanent cradle, davits or a roof rail	Service records for the unit, harness anchor points in the cradle, and for a swing stage an installer with an advanced rigging or advanced scaffolding licence

Whichever method you use, the code expects exclusion zones below the working area and around the anchor locations, and on a strata building that usually means the main entrance, a driveway or the pool. Agree the times with the manager, ask them to send a notice to residents, and plan the drops over the entrance for the quietest part of the day.

The safety pack and the yearly schedule

Send the manager one pack they can file: your certificate of currency, a site-specific safe work method statement, the rescue plan, each technician's certificate of competency and the licences for any lifts. Safe Work Australia's checklist asks whether rope access workers hold a current certificate of competency, and IRATA grades technicians from Level 1 to Level 3, with Levels 1 and 2 working under a Level 3's supervision, so name your Level 3. A business that uses fall arrest must also have emergency and rescue procedures that have been tested, and the code says nobody should use a fall arrest system unless someone else on site can rescue them.

How often the glass is cleaned is usually settled by the committee at budget time, and it depends on salt, dust, traffic and what the owners want to spend. Offer two or three frequencies with a yearly price for each so the committee can choose, then book the dates for the year in one go. Line them up with the anchor inspection date where you can, so the first clean after a recertification goes ahead on fresh paperwork and you never turn up to anchors that lapsed last month. For shopfront rounds and builders' cleans, see the window cleaners page, and for how a strata firm keeps its contractor panel, the strata managers page. Curlew can also write to strata managers near you in your business name if you'd rather not send the first emails yourself.

A first email you could send

Subject: High window cleaning for your Southport buildings

Hi Rachel, I run a window cleaning business on the Gold Coast and we do rope access and lift work on unit blocks around Southport and Main Beach. Before we quote a building we check the roof anchor certificate and layout, and if the inspection has lapsed we’ll tell you before anyone goes over the edge. Our rescue plan, SWMS and technicians’ tickets come as one pack you can file. If one of your buildings has external glass coming up, would it help if I looked over its anchor records first? Sam If this isn’t something you need, 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

Clipping on without seeing the anchor certificate

If an anchor fails or its inspection has lapsed, the gap in your own checks is the first thing anyone asks about.

Quoting rope access without considering a lift

The code puts lifts and building maintenance units ahead of rope access, so a manager who knows that will question your method.

Pricing glass the building isn’t responsible for

If lot owners are meant to clean their reachable windows, the committee may refuse to pay for them and query the rest of the invoice.

No rescue plan beyond calling triple zero

A worker hanging in a harness needs rescuing quickly, and the code expects a tested plan and someone on site who can do it.

Working over the entrance without a closed zone

Residents walk under the drop, and a dropped tool near a resident is a complaint the manager has to answer to the committee.

Questions people ask

How often should strata roof anchors be inspected?

As the manufacturer recommends, or as a competent person recommends if there’s no manufacturer advice, and otherwise at least annually. Inspection reports written under AS/NZS 1891.4 commonly use an interval of no more than 12 months.

Who is responsible for the anchors on a strata building?

Safe Work Australia names building owners, managers and body corporates as possible duty holders, along with the rope access provider. In a residential-only scheme with no employees the body corporate is generally not a business under safety law, so check the records yourself before you use the anchors.

Do I need rope access certification?

Safe Work Australia’s checklist expects rope access workers to hold a current certificate of competency, and IRATA Level 1 and 2 technicians work under a Level 3’s supervision. Managers and insurers will usually ask to see it.

Do residents have to clean their own windows?

In NSW schemes that adopt the common property memorandum, lot owners clean the inside and outside surfaces they can safely reach and the owners corporation handles the rest. Elsewhere it depends on the plan and by-laws.