Checklist
Office cleaning checklist
Written to be used rather than read. Take it, cut what does not apply to your building, add what does, and you have a specification you can put in front of any contractor.
How to use this
Three passes: cut, add, then assign frequencies. Twenty minutes and you have something that makes proposals genuinely comparable.
First, delete everything that does not exist in your building. No fitting rooms, no dock, no second floor — cut them. A specification full of irrelevant lines gets skimmed rather than read.
Second, add anything specific to your site: a particular floor finish, a piece of shared equipment, an area with restricted access, a room that must never be entered.
Third, move items between tiers to match your building. The tiers below are typical rather than universal — a building with heavy public footfall needs some weekly items done every visit.
Then send it out. Every proposal you get back will be quoting the same job, which is the only way a price comparison means anything.
Daily / every visit
The non-negotiable tier. If a building only gets one visit a week, all of this happens on that visit.
Restrooms
- Toilets and urinals cleaned and disinfected inside and out
- Sinks, counters, taps, mirrors
- Partitions spot-cleaned; all handles disinfected
- Paper towels, toilet tissue, soap restocked
- Sanitary units serviced where present
- Trash emptied, containers wiped
- Floors mopped to edges and around fixtures
Breakroom / kitchen
- Counters, tables, chairs wiped
- Sink cleaned, taps polished, drain checked
- Microwave interior and exterior
- Refrigerator, dishwasher and vending exteriors
- Coffee machine area and drip trays
- Trash and recycling emptied and relined
- Floor swept and mopped
Reception and common
- Reception desk and counter
- Entrance glass, both faces, to reach height
- Door handles, push plates, frames
- Waiting seating wiped, cushions reset
- Side tables, literature racks
- Entry matting and thresholds
General
- All individual and communal trash emptied and relined
- Waste taken to the dumpster or compactor
- Trafficked floors vacuumed or mopped
- Meeting rooms reset, tables cleared and wiped
- High-touch points: switches, handrails, lift buttons
- Building secured and lights off on exit
Weekly
Detail
- Full vacuum including under and behind desks and furniture
- Detailed dusting: surfaces, ledges, sills, fittings
- Interior glass, partitions and door glass
- Restroom partitions and tile walls fully wiped
- Kitchen appliance fronts detailed
- Chair arms, bases and castors
- Monitor stands, phones and shared equipment
- Stairwells and back-of-house corridors
Monthly and quarterly
Monthly
- Baseboards along their full length
- Cabinetry fronts and kick plates
- Vents, returns and reachable light fixtures
- Interior windows and sills
- Waste containers washed out
- Door faces and frames cleaned throughout
Quarterly
- Floor detail work and grout attention
- Upholstered seating vacuumed thoroughly
- Refrigerator interiors, pre-announced
- High-level dusting at reach height
- Under and behind heavy furniture where it moves
- Full scope review with the contractor
The last line is the one nobody puts on a checklist and everybody needs. A scope that is never reviewed drifts out of alignment with the building within about a year.
Lines to add for your specific building
Prompts, rather than items. Each one is something buildings commonly have that a generic checklist misses.
- Rooms that must not be entered — server rooms, secure storage, private offices that stay locked.
- Any floor finish needing a specific product, and whether the contractor supplies it.
- Who supplies consumables, and what the restocking trigger is.
- Recycling streams and how they are separated.
- Whether a certificate of insurance must be filed with a landlord.
- Access: alarm process, key handling, sign-in requirements, out-of-hours contact.
- Anything the building has that generic lists miss — a shower room, a wellness room, a dock, a lift lobby.
Checklist questions
- Do we need a checklist if we trust the contractor?
Yes, and more so if you trust them. A written scope protects both sides: you know what should have happened, and they know what they agreed to. It also survives staff changes on both sides.
- How detailed should a specification be?
Detailed enough that two contractors reading it would quote the same job. That is the test. If a line could reasonably be read two ways, tighten it.
- Should we specify products?
Only where it matters — a floor finish with a warranty requirement, a sensitivity in the building, a surface that needs something specific. Over-specifying products limits the contractor without improving the outcome.
- How often should we review it?
Annually as a minimum, and immediately after any change to the building: headcount, a new tenant, a change of use for a room, a move to hybrid working.
- What if the contractor says something is not possible?
That is a useful answer and worth hearing out. Some items genuinely belong to a different trade. A contractor who says so is more reliable than one who agrees to everything.
Next step
Send us your specification
If you have written one, send it with the building details and we will quote against it rather than against our own template.
Book online in a few minutes, or call (972) 440-4421 — texting works too, if that’s easier.