A cleaning work order does three jobs at once: it tells the cleaner what to do, it gives them what they need to price it, and it decides who gets the invoice. When something is missing, the result is a phone call, a delay or an invoice sent to the wrong person.
This checklist covers what a cleaner needs to quote and complete the job without chasing you.
The property
- Full address, including unit number and building name if it has one
- Property type and size: apartment, townhouse or house; bedrooms and bathrooms
- Furnished or empty, and whether anything left behind should be cleaned around or reported
- Parking: loading bay, visitor parking, permits or street parking only
- Building rules: lift bookings, loading-dock times, strata requirements
The job
- Type of clean: vacate, pre-lease, touch-up or a specific area
- Scope, including what is *not* needed (for example, carpets already booked with someone else)
- Extras: carpet steam cleaning (and which rooms), windows, walls, garage, outdoor areas
- Reference documents: the entry condition report notes or your own checklist, if you want the clean done to them
- Known issues: heavy grease, pet hair, mould you have already reported, damage the cleaner should not be blamed for
Timing
- Deadline: the date and time the clean must be finished
- Why it matters: an exit inspection, a new tenant moving in, an open for inspection
- Earliest start: when the outgoing renter has left and the property is empty
- Urgency: say so clearly if it is urgent, and what the latest acceptable finish is
Access and keys
- How to get in: collect from the office, lock box, building manager or a person on site
- Where keys go afterwards and by when
- Alarm or intercom instructions, if any
Access codes and lock-box combinations are sensitive. Send them only to the cleaning company’s business channel, not in a group chat, and expect them to be stored separately from the rest of the job.
Contacts
- Access contact: who to call if the keys do not work
- Queries contact: who answers questions about scope
- Tenant contact, only if the tenant is still involved and has agreed to be contacted
Billing
- Who pays: the outgoing tenant, the owner or the agency
- Invoice to: name, email and any reference or purchase order number
- Approval limit: what the cleaner can add without asking (for example, a stain treatment) and what needs your approval first
After the clean
- What you need back: completion notice, photos of particular areas, key return confirmation
- How to raise issues: where the inspection notes should go if something needs another look
Make it a template
Most agencies send the same kinds of jobs again and again. Turning this list into a template in your property management software — or an email template — saves time on every job and stops the same questions coming back.
If you manage rentals in Melbourne’s south-east, our real estate agency cleaning service takes work orders by email to info@quickcleanservices.com.au or through the request form, and invoices whoever the work order names. For the wider process, read how agencies can organise end of lease cleaning efficiently.
Talk to us about your site
See exactly what our real estate agency cleaning includes, or go straight to the next step.
Or call 0466 699 276 · WhatsApp us