The scope, area by area
What's Included in Office Cleaning
What is included in office cleaning, set out room by room: workstations, bathrooms, kitchens, floors, reception, meeting rooms and glass, each split into daily, weekly and monthly tasks, plus the jobs that sit outside a standard visit. This is the scope behind all of our office cleaning in Melbourne, and we fit it to your particular layout before the first visit.
How the scope works
- Daily tasks every visit
- Weekly tasks once a week
- Monthly tasks on a calendar
- Anything else priced first
- Written scopeSigned before day one
- Products includedWith safety data sheets
- Report each visitTasks ticked off
- ChangeableUpdate it any month
Most arguments with cleaners start with the same sentence: "I thought that was included." A written scope ends them. It lists every area of your office, what is done there, and how often, so you know what the invoice pays for and the crew knows exactly what good looks like. Below is our standard version, the one we start from before tailoring it to your floor plan.
How is the office cleaning scope set out, area by area?
The office cleaning scope is set out in seven areas, and each one has three tiers. Daily tasks happen on every visit, weekly tasks once a week whatever your visit count, and monthly tasks on a set calendar. Specialist jobs such as carpet extraction and external windows sit outside the tiers and are booked separately.
Workstations and desks
What cleaning do workstations and desks get?
Workstations get their clear surfaces wiped and their touch points sanitised every visit: phones, keyboards, mice, chair arms and desk edges. Papers are never moved. Monitor stands, drawer fronts and chair bases are dusted weekly, and fabric chairs are cleaned properly on a monthly or quarterly calendar.
Daily
- Clear desk surfaces wiped
- Phones, keyboards and mice sanitised
- Chair arms and desk edges
- Under-desk bins emptied
Weekly
- Monitor stands and bases dusted
- Drawer and pedestal fronts
- Chair bases and castors
- Partition screens spot cleaned
Monthly or quarterly
- Fabric chairs vacuumed or extracted
- Partition fabric vacuumed
- Cable trays and desk legs
- Hot desk lockers wiped out
How to clean an office desk properly, in five steps
- Clear what you canMove loose items aside; leave papers exactly as they are.
- Dry dust firstA dry microfibre lifts dust instead of turning it to paste.
- Clean the surfaceA damp cloth with neutral detergent, working back to front.
- Treat touch pointsKeyboard, mouse, phone and desk edge get a disinfectant wipe.
- Dry and resetBuff dry so no streaks show, then put items back where they were.
Screens are cleaned only with a dry or barely damp microfibre and never sprayed directly, because liquid running into the bezel is the most common way cleaners damage monitors. Laptops left open on desks are left alone unless you ask otherwise.
For staff who want to keep their own desks in shape between visits, our guide on keeping the office clean between cleans has a short routine that takes two minutes at the end of the day.
Bathrooms
What does office bathroom cleaning include?
Office bathroom cleaning includes toilets, urinals, basins, taps, mirrors and floors on every visit, cleaned and then disinfected, with paper, soap and hand towel restocked. Partitions and tiles are wiped weekly. Grout, exhaust fans and descaling go on a monthly calendar because they build up slowly.
Daily
- Toilets and urinals inside and out
- Basins, taps and splashbacks
- Mirrors and dispensers
- Floors mopped with disinfectant
- Paper, soap and towel restocked
Weekly
- Cubicle partitions and doors
- Wall tiles to reach height
- Sanitary bins exterior
- Floor drains cleared
Monthly
- Grout scrubbed
- Exhaust fan covers
- Taps and fittings descaled
- Shower screens, if fitted
Bathrooms always come near the end of a visit and always with their own colour of cloth, red for toilets and urinals, yellow for basins and fittings, which keeps toilet germs well away from kitchen benches and desks. Mop heads used in bathrooms are kept separate and laundered after each visit.
Sanitary bin collection is a licensed service arranged separately; we wipe the outside of the units and report when they look due. Where your building supplies consumables for shared bathrooms, we restock from their store and note shortages on your report.
Floors
How are office floors cleaned on a regular visit?
Office floors are vacuumed where carpeted and damp mopped where hard every visit, with walkways and entries first. Edges, corners and the space under desks get a thorough vacuum weekly. Deeper work, such as carpet extraction or a hard floor scrub, is booked on its own schedule.
Daily
- Carpets vacuumed, HEPA filtered
- Hard floors damp mopped
- Entry mats vacuumed
- Spots and spills treated
Weekly
- Edges and corners
- Under desks and around cables
- Skirting boards wiped
- Stair treads and nosings
Scheduled extra
- Carpet hot water extraction
- Hard floor machine scrub
- Vinyl strip and seal
- Timber floor maintenance coat
Floor type decides the method. Carpet tiles hold grit that cuts the fibres, so frequent vacuuming matters more than occasional shampooing. Polished concrete and vinyl show every footprint and need a well-wrung mop, not a wet one, or they streak. Timber needs almost no water at all.
Our office floor cleaning services use backpack vacuums with HEPA filters for carpet, because they reach under desks faster and put less dust back into the air than a barrel vacuum. Microfibre flat mops cover hard floors with far less water than a string mop, so floors dry in minutes.
Reception and meeting rooms
What is done in reception and meeting rooms?
Reception and meeting rooms get the most visible attention: entry glass, the counter, seating and the floor every visit, and meeting tables, chairs and whiteboards reset so each room is ready for the first booking. Weekly detail covers skirting, display shelves and the edges people notice when they wait.
Daily
- Front door glass and handles
- Reception counter and screen edges
- Meeting tables wiped, chairs squared
- Whiteboards cleaned if left blank
Weekly
- Waiting seats and side tables
- Display shelves and signage
- Meeting room skirting and chair legs
- AV remotes and conference phones
Monthly
- Upholstered lounge seating
- Artwork frames and plant pots
- High ledges and joinery tops
- Boardroom chairs in detail
Whiteboards with writing on them are left alone unless marked "please wipe", because a wiped strategy session is a much bigger problem than a smudged board. Meeting rooms booked early the next morning get checked last, so they are the freshest rooms in the building.
Reception is the first place visitors look and the last place cleaners should rush. We treat the front door, the counter and the waiting seats as a finishing check on every visit, after the rest of the floor is done, so nothing tracked in during the clean spoils them.
Glass, blinds and exterior
Are glass partitions, blinds and the exterior included?
Internal glass is included: fingerprints on doors and partitions are spot cleaned every visit and all internal glass is washed weekly. Blinds are dusted monthly. External windows above ground level and building facades are not part of a standard visit and are booked as separate window cleaning.
Daily
- Fingerprints on glass doors
- Partition panels at hand height
- Entry door glass, inside
Weekly
- All internal glass and partitions
- Glass meeting room walls
- Ground-floor entry glass, outside
Monthly
- Venetian and roller blinds dusted
- Window sills and tracks
- Internal window frames
Anything above ground level on the outside of a building needs ladders, water-fed poles or rope access, and the insurance and training that go with them. We keep that work out of a standard visit on purpose, so a night crew is never asked to lean out of a window.
Facade and awning cleaning belongs to the building owner in most leases rather than the tenant. If your lease makes it yours, we can quote it as part of office window cleaning.
Kitchens and breakout areas
What happens in the office kitchen on each visit?
The office kitchen gets benches, sink, taps, splashback, tables and appliance fronts cleaned every visit, with the dishwasher loaded or unloaded and bins emptied. The microwave inside and fridge doors are done weekly, and the fridge itself is emptied and cleaned on a monthly calendar with notice to staff.
Daily
- Bench tops, sink and tapware
- Tables wiped, chairs straightened
- Dishwasher started or unpacked
- Food waste and recycling out
Weekly
- Microwave inside
- Fridge doors and seals
- Coffee machine surround
- Cupboard fronts and handles
Monthly
- Fridge emptied and washed
- Kickboards and appliance gaps
- Rangehood filter, if fitted
- Bin washing
Kitchen cloths are green and used nowhere else, and benches are cleaned with a food-safe detergent before any sanitiser goes near them. The dishwasher rule is agreed up front: some offices want it run every night, others only want it emptied in the morning so staff can load their own cups.
The monthly fridge clean works best with a warning. We put a note on the door two days before, then clear anything unlabelled or out of date and wash the shelves and seals. Staff who label their lunches never lose them, and the smell that builds up in shared fridges never gets the chance.
Specialist services
Which jobs are booked as separate carpet, window or kitchen services?
Three kinds of work need their own equipment, time or skills and are booked as separate services: carpet extraction, window cleaning beyond internal glass, and deep kitchen cleans. Each can be scheduled monthly, quarterly or yearly and added to the same agreement and invoice.
Carpets
Hot water extraction or low-moisture cleaning after hours, dry by morning, with office chairs done at the same time.
Office carpet cleaning
Windows
Internal glass, partitions and ground-floor external windows on a schedule that suits your building.
Window and glass cleaning
Kitchens
Food-safe products, full fridge and appliance cleans, and consumables restocked, beyond the daily wipe-down.
Office kitchen and breakroom cleaningIf you want a printable version of the daily, weekly and monthly lists to check a cleaner against, whoever it is, use our office cleaning checklist. It follows the same structure as this page.
Outside the standard scope
What is not included in standard office cleaning?
Standard office cleaning does not include work that needs special equipment, licences or risk controls, or that belongs to someone else in the building. The table lists the usual exclusions and why, so nothing comes as a surprise. Most can still be arranged, priced separately and agreed in writing first.
| Not included | Why | Can it be arranged? |
|---|---|---|
| Windows above ground floor, outside | Needs height access, equipment and insurance | Yes, quoted separately |
| Carpet extraction on regular visits | Needs machines and drying time | Yes, as a scheduled service |
| Washing up by hand | Takes time away from the scope | Yes, as an added task |
| Moving heavy furniture | Manual handling risk | With notice and enough people |
| Sanitary and clinical waste | Needs a licensed collector | Through your waste provider |
| Biohazard and trauma cleanup | Needs specialist training and gear | Referred to a specialist |
| Inside computers, servers, cabling | Risk of damage and data exposure | No, left to your IT team |
Knowing where the line sits protects both sides. Manual handling of heavy loads and working at height are two of the risks WorkSafe Victoria names in its cleaning industry guidance, and they are the most common reasons a job is excluded from a standard visit rather than done on the quiet.
If your office needs something unusual, such as a server room floor, a plant wall or a gym, raise it when you ask for a quote. You will hear whether it fits the scope, needs its own line, or is better left to a specialist, and put that answer in writing. When you are ready, request a written scope for your office.
Questions
What do people ask about the scope?
Two questions settle most of the detail before a first visit.