The office cleaning checklist — with a “done” column
Every office cleaning checklist on the internet is a list of tasks: empty bins, vacuum floors, clean washrooms. Useless. Not because the tasks are wrong, but because a task without a standard is unarguable — the bins were “emptied,” the floor was “vacuumed,” and you are still not happy, and now it is a conversation about feelings instead of facts.
A checklist only works if every line answers one question: what does done actually look like? That is how this one is written. It is the working standard from our published Extended scope — the level most offices sit on — reproduced in full, by frequency. Print it. Hand it to your current cleaner. Argue from it. It is free because a standard you can check is the product we sell, and most of the industry would rather you did not have one.
Every visit
Waste — all areas
| Task | What done looks like |
|---|---|
| Every bin emptied and relined — desk-side, kitchen, washroom, communal | No bin left part-full at handover. A clean liner fitted and tucked, not draped. Nothing left standing beside a bin, and no residue or odour in the bin surround. |
| Waste taken to the site collection point | Nothing left in the tenancy or corridor. Bags placed in the correct bin, lid closed, and no spillage on the path or in the bin store. |
| Bin surrounds left clean | Floor and wall around each bin free of drips, marks and debris. |
Washrooms — full service, no rotation
| Task | What done looks like |
|---|---|
| Toilets and urinals cleaned and disinfected inside and out | No visible soiling, staining or scale in the bowl, under the rim, on the base or on the pipework. Seat, lid and hinges free of marks. Flush button and cistern free of fingerprints. No odour on entry. |
| Basins, tapware and benchtops cleaned and disinfected | Basin free of soap residue, hand-cream film, hair and tipped-out coffee, including the overflow and the plug surround. Tapware and spout bright, with no water spotting or limescale at the base. Benchtop dry with no splash marks. |
| Mirrors cleaned | No streaks, smears or spray spotting when viewed at an angle under the room's own lighting. Frame and lower edge free of build-up. |
| Washroom floors swept and mopped with disinfectant | No grit underfoot. No streaks or drying marks. Corners, the area behind the door and the floor beside each pan done. No splash line up the skirting or pan base. |
| Consumables restocked from your stock — paper, soap, hand towel | No dispenser empty or near-empty at handover while stock is available on site. Where your stock has run out, it is reported the same night rather than left for you to find. |
| Washroom waste bins emptied and relined | General waste bins only — no bin left part-full, clean liner fitted, lid and pedal free of marks. Sanitary units are not touched. |
| Touchpoints disinfected — door handles, locks, flush buttons, taps | Free of visible marks and fingerprints, and disinfected with a product used so as to achieve its stated efficacy. No residue or streaking left on the fitting. |
Kitchen and break room — full service, no rotation
| Task | What done looks like |
|---|---|
| Floor swept and mopped | No crumbs, grit or sticky patches, including under the front lip of cupboards and around the bin. No streaks or drying marks. |
| Sink cleaned, tapware polished | Sink free of food debris, tea and coffee staining and water marks. Strainer emptied. Tapware bright with no spotting. No residue in the overflow. |
| Visible bench surfaces wiped and sanitised — cleaned around items left out | All accessible bench free of crumbs, spills, sticky residue and streaking. Items left out are cleaned around, never moved or stacked. No wet surface left standing. |
| Appliance exteriors wiped — microwave, fridge, kettle, toaster | Fronts, handles and tops free of fingerprints, splashes and dust. No drips down the front of the fridge or microwave. |
| Bins emptied and relined | No bin left part-full. Clean liner fitted and tucked. Lid and pedal free of food residue. |
| Touchpoints disinfected — handles, switches, tap | Free of visible marks and fingerprints and disinfected with a product used so as to achieve its stated efficacy. No residue left on the fitting. |
Desks and touchpoints
| Task | What done looks like |
|---|---|
| Desks and workstation surfaces wiped around items left out | Accessible desk surface free of crumbs, marks and dust. Papers and personal items cleaned around and left exactly as found. No cup rings left behind. |
| Reception counters and shared benches wiped | Free of marks, dust and fingerprints, including the front face and edge where people lean. |
| Light switches, door handles, lift buttons and stair rails disinfected | Free of visible marks and fingerprints, including the plate around each switch, and disinfected with a product used so as to achieve its stated efficacy. |
Floors
| Task | What done looks like |
|---|---|
| Entry, reception and common hard floors swept and mopped | No grit, marks or scuffing in the trafficked area. Edges and corners done. No streaks visible under the entry lighting. |
| Entry matting vacuumed | Matting free of loose grit and lifted debris across its full area, and the floor under its lip and edges clear. |
| Carpet vacuumed — traffic areas and open floor | No visible debris in traffic lanes or open floor, and no missed strips between passes. |
| Corridors vacuumed or mopped to floor type | Free of visible debris and marks along the full length, including against skirtings and in doorway thresholds. |
| Stairwells swept or vacuumed, spot mopped, handrails wiped | Treads, nosings and landings free of grit and marks, including the back corner of each tread. Handrails free of visible marks. No debris swept to the bottom and left. |
Twice each week
| Task | What done looks like |
|---|---|
| Private offices vacuumed and surfaces wiped | Traffic areas free of visible debris. Accessible desk and shelf surfaces free of dust and marks, with papers and personal items cleaned around and left as found. |
| Meeting rooms vacuumed, tables wiped, chairs straightened | Floor free of visible debris. Table free of marks, crumbs and cup rings. Chairs returned to the table and evenly spaced. |
Once each week
| Task | What done looks like |
|---|---|
| Internal door glass and entry glass spot-cleaned — marks removed where they occur | Door glass and entry glass free of fingerprints, smudges and obvious marks within arm's reach, with no cleaning halo or streak left where a mark was removed. A spot standard, not a pane wash. |
Once a fortnight
| Task | What done looks like |
|---|---|
| Detail dusting — shelves, sills, ledges, tops of partitions, filing cabinets | Surfaces free of settled dust when wiped with a clean cloth. Items lifted and replaced as found, not dusted around. No dust dislodged onto the floor and left. |
| Spot cleaning of walls, doors and door frames | No hand marks, scuffs or splash marks below 1.8 m. No cleaning halo, watermark or dulled patch left where a mark was removed. |
Once a month
| Task | What done looks like |
|---|---|
| All other internal glass spot-cleaned — sidelights and partition panels | Sidelights and partition glass free of fingerprints, smudges and obvious marks within arm's reach, with no cleaning halo or streak left where a mark was removed. Frames and finger-plates free of build-up, nothing left dripping. A spot standard, not a pane wash — a full squeegee clean of your internal glass is a periodical, organised when you want it and priced before it happens. |
| Skirtings wiped | Free of dust, scuff marks and vacuum strike marks along their length, including behind door leaves. |
| Full detail vacuum — edges, corners and under accessible furniture | Edges, corners and the floor under furniture that can be reached free of debris and lint build-up. No line of debris left against the skirting. |
Once a quarter
| Task | What done looks like |
|---|---|
| Vents and air grilles dusted | No visible dust on grille faces or between fins, and no dust dislodged onto the surfaces, furniture or floor below. |
Three ways to use this checklist
Audit your current service. Walk your office the morning after a clean with the every-visit section. Any line where the “done” column is not true is not done — no argument about hours required.
Fix your scope document. If your current contract says “general office cleaning” and nothing else, send your provider this page and ask them to state their standard the same way. If they will not, that tells you what the standard is.
Or price the real thing. This checklist is the middle of three published scopes — Core, Extended and Complete are all public, exclusions included — and any Adelaide office can price it in about 20 seconds. If you just want the numbers first, the Adelaide price guide has them.