Contract cleaning: key facts
- Contract cleaning is ongoing cleaning under a written agreement: a term, a notice period, a price and a specification. A one-off clean is a single job priced on its own.
- A cleaning contract is usually several documents: terms and conditions, the specification, a price schedule and performance measures. Check which one wins if they conflict.
- The National Living Wage changes every 1 April: £12.71 an hour from April 2026 and £13.21 from April 2027. Most cleaning contracts have a price review clause that reacts to it.
- On our worked example, the April 2027 rise adds £681.33 a year to the wage bill for 20 paid cleaning hours a week, once holiday pay, employer NI and pension are included.
- In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, a business cannot exclude liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence (Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, section 2).
- Any employer, including a cleaning company, must hold employers' liability insurance of at least £5 million (GOV.UK).
- If no payment date is agreed, a business payment is late 30 days after the invoice arrives or the service is provided, whichever is later (GOV.UK).
- When a cleaning contract ends and moves to another contractor or back in-house, the cleaners are likely to transfer under TUPE, so the contract should deal with staff information at the start and the end.
What is contract cleaning, and how is it different from one-off cleaning?
Contract cleaning is regular cleaning bought from a cleaning company under an ongoing agreement, with set hours or visits, a fixed price and a notice period. One-off (ad-hoc) cleaning is a single job with a defined end, priced as a job and with no ongoing commitment on either side.
The difference isn't just how often someone cleans. It changes who carries which risks, and what you're signing up to.
| Contract cleaning | One-off or ad-hoc cleaning | |
|---|---|---|
| What you buy | An ongoing service: a set number of hours or visits a week to a written specification | A defined job: a deep clean, a builders' clean, carpets, a clean after a flood |
| Price | Usually monthly, reviewed at set points (often each April) | A quote for that job, agreed before it starts |
| Commitment | A minimum term and a notice period | Ends when the job is done |
| Staff | Cleaners assigned to your site, usually the same people each week | A team sent for the job |
| Cover and absence | The contractor's problem: the contract should say how fast cover arrives | Not usually relevant |
| TUPE | Likely to apply when the contract moves to someone else | GOV.UK says TUPE doesn't protect contracts for a single event or short-term task |
Most workplaces buy contract cleaning for the day-to-day work and some one-off jobs on top. The contract should say which periodic jobs are included and how anything else is priced.
With contract cleaners, you're not employing anyone. The contractor employs, pays, trains, insures and manages the cleaners; you manage the contract.
What documents make up a cleaning contract?
A cleaning contract is normally a bundle: terms and conditions, the specification (what gets cleaned and how often), a price schedule, performance measures, and site rules such as keys and access. It should say which document takes priority if two of them disagree.
Ask for the whole bundle before you sign, not just the quote and a signature page. A typical set looks like this:
- Terms and conditions. Term, notice, payment, liability, insurance, termination, TUPE, confidentiality.
- Specification. The scope: areas, tasks and frequencies. It's what the contractor promises to deliver. Our office cleaning guide shows what one covers for an office.
- Price schedule. The monthly charge, the hours it's based on, rates for extra work, and how and when the price can change.
- Performance measures. KPIs, how they're checked, what happens when they're missed.
- Site rules. Access times, keys, alarms, restricted areas.
Whose terms are they?
Most buyers sign the contractor's standard terms. Read them knowing they were written for the contractor. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 gives some protection when you deal on the other side's written standard terms: they can't rely on a term that excuses their own breach, or lets them deliver something substantially different from what you reasonably expected, unless the term passes a test of reasonableness. The party relying on the term has to show it's reasonable. That's a backstop for a dispute, not a reason to sign something one-sided. If you use your own terms instead, check they fit cleaning: generic supply terms often say nothing about cover, keys, consumables or TUPE.
What should you look for in each clause of a cleaning contract?
Check the term and notice, renewal, price review, payment, scope changes, performance measures, remedies, liability and insurance, keys and security, staffing and TUPE, and how either side can end the contract. The table below shows what good looks like and the red flags for each.
A reading guide for the draft contract, not legal advice. For a large or long contract, have it checked.
| Clause | What good looks like | Red flags |
|---|---|---|
| Term | A clear start date and length that fits your plans | A long first term with no way out for poor performance |
| Notice | The same period for both sides, given in writing to a stated address or email | Long notice for you, short for them; notice only valid in a narrow window |
| Renewal | Rolls on with normal notice after the first term, or ends unless both agree to extend | Automatic renewal for another full term unless you cancel months ahead |
| Price review | Once a year, on a set date, wage element only, linked to the official rate | "Prices may be changed at any time"; rises with no link to any cost |
| Payment | Stated days to pay; invoices show hours delivered | Charges for hours not worked; admin fees |
| Variations | Changes agreed in writing, priced from the price schedule | The contractor can change hours or frequencies without your agreement |
| Performance | A few measurable KPIs, joint inspections, a named contact | Only "to the contractor's usual standard" |
| Remedies | Free re-cleans, service credits, termination for repeated failure | No right to end early however bad the service |
| Liability and insurance | Contractor liable for its staff's negligence; certificates each year | Blanket exclusions for damage or lost keys; very low caps |
| Keys and security | Key register, alarm procedure, who pays for lost keys | Silent on keys |
| Staffing and cover | Who will clean, how they're vetted, how fast cover arrives | No commitment on cover |
| TUPE | Who transfers in, how staff information is shared at the end | No mention of TUPE when taking over from another contractor |
| Ending the contract | Keys returned, cleaning continues to the last day | Exit fees; keys held over a disputed invoice |
How long should a cleaning contract last, and what notice is fair?
There's no legal standard length. What matters is that the term fits your plans, the notice period is the same for both sides, and renewal doesn't lock you into another full term because you missed a date.
Contracts come in three basic shapes:
- Rolling. No fixed end; either side gives notice.
- Fixed term. A set period, such as one, two or three years. More certainty on both sides. The Department for Education, for example, suggests schools consider two years with an option to extend for a further year.
- Fixed term with a break clause. Either side can end it at a stated point by giving notice. A good compromise on a first contract.
The renewal trap
The clause that catches most buyers is automatic renewal: the contract renews for another full term unless you give notice before a cut-off date, often months before the end. Miss it by a week and you're committed for another year or more. Ask for one of these instead:
- after the first term, the contract continues on a rolling basis with the normal notice period; or
- the contract ends at the end of the term unless both sides agree in writing to extend.
Put the notice date in your diary the day you sign, and check how notice must be given.
Ending early for poor performance
A long term is only safe if you can get out when the service fails. Look for a right to terminate after repeated failure: for example, a written warning, a period to put things right, and then termination on short notice if the same failure keeps happening. Without it, a fixed term protects the contractor, not you.
How do price reviews work in a cleaning contract?
Most cleaning contracts let the price rise when wage costs rise, usually from 1 April when the National Living Wage changes. A fair clause applies the rise to the wage element only, uses the official rate, and gives you notice. A clause that lets the whole price rise by any amount is a red flag.
Labour is the biggest part of a cleaning price. The National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and over is £12.71 an hour from 1 April 2026 and £13.21 from 1 April 2027. A contractor that has priced close to the wage floor can't absorb that, so expect a review clause. The question is what kind.
| Type of clause | How it works | What to think about |
|---|---|---|
| Wage-linked (pass-through) | Only the labour part of the price changes, by the change in the wage rate the contractor pays | Fairest and easiest to check. Needs the price schedule to show the hours and the wage basis |
| Whole price by a percentage | The whole monthly price rises by the same percentage as the wage rate, or by a stated index | Materials, overheads and profit rise too, though the wage law didn't change them |
| Fixed for the term | No change until the contract ends | Certainty, but expected rises may be priced in from day one |
| Open-ended | "Prices may be reviewed at the contractor's discretion" | Red flag: no limit, no link to cost. Ask for it to be replaced |
Worked example: what the April 2027 rise adds to the wage bill
This shows the wage-linked part only. It isn't a price. Assumptions: one cleaner aged 21 or over, 20 hours a week, 52.14 weeks a year; 5.6 weeks' paid holiday at the same rate; the cleaner already earns enough that the whole increase attracts employer National Insurance (15%) and a 3% pension contribution; no Employment Allowance.
- Rise per hour: £13.21 − £12.71 = £0.50 (0.50 ÷ 12.71 = 3.93%)
- Paid hours a year: 20 × 52.14 = 1,042.8 worked + 5.6 × 20 = 112 holiday = 1,154.8
- Extra pay: 1,154.8 × £0.50 = £577.40
- Employer NI: 0.15 × £577.40 = £86.61
- Pension: 0.03 × £577.40 = £17.32
- Total extra wage cost: £681.33 a year, or £56.78 a month
If a proposed wage-linked rise on similar hours is far bigger, ask how it was worked out. Our office cleaning cost guide shows the full wage floor behind a quote.
Real Living Wage contracts
If your contract requires the voluntary real Living Wage, the timing differs. The 2026-27 rates (£14.10 an hour outside London, £15.45 in London) were announced on 15 October 2026, and accredited employers should pay them by 1 May 2027. Make sure the clause names the right rate and date.
Payment terms
GOV.UK says an agreed payment date between businesses should usually be within 60 days (30 for public authorities). If no date is agreed, payment is late 30 days after the invoice or the service, whichever is later. Statutory interest on late business payments is 8% plus the Bank of England base rate, unless the contract sets a different rate.
What KPIs and service credits should a cleaning contract include?
A handful of measurable KPIs (inspection scores, missed visits, response times, complaints closed) checked in a regular joint inspection, with re-cleans and service credits when they're missed and a route to termination for persistent failure.
Without measures, you end up arguing about whether the toilets were "clean enough". Keep KPIs few and measurable. Five that suit most sites:
- Inspection score. A monthly joint walk-round, scoring a sample of areas pass or fail against the specification, with a target pass rate you agree.
- Attendance. Scheduled visits or hours actually delivered, ideally shown on the invoice.
- Response time. How quickly urgent issues (a spill, a blocked toilet, a missed clean) are dealt with, and non-urgent ones.
- Complaints. Logged and closed within an agreed time.
- Consumables. Soap and paper never run out, if restocking is included.
Healthcare goes further: NHS England's cleanliness standards say compliance and audit should be written into contracts with cleaning providers (see our GP surgery cleaning guide). Most offices need something lighter.
Service credits
A service credit is a reduction in the next invoice when a KPI is missed: for example, a missed visit is credited at the hours that should have been worked. Credits work best when they're simple and automatic. Check:
- what triggers a credit, and who records the failure;
- how the credit is worked out (hours not delivered is easy to agree; a percentage of the monthly price for a low inspection score is harder);
- whether credits are your only remedy. Some contracts say so. You still want the right to end the contract for repeated failure.
How should a cleaning contract handle changes to hours or scope?
Through a variation clause: changes agreed in writing, priced from rates already in the price schedule, with notice periods for adding or cutting hours. That stops small changes turning into disputes over money.
Workplaces change: headcount drops, a floor closes, the office moves to three days a week. A good contract plans for that:
- Rates in advance. An hourly rate for extra hours and prices for common one-off tasks.
- Written changes. Changes to hours, frequencies or areas are agreed in writing (email is fine if the contract says so) and the new monthly price is stated.
- Notice. How much notice either side needs to add or reduce hours.
- Closures. What happens over Christmas, bank holidays and planned shutdowns: are you charged, credited or offered a deep clean instead?
- Ad-hoc requests. Who on your side can order extra work, so a casual request doesn't arrive as a bill.
Watch for the reverse: a clause letting the contractor change hours, frequencies or staffing levels "to maintain the standard" without your agreement. That can quietly reduce the service you're paying for.
Who is liable if something goes wrong, and what insurance should a contractor have?
The contractor should be responsible for its own staff, their negligence and any damage they cause, backed by insurance. Employers' liability insurance of at least £5 million is a legal requirement for employers. Ask for certificates and read any caps and exclusions.
Liability clauses decide who pays when a cleaner floods a floor, damages equipment or leaves a door unlocked. The basics:
- Reasonable care and skill. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, a business supplying a service is under an implied duty to carry it out with reasonable care and skill (Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982, section 13). The contract can add detail; the specification sets the standard.
- Death and personal injury. A business can't use a contract term to exclude or restrict its liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence (Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, section 2). Other limits on negligence liability must be reasonable. When a cap is set as a sum of money, the Act looks at how far the business could cover itself by insurance.
- Employers' liability insurance. GOV.UK says employers must have it from the day they employ someone, covering at least £5 million, from an authorised insurer. It covers the contractor's own staff if they're injured or made ill by their work.
- Other cover. Public liability insurance covers injury to other people and damage to their property, which is what most cleaning accidents in your building involve. Ask for it and decide what level you need. If the contractor holds your keys, ask whether its insurance covers lost keys and the cost of changing locks.
What to check in the clause
- Is there a cap on the contractor's liability? How does it compare with the insurance it holds?
- Are there exclusions for likely cleaning risks, such as floor or water damage or lost keys?
- Does the contract require certificates to be supplied every year, not just at the start?
Liability runs both ways: expect to be responsible for telling the contractor about hazards and for providing safe access, water and power.
What should a cleaning contract say about keys, alarms and security?
It should list who holds which keys and alarm codes, how they're recorded and returned, what happens when one is lost, who locks up and sets the alarm, and who pays for false alarm call-outs. Cleaners are often the last people in the building, so this matters.
Cleaners often work early or late, alone, with keys to the whole building. Put the arrangements in a schedule to the contract:
- Key register: each key or fob numbered and signed for.
- Alarm codes: individual codes where possible, changed when staff leave.
- Lock-up: who checks windows and doors and sets the alarm at the end. The DfE suggests schools decide who is responsible for final lock-up and who holds the master key.
- Lost keys: who pays for new locks or a new master key system if the contractor loses a key.
- False alarms: who pays any call-out charge if a cleaner triggers the alarm.
- Restricted areas and data: rooms cleaners mustn't enter, confidential waste they mustn't handle, and a confidentiality clause.
- Vetting: what checks staff have had, and what checks relief cleaners have. Schools and healthcare have specific rules; see our school cleaning guide for safeguarding checks.
- Return at the end: keys and fobs back on the last day; codes changed.
Lone working is the contractor's responsibility as employer, but tell it about anything on your site that affects the risk.
Why does a cleaning contract need TUPE clauses?
Because cleaners usually stay with the work, not the company. When a contract starts by taking over from another provider, or ends and moves on, TUPE is likely to apply, so the contract should say how staff information is shared and who carries which employment costs.
GOV.UK gives cleaning as an example of a "service provision change": a service done in-house given to a contractor, a contract moving to a new contractor, or the work being brought back in-house. When TUPE applies, the cleaners mainly assigned to your contract usually transfer to the new employer on their existing terms, with continuous employment. That affects your contract at both ends.
At the start
- If you're replacing an existing contractor, the new contractor's price should say whether it assumes staff transfer in and on what terms.
- The outgoing employer must give the new employer information about the transferring staff at least 4 weeks before the transfer. Build that into your timetable.
At the end
- A duty on the contractor to provide staff information when the contract is ending, so you can re-tender accurately.
- Limits on changing the staff, hours or pay on your site in the final months without your agreement, so the next contractor doesn't inherit surprises.
- Read any indemnity asking you to cover the contractor's employment costs or claims at the end carefully, and take advice before signing it.
Our guide to commercial cleaning gives the TUPE basics. For your own situation, ACAS has free guidance.
Related guides
Contract cleaning: frequently asked questions
What is contract cleaning?
Contract cleaning is regular cleaning carried out by a cleaning company under an ongoing written agreement, with set hours or visits, a price and a notice period. The contractor employs and manages the cleaners. It differs from one-off cleaning, which is a single job priced on its own.
How long are cleaning contracts?
There's no standard length. Contracts can be rolling, fixed for a term such as one to three years, or fixed with a break clause. The Department for Education suggests schools consider two years with an option to extend for a further year. Choose a term that fits your plans and make sure you can leave for poor performance.
What notice period should a cleaning contract have?
There's no set notice period for cleaning contracts: it's whatever the contract says. Look for the same notice period for both sides, a simple way to give notice in writing, and no automatic renewal for another full term if you miss a deadline.
Can a cleaning company put its prices up every April?
Only if the contract allows it. Most cleaning contracts include a price review clause because the National Living Wage changes every 1 April. A fair clause applies the rise to the wage element only, uses the official rate and gives you notice before the new price applies.
What are service credits in a cleaning contract?
Service credits are reductions in your invoice when the contractor misses an agreed standard, such as a missed visit or a low inspection score. Check what triggers them, how they're worked out, and whether the contract says they're your only remedy, because you also want the right to end the contract for repeated failure.
What insurance should contract cleaners have?
Any cleaning company that employs staff must have employers' liability insurance covering at least £5 million. Ask for public liability insurance too, which covers you if a cleaner injures someone or damages your property, and ask about key cover if they hold your keys. Ask for certificates every year.
Can a cleaning contract exclude liability for injuries?
No, not for negligence. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 says a business can't exclude or restrict liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence. Other limits on liability must be reasonable.
Does TUPE apply to contract cleaning?
Usually, when a regular cleaning contract moves from one provider to another, from in-house to a contractor, or back in-house. The cleaners mainly assigned to the contract are likely to transfer on their existing terms. TUPE doesn't normally apply to a single event or short-term task such as a one-off deep clean.
Is it better to use contract cleaners or employ my own?
It depends on your size, how much management time you have and how you value control against cover and flexibility. A contractor carries recruitment, cover and employment costs and builds them into the price. Compare the full cost of employing cleaners, not just their hourly pay.
Does Business Cleaning Hub write cleaning contracts?
No. We're an independent guide and we don't give legal advice or provide cleaning. If you ask us to, we pass your enquiry to one commercial cleaning company from our partners that covers your area, and you agree the contract directly with them.
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources on 13 November 2026:
- legislation.gov.uk: Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, sections 2, 3 and 11
- legislation.gov.uk: Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982, section 13
- GOV.UK: Employers' liability insurance
- GOV.UK: Late commercial payments: charging interest and debt recovery
- GOV.UK: National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates
- Living Wage Foundation: What is the real Living Wage?
- GOV.UK: Business transfers, takeovers and TUPE