Switching cleaning contractor: key facts
- Your contract decides how much notice you give, how you give it and the date it can end on. Read the clause before you tell anyone you're leaving.
- Moving cleaning from one contractor to another is a service provision change under TUPE. GOV.UK says a cleaner whose work moves to an outside cleaning company is likely to be protected.
- When TUPE applies, assigned cleaners move to the new contractor on their existing terms, with continuous employment kept.
- The outgoing contractor must give the new one employee liability information at least 28 days before the transfer (TUPE regulation 11).
- TUPE doesn't protect work for a single event or short-term task, or contracts mainly for the supply of goods.
- You're the client, not the employer, but your dates and requests control the flow of information between the two contractors.
- Most changeover problems are practical: keys not returned, alarm codes unchanged, stock and dispensers nobody owns, and a night with no clean.
How do you end a cleaning contract without breaching it?
Find the notice clause and follow it exactly: how much notice, in what form, sent to whom, and the date the notice can end on. Check for a minimum term, an automatic renewal date and any exit or equipment charges before you serve notice.
How contracts are built is covered in our contract cleaning guide. Here the job is narrower: find what your contract says about leaving, and act on it. Get the signed version and any variation letters, not the proposal or a quote. Then look for these points.
| Look for | What to check | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Notice length | The number of days, weeks or months, and whether it's the same for both sides | Sets the earliest date you can leave |
| When notice can end | Any date, the end of a month, a quarter, or only the contract anniversary | A notice that has to expire on a set date can push your end date back by weeks |
| Minimum or fixed term | Whether you're inside an initial term, and what happens if you leave early | Leaving early may mean paying for the rest of the term |
| Automatic renewal | Whether the contract rolls over unless notice is given by a deadline | Miss the deadline and you may be committed for another term |
| Form of notice | "In writing", whether email counts, the address it must go to, and any named recipient | Notice sent the wrong way can be disputed |
| Termination for poor performance | Any right to end early for breach, and the warning and cure steps first | Only useful if you've followed those steps and kept records |
| Exit charges and equipment | Charges on leaving, buy-back of dispensers or machines, return of loaned items | Avoids a surprise invoice after you've gone |
| TUPE and staff information | Any clause on giving staff details to you or a new contractor, and on who bears staff costs | Tells you what you can ask for, and when |
Worked example: finding the real deadline
Assume the clause says "three months' written notice, expiring on the last day of a calendar month", and you want the new contractor to start on 1 April 2027.
- The current contract needs to end on 31 March 2027, the day before the new start.
- Three months back from 31 March is 31 December. Notice must be received by 31 December 2026.
- If the contract says a posted letter is treated as received a set number of days after posting, send it earlier. Email it as well if the contract allows.
- Miss the date by a day and, under this wording, the earliest end becomes 30 April 2027.
This is an illustration only. If your wording is unclear or you're inside a fixed term, take legal advice first.
What the notice letter should say
- The contract it refers to (name, date, site address).
- That you're giving notice under the named clause, and the date you understand the contract will end.
- A request to confirm receipt and the end date in writing.
- A request for staff information for TUPE (see below), and a handover meeting before the end date.
- That you expect the service to continue in full until the end date.
Keep it factual: the handover depends on their co-operation.
When is the best time to change cleaning company?
Pick a start date at a natural break, such as the start of a financial year or after a holiday shutdown, that falls after your notice can expire and leaves at least four weeks for the TUPE staff information. Avoid starting a new contractor in your busiest week.
Three dates have to line up: when your notice lets you leave, when the new contractor can be ready, and a start that won't disrupt the business. DfE's buying guidance for schools suggests starting a new cleaning contract at the start of an academic or financial year, or after a big holiday such as Christmas or Easter. The same logic works elsewhere: a quiet week gives the new team time to learn the building.
- Build back from the start date. Notice deadline, quote deadline, decision date and handover meeting all follow from it.
- Allow for TUPE. The staff information has to reach the new contractor at least 28 days before the transfer. A notice period shorter than that squeezes everyone.
- Avoid busy periods. Year-end, audits, inspections, open days and big events are bad weeks for a new team.
- Match the end and start. Last clean by the old contractor and first clean by the new one should fall on consecutive cleaning days, with no gap and no double booking.
Does TUPE apply when you switch cleaning contractor?
Usually, yes. A contract ending and being given to a new contractor is a service provision change under TUPE. Cleaners who are assigned to your contract, as an organised group whose main purpose is cleaning for you, are likely to transfer to the new contractor on their existing terms.
TUPE is the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006. Regulation 3 covers three kinds of service provision change: work moving from in-house to a contractor, from one contractor to another, and from a contractor back in-house. GOV.UK uses cleaning as its example, and says a cleaner whose employer switches to an outside cleaning company is likely to be protected.
For a contractor-to-contractor switch, the regulations set conditions. In plain terms:
- Just before the switch, there's an organised grouping of employees in Great Britain whose principal purpose is cleaning for you. The regulations say a grouping can be a single employee.
- You intend the cleaning to carry on, not as a single event or short-term task.
- The work isn't wholly or mainly the supply of goods for your use.
- The new contractor will carry out activities that are fundamentally the same as before.
Only people assigned to the work (not on a temporary basis) are in scope. GOV.UK puts it as employees who can be clearly identified as providing the service being transferred.
What transfers
When TUPE applies, the cleaners' contracts move to the new contractor as if they'd always been made with it. GOV.UK lists all previous terms and conditions, holiday entitlement, continuous employment and collective agreements, plus any past failures to respect their rights. The new contractor can't change terms because of the transfer itself. A narrow exception exists for economic, technical or organisational reasons involving changes in the workforce, and it needs the employee's agreement.
Cleaners can object to transferring. GOV.UK says this is the same as resigning: their employment ends at the transfer.
This page covers Great Britain. In Northern Ireland, service provision changes are covered by separate regulations, the Service Provision Change (Protection of Employment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006.
When doesn't TUPE apply to a change of cleaning company?
TUPE doesn't protect work for a single event or short-term task, or contracts mainly for the supply of goods. It's also unlikely to cover cleaners who aren't assigned to your contract, such as staff who rotate across many sites, or self-employed cleaners working under a contract for services.
These are the situations where a buyer should expect TUPE not to apply, or to be uncertain:
- One-off or short-term work. A single deep clean, an after-builders clean or cleaning for an event. GOV.UK says contracts for a single event or short-term task aren't protected.
- Supply of goods. Changing who supplies your toilet paper or hand towels isn't a transfer of a service.
- No organised grouping. If your site is cleaned by whoever is free that night, from a pool covering many clients, there may be no group whose principal purpose is cleaning for you. GOV.UK's courier example makes the same point about ad hoc work.
- Temporary assignment. Someone covering your site for a few weeks while a regular cleaner is off isn't "assigned" in the TUPE sense.
- Self-employed cleaners. TUPE protects employees. Someone providing services under a contract for services isn't an employee under the regulations.
- Different work. The new provider must carry out activities that are fundamentally the same. Whether a change of specification is big enough to fall outside this is a legal question. Don't assume a new schedule avoids TUPE; take advice.
- Some public sector transfers. GOV.UK says transfers within the public sector aren't usually covered by TUPE, but staff get similar protection.
If you're unsure, ask the outgoing contractor in writing whether any staff are assigned to your contract, and tell bidders what you learn.
What does TUPE mean for you as the client?
You don't employ the cleaners, so the legal duties sit with the outgoing and incoming contractors. But you set the dates, run the tender and hold the contract, so your job is to get staff information early, share what bidders need to price, and leave enough time for the 28-day rule.
ACAS says both the old and new employers must follow the TUPE regulations. Those duties sit with the two contractors, not you. In practice, though, the client controls the timetable, and a switch goes wrong when nobody asks for the information early enough.
Who does what
| Who | Main TUPE tasks in a switch |
|---|---|
| Outgoing contractor | Gives employee liability information to the new contractor at least 28 days before the transfer, and updates it if anything changes. Informs and consults its affected staff or their representatives. |
| Incoming contractor | Prices with transferring staff in mind, tells the outgoing contractor about any measures it plans for the staff, informs and consults its own affected staff, and takes on the transferring contracts. |
| You, the client | Set the transfer date, ask for anonymised staff details for bidders, pass contacts between the two, and keep the service running until the switch. |
Employee liability information
Regulation 11 says the outgoing contractor must give the new one the employee liability information in writing or in another readily accessible form, not less than 28 days before the transfer. It can come in instalments or through a third party. It covers each person's identity and age, their written employment particulars, disciplinary and grievance cases in the last two years, legal claims in the last two years or expected, and any collective agreements. If special circumstances make the 28 days not reasonably practicable, it must be given as soon as reasonably practicable afterwards.
What to ask for, and when
- With your notice: ask the outgoing contractor which staff they consider assigned to your contract, and for an anonymised list for bidders: role, contracted hours, days and times, hourly pay, length of service, pension arrangements and any extra terms such as enhanced sick pay.
- In your request for quotes: share that anonymised list, and ask each bidder to confirm their price allows for it.
- Once you've chosen: put the two contractors in direct touch for the personal information. Bidders don't need names.
Pay and terms of transferring cleaners go straight into the new price. A quote that looks low next to the anonymised list deserves a question: how will they meet those terms? Our office cleaning cost guide shows how wages and on-costs build a price.
What is a realistic timeline for switching cleaning contractor?
Start about four months before you want the new contractor to begin: read your contract and prepare a specification, serve notice, get quotes, choose by about six weeks out, make sure staff information is exchanged by four weeks out, and hold the handover in the final fortnight.
This timeline counts back from the day the new contractor starts (week 0). It assumes a notice period of three months and some time to get quotes. With a longer notice period, start earlier. With a shorter one, squeeze the quote stage, not the last four weeks.
| When | What you do | Check before moving on |
|---|---|---|
| Weeks 16 to 14 | Read the signed contract and variations. Note notice length, end-date rule, minimum term and renewal date. List what's going wrong and whether the specification caused it. Start a written specification. | You know your notice deadline and target start date |
| Week 13 | Serve notice exactly as the clause says. Ask for confirmation of the end date, staff information for TUPE and a handover meeting. | Written confirmation of receipt and end date |
| Weeks 12 to 9 | Invite quotes on the same specification, with the anonymised staff list. Arrange site visits. Ask how each bidder would handle the transfer and the first month. | Every bidder has priced the same scope and staff |
| Weeks 8 to 6 | Compare quotes line by line, check references and insurance, and choose. Agree the start date, first cleaning shift and named contacts. Introduce the two contractors. | Signed contract with the new contractor |
| Week 5 | Ask both contractors whether the employee liability information is on track. Tell your own staff a change is coming, without discussing individual cleaners. | A date for the staff information to be sent |
| Week 4 | The 28-day point: employee liability information should be with the new contractor by now. Book the handover meeting and walk-round. | The new contractor confirms they've received it |
| Weeks 3 to 2 | Handover meeting with both contractors. Agree the key and code plan, stock count, who owns what, and the cleaning schedule. New contractor visits for site induction, risk assessment and COSHH paperwork. | Handover checklist (below) agreed and dated |
| Week 1 | Last week of the old contract. Count stock, collect keys and cards against the register, and confirm periodic jobs and their dates. Walk the site with the outgoing supervisor. | Every key and card accounted for |
| Changeover | Old contractor's last clean, then new contractor's first clean on the next cleaning day. Change or reissue alarm codes. Check the building the next morning. | No missed clean; written note of any problems |
| Weeks +1 to +4 | Walk the problem areas each morning in week 1. Check COSHH sheets, risk assessment and key register are in place. Joint audit against the specification in week 2 or 3; review meeting at month end. If staff transferred, give them time to learn new systems. | An agreed list of fixes and dates |
What should a cleaning contractor handover checklist cover?
Cover security (keys, alarm codes, access cards), safety paperwork (COSHH data sheets, risk assessments), stock and consumables, who owns the equipment and dispensers, logbooks and periodic cleaning records, outstanding issues, and contacts for both contractors.
Hold a handover meeting with both contractors, then walk the building. Record who does what by when, and sign and date it.
Cleaning contractor handover checklist
- Keys: every key on the register returned and signed for, including cupboard and bin store keys. Any missing keys noted, and a decision on changing locks.
- Alarm codes: outgoing contractor's codes deleted on the last day; new individual codes issued to named people.
- Access cards and fobs: returned, cancelled on the system and new ones issued. Check the access system log shows no old cards still live.
- COSHH data sheets: the outgoing contractor removes its own chemicals and their sheets. The new contractor provides safety data sheets and COSHH assessments for the products it'll use, before its first clean.
- Cupboard stock: counted and agreed on the last day. Who paid for it decides who keeps it, or whether it's bought at an agreed value.
- Consumables ownership: who owns paper, soap, liners and refills already bought and charged to you. Check whether existing dispensers take only one supplier's refills.
- Equipment ownership: vacuums, floor machines, trolleys, mops, ladders and signs. Label what's yours; agree when the contractor's kit is collected.
- Dispensers and fixed items: soap, towel and paper dispensers, bins and mats. Note which are on loan and when they'll be removed and replaced.
- Logbooks and records: cleaning sign-off sheets, audit results, periodic cleaning dates (carpets, floors, high-level, windows), and any accident or incident reports involving cleaning.
- Site information: out-of-bounds rooms, alarm test times, lone working arrangements, fire procedures, waste collection days and where bins go.
- Open issues: outstanding complaints, damage claims, faulty equipment and jobs promised but not done.
- Contacts: named supervisor and out-of-hours number for the new contractor; a contact at the old one for any queries after the end date.
Keys and codes matter most. HSE lists cleaners as an example of lone workers, so the building is often handed to them alone. Treat the changeover as a security change, not just a supplier change.
How do you avoid a gap in cleaning when you change contractor?
Fix the last clean and first clean on consecutive cleaning days, have keys, codes, stock and the new contractor's COSHH paperwork ready before day one, and keep the outgoing contractor's obligations running in full until the end date.
Gaps come from small things nobody owned: a missing key, an empty soap dispenser, a code that fails at 6am.
- Write down the exact changeover. "Old contractor's last clean: Friday evening. New contractor's first clean: Monday morning, 6am." Both sign it.
- Test access before day one. The new supervisor lets themselves in with their own key and code during the handover fortnight.
- Stock for the first week. Agree who supplies consumables from day one, and make sure enough is in the cupboard to cover any delivery delay.
- Keep the old service whole. Notice periods are where standards slip. Keep checking the cleaning and raise misses in writing, as you would at any other time.
- Brief your own staff. Tell them the date, the new contact for problems, and that the faces may be the same if staff transfer.
- Plan the first week. Ask the new contractor for a supervisor on site for the first cleans, and a walk round with you after the first few.
- Plan for TUPE outcomes. If a cleaner objects to transferring, the new contractor needs to staff that shift. Ask how they'd cover it.
Related guides
Switching cleaning contractor: frequently asked questions
How much notice do I need to give my cleaning contractor?
Whatever your contract says. Check the notice length, whether it has to be in writing and where it must be sent, and whether it can only end on a set date such as the end of a month or the contract anniversary. Missing an automatic renewal deadline can commit you to another term.
Do my cleaners transfer to the new cleaning company?
Usually, if they're assigned to your contract. Changing contractor is a service provision change under TUPE, and GOV.UK says a cleaner whose work moves to an outside cleaning company is likely to be protected. They transfer on their existing terms, with continuous employment kept.
Can the new contractor bring its own cleaners instead?
Not simply because of the switch. If TUPE applies, assigned cleaners transfer automatically unless they object. The new contractor can't change their terms because of the transfer itself. Any changes need an economic, technical or organisational reason and the employee's agreement.
What is employee liability information?
Information the outgoing employer must give the new one about transferring staff: identity and age, employment particulars, disciplinary and grievance cases and legal claims in the last two years, likely claims, and collective agreements. Under TUPE regulation 11 it must be given at least 28 days before the transfer.
When doesn't TUPE apply to cleaning?
It doesn't protect work for a single event or short-term task, such as a one-off deep clean, or contracts mainly for supplying goods. It's unlikely to cover cleaners who aren't assigned to your site, such as staff covering many sites on an ad hoc basis, or self-employed cleaners.
Can a cleaner refuse to transfer?
Yes. GOV.UK says employees can refuse to work for the new employer by telling either employer before the transfer. It's treated like resigning, and their employment ends at the transfer. Ask the new contractor how they'd cover the shift.
Is the client responsible for TUPE?
The legal duties fall on the outgoing and incoming employers, and ACAS says both must follow the regulations. The client sets the dates and runs the tender, so ask for staff information early and leave at least 28 days before the switch.
What should a cleaning handover include?
Keys, alarm codes and access cards; the new contractor's COSHH data sheets and assessments; a stock count; who owns consumables, equipment and dispensers; logbooks and periodic cleaning records; open issues; and contacts for both contractors.
How do I avoid a day with no cleaning when I switch?
Fix the last and first cleans on consecutive cleaning days in writing. Test the new contractor's keys and codes beforehand, and have enough stock in for the first week.
Should I tell my current cleaners I'm changing contractor?
Tell the contractor, in writing, through the notice clause. It's their job to inform and consult their own staff about the transfer. Tell your own staff about the date and new contact, without discussing individual cleaners.
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources on 13 November 2026:
- GOV.UK: Business transfers, takeovers and TUPE
- GOV.UK: TUPE, information about employees during transfers
- GOV.UK: TUPE, transfers of employment contracts
- Acas: TUPE transfers
- TUPE Regulations 2006, regulation 11 (legislation.gov.uk)
- DfE: Buying for schools, cleaning services (GOV.UK)
- HSE: Lone working, protect those working alone