Moving Offices in Melbourne: The Three Cleans Nobody Budgets For

An office move has a long checklist: the fit-out, the IT cutover, the removalists, the new access cards. Cleaning is usually the last line on it, and it often gets left until the week the keys change hands. By then the good contractors are booked out and the landlord's make-good inspection is on Friday.

There are actually three separate cleans in a move, each with a different purpose and often a different person paying. Plan them early and they are routine. Leave them late and they become a scramble.

1. The end-of-lease clean at the old office

What it's for: getting back your bond or bank guarantee and meeting the make-good clause in your lease.

Make-good clauses vary a lot. Some ask you to return the premises "in good repair and clean condition, fair wear and tear excepted". Others ask you to remove your fit-out and return it to base-building condition. Read yours, and ask your property manager for the make-good requirements in writing before you book anything.

The cleaning part of a make-good usually covers:

• Carpet hot-water extraction throughout, often with a receipt the landlord can see
• Hard floors scrubbed, and resealed if the lease asks for it
• Kitchens: inside cupboards, the fridge and dishwasher if they stay, splashbacks and the rangehood
• Bathrooms inside the tenancy, descaled and detailed
• Internal glass, partitions and window frames
• Walls spot-cleaned, or patched and painted if the lease requires it
• Light fittings, vents and high ledges dusted
• Rubbish removed, including the furniture and cabling nobody claimed

When to book it: after the removalists leave and before the make-good inspection, with a day spare in case something needs redoing. Book carpet extraction and painting first, because they have the longest lead times.

We do carpet cleaning, floor polishing, window cleaning and painting alongside routine cleaning, so a make-good can be quoted as one job with one point of contact.

2. The builders clean at the new office

What it's for: turning a finished fit-out into somewhere people can work.

A fit-out leaves fine dust on every horizontal surface, inside every cupboard, on top of every partition and in the carpet. It also leaves paint and silicone on the glass, protective film on the joinery and stickers on the appliances.

Check the fit-out contract first. Builders often include a "builders clean" in their price. That usually means a rough clean to remove debris, not a clean you would want your staff to start in. Ask what theirs covers, and plan for a final detail clean on top of it if it falls short.

A final detail clean covers:

• Dust removed from every surface, including the tops of doors, partitions and light fittings, and the inside of joinery
• Glass cleaned of paint spots, silicone and labels, inside and out where you can reach
• Protective film peeled and adhesive removed
• Carpet vacuumed thoroughly. New carpet sheds and holds construction dust, so it can take several passes
• Hard floors scrubbed of plaster and paint residue
• Kitchens and bathrooms cleaned and checked: taps running, dispensers fitted and stocked

When to book it: after the trades have finished and before the furniture arrives. Cleaning around 60 desks still in their wrapping is slower and less thorough. If the furniture has to go in first, book a second, lighter pass after the install.

3. The first week at the new office

What it's for: fixing the things you only notice once people are in.

During the first week, more dust settles out of the new air-conditioning and the furniture. Cardboard and wrapping pile up in every corner, and the kitchen gets used for the first time. Staff also find out which bathroom runs out of hand towel by 2 pm.

Start the routine cleaning contract from the first night of occupation, not from "once things settle down". Ask for a supervisor to walk the floor at the end of the first week and adjust the scope. This is also the time to confirm the base-building and tenancy split in the new building, because it will probably differ from the old one.

Who pays for what

• End-of-lease clean: you, as the outgoing tenant. It's in your lease.
• Builders clean: usually your builder, as part of the fit-out contract. Check the contract.
• Final detail clean: you, unless your fit-out contract includes it, or you negotiated it with an incoming landlord as part of an incentive package.
• Routine cleaning: you, from the first night.

Getting it on one quote

If you're moving, give us the dates, the make-good letter and the fit-out program, and we will quote all three cleans with the routine contract at the new site. Every visit is signed in and out on our app inside a geofence around the building, with a photo. So if your landlord questions whether the make-good clean was done, you have a dated record to show them.

We clean offices across Melbourne, including the CBD, Docklands, Richmond and Collingwood. See office cleaning Melbourne, read what office cleaning in Melbourne costs, or request a quote with your move dates.