How to change your strata cleaning company without a gap in service

Why I am writing this – when a new committee wanted a new contractor

A building I looked after elected a new strata committee. The new committee wanted its own contractor. My relationship had been with the old committee, and I lost the building.

The new committee did nothing wrong. A new committee can bring its own contractor, and a good relationship with the old one does not change that. So now I walk the building with the manager before I start, and I put the scope in writing so the next committee can read what it is paying for.

Who decides, and does the committee need to vote?

Most cleaning contracts sit under the two-quote threshold, so whether your committee needs to vote depends on your by-laws and on what your agency has delegated to the manager – ask your strata manager. The rule itself is section 102 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015. Since 11 December 2023, when the Strata Legislation Amendment Act 2023 commenced on assent, every owners corporation, whatever its size, must get at least 2 independent quotes before spending more than $30,000 on any one item or matter, with an exception for emergencies. Get a second quote anyway, and compare the 2 scopes line by line rather than the 2 monthly totals.

Since 3 February 2025 strata managers must disclose in writing any commissions and connections with the suppliers they recommend, so it is fair to ask whether anyone putting a cleaner forward is paid to. Streamline pays no commissions, referral fees or gifts to strata managers, building managers or committee members, and we put that in writing for the meeting papers.

How much notice do we give the current cleaner?

Whatever the current agreement says – read its notice clause before you do anything else. There is no standard notice period for strata cleaning in NSW. Some agreements run month to month with 30 days' notice. Some run for 12 months and roll over unless one side gives notice inside a window. Some carry a termination fee. The clause tells you the earliest day the outgoing contractor's last visit can fall, and every other date in the changeover hangs off that day. Give the notice in writing, by whatever method the agreement names, and keep a copy.

For comparison, Streamline's own term is month to month, 30 days' written notice either way.

Will the building pay 2 cleaners during the changeover?

No – "we start the day the old cleaner's notice ends", so there is no overlap month and no gap. That is step 3 of our 5, and it exists because of how a strata scheme's money works. The committee agrees the budget first and the owners approve it at a meeting. A second cleaning invoice in the same month is an unbudgeted cost, and it is exactly the line a treasurer will query.

An overlap means nobody has fixed the start date. Fix that first: notice given on a known day, last visit on a known day, our first visit on the next scheduled day. Where the building has bins, that first visit lands on or before the council collection day, because a missed bin day is the fastest way for residents to notice a change.

What has to move across: keys, fobs, bin days and the scope

Four things move across in a changeover: the keys and fobs, the bin schedule, the written scope, and the knowledge of what kept going wrong. Three of our 5 steps handle them.

"Walk-through with the manager before we start." Step 1, and it is where you tell us what the last contractor kept getting wrong. Every building has one thing – the bin room that never got hosed, the letterbox bank nobody wiped. Said out loud on the walk-through, it goes into the scope. Left unsaid, it repeats, and the committee concludes nothing has changed. The same crew – 2 to 3 people, all directly employed – comes back every visit after that, so what is said on the walk-through stays known.

"We write the scope from the existing contract so nothing's missed." Step 2. We take the outgoing contractor's scope, if there is one, and rebuild it area by area – entry, lobby, stairs, corridors, car park, bin room, laundry, gardens, paths – with a task and a stated frequency against each. Daily, twice weekly, weekly, monthly. Never "as required". A scope written from scratch is where the bin room quietly drops off, and nobody notices until the next annual general meeting.

"We collect keys and the bin schedule from the outgoing cleaner." Step 4, and only if you authorise it. Keys and fobs are handed over and returned on the last day of the contract. The bin schedule matters more than it sounds: the council collection day, and which bins go out in which week. It is easy to miss in the first week of a new contract.

What should the new cleaner send before day one?

Four documents, before the first visit and not after the first invoice: a public liability certificate of currency, a workers compensation certificate, safe work method statements for the tasks on the scope, and a written WHS policy. That is our step 5 – "All insurance and compliance documents supplied before day one" – and it is the step a manager can check without trusting anyone's word.

Read the certificates rather than filing them. The public liability certificate should show the sum insured – ours is $10 million – and activity wording that covers what your building needs. If your agency requires it, the certificate should name the owners corporation and the agency as interested parties. The workers compensation certificate should be in the name of the entity that will invoice you, and the ABN on both certificates should match the ABN on the invoice header.

The full list, with what to ask for against each item, is on our page What to check before you appoint a strata cleaner.

Warning signs the changeover is going wrong

The first warning sign is the outgoing contractor going slack during the notice period – the shorter the tail, the less there is to slip. Others to watch for:

• Keys and fobs not returned on the last day, or returned without a count. Ask for the register.
• The new scope drifting to "as required" against any line. Send it back with a frequency.
• A start date that does not mention bin day.
• No photos after the first visit. You should have them the same day.

What to do next

Read the notice clause in your current agreement before you take a single quote. Take the 8-item checklist on What to check before you appoint a strata cleaner to every contractor quoting, including us. Ask the incoming contractor for its certificates before day one, not after. Then get a quote for your building – we walk the building first, then send an itemised quote.