What's Actually in a Commercial Cleaning Contract? A Peterborough Buyer's Guide

Most cleaning relationships do not go wrong over cleaning. They go wrong over the gap between what you assumed was included and what was actually written down.

The bins are emptied but the kitchen is not touched. Your regular cleaner is off and nobody comes. The price goes up in April and nobody can explain why. None of that is a cleaning failure. It is a contract that was never specific enough to argue with.

This guide sets out what should be in a commercial cleaning contract in Peterborough, what the common gaps are, and the questions worth asking before you sign anything.

The specification is not the contract

Two different documents do two different jobs, and buyers often receive only one.

The specification says what gets cleaned, where, and how often. Our guides to what office cleaning should cover and what a school cleaning contract should cover go through that in detail, room by room.

The contract says what happens when real life interferes — somebody is off sick, the price needs to change, the standard slips, you want to leave, or your previous contractor's staff have a legal right to come with the work.

A good specification with no contract behind it gives you nothing to point at in month seven. A contract with a vague specification attached gives you a tie-in and no standard. You need both, and they need to refer to each other.

What a commercial cleaning contract should contain

Scope, and what sits outside it

The scope should name the areas covered and, just as importantly, the areas that are not. Server rooms, external areas, high-level work, kitchens that fall under catering, and anything needing access equipment are the usual exclusions. If they are not written down as exclusions, you will find out they were excluded at the point you need them done.

Periodic work belongs here too. Carpet cleaning, hard floor stripping and resealing, high-level dusting and window cleaning are normally priced separately from the daily clean. The contract should say whether they are included, how often, and what they cost if they are not.

Frequencies and hours

"Daily" needs a definition. Five days a week or seven? Which days over Christmas? What happens on a bank holiday? Does the team arrive after your staff leave, or before they arrive?

Hours matter as much as frequency, because hours are what you are really buying. A contract that promises a standard without committing to hours can be delivered by sending fewer people for less time until the standard slips, and nothing has technically been breached.

Consumables: the most common argument

Soap, hand towels, toilet roll, bin liners and washroom supplies either sit with you or with the contractor, and the contract must say which. If they sit with the contractor, check whether they are included in the monthly price or charged on top, and whether you are tied to their pricing.

This is the single most frequent source of day-to-day friction in cleaning contracts, and it is one line of text to fix.

Cover for sickness and holidays

Your regular cleaner will be off at some point. The contract should say what happens: a named relief cleaner, a guaranteed replacement within a set time, or a credit if nobody comes.

"We will endeavour to provide cover" is not a commitment. Ask what happens if cover is not provided, and whether you are charged for a visit that did not happen.

Supervision and how quality is actually checked

Look for scheduled inspections with a written record, a named contact who is not the cleaner, and a simple route for your site manager to report something missed without it becoming a complaint.

If the contract mentions key performance indicators, check what happens when one is missed. A KPI with no consequence is decoration.

Price, reviews and what triggers an increase

The contract should state the price, what it covers, how often it can be reviewed, how much notice you get, and what the increase is linked to.

Cleaning is a labour business, so wage movements drive price. An increase tied to a stated measure, with notice, is reasonable and predictable. An open-ended right to raise prices on a month's notice is not.

Notice and termination

Check the initial term, the notice period on both sides, and whether the contract rolls over automatically if nobody says anything. Twelve-month rolling terms with three months' notice are common and perfectly normal. A long tie-in with a short notice window that you have to catch exactly is worth questioning.

There should also be a route out for persistent failure to perform, with a defined remedy period first. A contractor confident in their standards does not need to trap you.

Access, keys and security

Who holds keys or codes, how they are stored, what happens when staff change, and who is responsible for locking up and setting the alarm. For out-of-hours cleaning this is not administrative detail — it is the thing your insurer will ask about.

Vetting belongs here as well. Ask what checks are carried out on the people who will be in your building unsupervised.

Insurance, compliance and documentation

Expect to see public liability and employers' liability cover with the limits stated, risk assessments and method statements for the work, COSHH information for the products used, and confirmation that staff are trained and lawfully employed.

If you are in a regulated setting or a school, add your own vetting requirements on top and make them a contract term rather than an assumption.

TUPE: the part most buyers do not see coming

If your building already has cleaners and you change provider, the law may move those people to the new contractor automatically. This catches buyers out constantly, and it is the single most expensive thing to discover late.

The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 can apply to a service provision change. That covers three situations: outsourcing cleaning for the first time, moving the contract from one contractor to another, and bringing the work back in-house. What matters is whether there is an organised group of employees mainly assigned to that work, and whether the activities stay fundamentally the same afterwards.

Where it applies, the employees transfer on their existing terms. Pay, hours, holiday entitlement, length of service and contractual benefits all carry across, and continuity of employment is preserved. The incoming contractor cannot simply move them onto its own standard terms because it prefers them.

There is a disclosure duty attached. The outgoing employer must give the incoming employer employee liability information at least 28 days before the transfer. According to Acas, that includes each employee's name and age, their written statement of employment particulars, any disciplinary and grievance records from the last two years, any collective agreements affecting their terms, and any claims made in the last two years or expected to be made.

Twenty-eight days is the legal minimum, not a sensible planning horizon. If you are tendering, ask for anonymised headcount, hours and pay bands early — otherwise every price you receive is a guess, and the one that looks cheapest is simply the one that guessed lowest.

Affected employees must also be informed, and consulted where measures are proposed. Getting that wrong carries compensation of up to 13 weeks' pay per affected employee, uncapped.

None of this should stop you changing contractor. It should stop you changing contractor without asking the question first.

Red flags in a cleaning quote

• A price with no hours behind it. You cannot compare two quotes without knowing how many cleaning hours each one buys.
• No site visit. A price produced from floor area alone has not seen your building.
• Silence on TUPE where there is an incumbent team. Either they have not thought about it or they are hoping you have not.
• Consumables left undefined.
• A long initial term paired with a short notice window.
• A quote well below everything else. In a labour business, the gap is hours, and hours are the standard.

Questions to ask before you sign

• How many cleaning hours a week am I buying, and across how many people?
• What happens when my regular cleaner is off?
• Who supplies consumables, and is that price fixed?
• How often will someone inspect, and will I see the report?
• When can the price change, how much notice, and linked to what?
• What is the notice period, and does the contract roll over automatically?
• What checks have been done on the people entering my building?
• Does TUPE apply here, and what are you assuming about the existing team?

Frequently asked questions

What should be included in a commercial cleaning contract?

A clear scope with stated exclusions, frequencies and committed hours, who supplies consumables, cover arrangements for absence, supervision and quality checks, the price and when it can be reviewed, notice and termination terms, access and key-holding arrangements, and evidence of insurance, training and vetting. The cleaning specification should be attached and referred to, not left as a separate conversation.

Does TUPE apply when you change cleaning contractors?

It often does. TUPE can apply to a service provision change, which covers outsourcing cleaning for the first time, moving from one contractor to another, and bringing the work back in-house. Where it applies, the existing cleaners transfer to the new provider on their current terms with continuity of service preserved. Ask the question during tendering rather than after appointment.

How much notice do I need to give to end a cleaning contract?

It depends entirely on what you signed. Three months on a rolling twelve-month term is common in commercial cleaning. Check whether the agreement renews automatically if neither side gives notice, and whether there is a separate route out for persistent failure to perform.

Why do cleaning quotes vary so much?

Almost always because they buy different amounts of labour. Cleaning cost is mostly wages, so a quote that is substantially cheaper is usually buying fewer hours, fewer staff or less frequent attendance. Compare hours before comparing prices.

Who provides toilet roll and soap under a cleaning contract?

Either party can, and the contract should say which. If the contractor supplies them, check whether the cost sits inside the monthly price or is invoiced separately, and whether you are free to source elsewhere.

What is the difference between a cleaning specification and a cleaning contract?

The specification describes the work — which areas, which tasks, how often. The contract governs the commercial relationship — price, notice, cover, liability, quality and what happens when something goes wrong. You need both, and each should refer to the other.

Do I need a site visit before getting a cleaning quote?

Yes, for anything beyond a small single-room office. Floor area alone does not reveal washroom numbers, floor finishes, access restrictions, how the building is actually used or where the difficult work sits. A price given without a visit is an estimate dressed as a quote.

Contract cleaning in Peterborough with SafiKleen Solutions

SafiKleen Solutions provides contract cleaning for offices, schools, gyms, shops, industrial units and other commercial premises across Peterborough, Stamford and the surrounding areas. Our cleaners are vetted, trained and fully insured, we use eco-friendly products, and we provide cover when your regular cleaner is away.

We will visit your site before quoting, set out the hours as well as the price, and give you a specification you can actually hold us to. If you are reviewing an existing arrangement, we are happy to look at what you have and tell you honestly whether it needs changing.

For the full range of what we cover, see our services, or call 01733 602 904 for a free quote and a no-obligation site visit.

SafiKleen Solutions – Clean Spaces, Happy Faces