# Switching Office Cleaning Contractors > What actually happens when you change office cleaners: notice periods, scope matching, keys and alarms, and the first month, honestly explained. Source: https://www.buildersclean.com.au/blog/switching-office-cleaning-contractors/ · Builders Clean · 0467 624 049 · sales@buildersclean.com.au Guides 14 August 2026 ## Switching Office Cleaning Contractors Without the Drama **Most offices put up with a mediocre cleaner for years because switching feels like a project.** It is not a project. It is one email, one walkthrough and one overlap week. Here is the entire process, honestly, including the parts other cleaning companies gloss over. ### Step 1: read your current agreement Most office cleaning contracts run month to month after an initial term, with 30 days notice. Find the notice clause before anything else, because it sets your timeline. If you are inside a fixed term, note the end date and line the switch up against it. That is the only genuinely slow part of the process, and it is your current contract causing it, not the switch. ### Step 2: get the incoming quote against your existing scope Do not rewrite your scope to change cleaners. Hand the incoming contractor exactly what the current one is meant to be doing, and get a price against that. Like for like is the only comparison that means anything. We quote from your current scope in a single site walkthrough: frequencies, areas, consumables, periodic works like carpets and windows, all itemised so you can see what each line costs. After a month of actually cleaning your site, a good contractor will come back with suggestions: things in your scope nobody needs, and things missing that facilities keeps chasing. That conversation is worth having after the switch, not before, when it would just be sales talk. ### Step 3: send one email The termination notice to your current provider is three sentences: we are ending the agreement per the notice clause, last service date is X, please arrange return of keys and fobs on that date. You do not owe a reason. Overlap the dates so the incoming crew starts the next service day after the outgoing one finishes. There is no gap week. ### Step 4: the actual handover, which takes about 10 minutes What the incoming contractor needs from you, once: - Keys, fobs or swipe cards, and who signs for them - The alarm process: code, sequence and the monitoring company's phone number for false alarms - Site induction if your building requires one - Where cleaning storage lives, and what stock is yours versus the old contractor's - The one thing your last cleaner always got wrong, so it is right on night one That is the whole list. Everything else, a professional crew works out on the floor. ### What the first month should look like The same crew every visit, learning your site. A supervisor checking the work, not just the sign in sheet. Consumables topped up without anyone chasing. And a check in at week four: what is working, what is not, what should change in the scope now that the suggestions are based on your actual site. If anything gets missed in that first month, the answer you want to hear is the one we give on construction handovers: we come back and fix it at no cost. We built our name on builders cleans, where the standard is a defect free inspection, and we bring the same standard to [office cleaning](https://www.buildersclean.com.au/office-cleaning/) on contract across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. After hours as standard, fixed monthly price, one invoice. Send your current scope and we will return an itemised quote inside 24 hours. Related services: [Office cleaning](https://www.buildersclean.com.au/office-cleaning/) · [Strata cleaning](https://www.buildersclean.com.au/strata-cleaning/). The Builders Clean team FAQ ### Straight answers. #### How hard is it to switch office cleaning companies? Easier than most offices expect. Check your notice period, send one termination email, and the incoming contractor matches your current scope in a single walkthrough. The changeover itself is keys, alarm codes and an induction, about 10 minutes of your time. #### Will there be a gap in cleaning when we switch contractors? No. The incoming contractor starts the night after the outgoing one finishes. Where notice periods overlap, the old contract simply runs out while the new one is already running. #### Do we need to rewrite our cleaning scope to switch? No. A good incoming contractor works from your existing scope first, matches the price model to it, then suggests changes after a month of actually cleaning the site, when suggestions mean something. Keep reading ### More from the field. Guides #### [Commercial vs Residential Builders Cleans: What Actually Changes](https://www.buildersclean.com.au/blog/commercial-vs-residential-builders-clean/) A home handover and a commercial closeout are the same trade playing two different games. Scope, compliance, access, programming and sign off all change. Here is how. · Guides #### [What Is a Builders Clean? A Complete Guide for Project Managers](https://www.buildersclean.com.au/blog/what-is-a-builders-clean-guide-for-project-managers/) A practical guide for builders, PMs, and developers on what a builders clean actually is, what's included, when to book it, what it costs, and how to spot a contractor who can deliver on a tier 1 site. · Guides #### [The Builders Clean Checklist: Every Item, Room by Room](https://www.buildersclean.com.au/blog/builders-clean-checklist/) The actual room by room checklist our crews work to. Use it to scope your own clean, brief a contractor, or check the one you paid for actually happened. Ready when you are ### Ready to work with a cleaning partner who knows construction? [Get a quote](https://www.buildersclean.com.au/contact/#quote) · [Call 0467 624 049](tel:+61467624049) ## Get a quote Send the suburb, build type, stage, floor area or unit count, dates, and plans or photos through the form at https://www.buildersclean.com.au/contact/, email sales@buildersclean.com.au or call 0467 624 049. Builders Clean replies with a written, itemised quote within 24 hours.