The customer said the house would be empty. Your crew opens the door and finds food in the cupboards, furniture in the rooms and garbage across the floors. A move out cleaning quote needs a confirmed condition, a precise scope and a written process for added work.
Set the handover first. Inspect the property. Build the cleaning scope checklist. Then calculate labour, job costs, overhead and markup from your own records.
Name the customer and handover before inspecting
Record who is buying the clean. It could be the tenant, landlord, property manager or owner. Do not assume the person providing access can approve added work.
Name one person who can approve a change order while the crew is on site. Record their phone number and email address on the job. If they cannot be reached, state whether the crew must stop, skip the affected task or leave the property.
Ask what the property must be ready for. It might be new occupants, listing photographs, an inspection or another named handover. Promise the listed cleaning work. Do not promise a security-deposit result or approval from a landlord or property manager.
Record who receives completion photographs. Record where the keys go and who can sign for them. Set this before pricing so the crew does not finish the clean and wait while several people argue about authority.
Inspect the property before offering a fixed price
Bedroom count describes part of the layout. It does not describe grease inside the oven, scale on the shower screen or pet residue in the carpet.
Record these property facts during the inquiry or site visit:
- Full service address and postal code
- Property type, floors and room names
- Vacant, partly occupied or occupied status
- Furniture, belongings, food and garbage left inside
- Visible grease, scale, dust, hair, stains, residue and odours
- Cupboards and appliances that have been emptied
- Working water, power and lights
- Keys, alarms and entry instructions
- Stairs, elevators, parking and carrying routes
- Building access hours and work restrictions
- Completion deadline and key-return deadline
- Person authorized to approve a change order
Ask who will remove belongings, empty cupboards and dispose of garbage. Put the answer in the quote assumptions. The crew needs it on the job record, not buried in an email.
Decide whether photographs show enough
Ask for current wide photographs of every room. Request close images of the oven, cooktop, hood filter, cupboards, bathrooms, floors, windows and any reported problem areas.
Photographs can hide odours, grease films and blocked surfaces. They rarely show every cupboard top or the space behind furniture. Visit the property when it remains occupied, the condition is unclear or a tight deadline leaves no room for a bad assumption.
Use an estimate when readiness or condition cannot be confirmed. A range communicates uncertainty; a fixed quote does not. Use the quote versus estimate guide to choose the document that matches the information you have.
Build the cleaning scope checklist by room and task
Walk through the property in the order the crew will clean it. Write the room, surface and action on every line. Kitchen is not an instruction. Clean oven interior is.
Record the observed condition beside each task. Mark the line included, accepted option, declined option or excluded. Never leave an optional line blank.
Separate kitchen surfaces from interiors
List counters, splashbacks, sinks, faucets, cupboard fronts, cupboard interiors, drawers, handles, switches, doors, baseboards and floors separately where the work differs.
Appliance fronts and appliance interiors are different tasks. Name the oven, refrigerator, freezer, microwave, dishwasher, washing machine and range hood individually. State whether the crew may move an appliance or clean only the accessible surfaces.
Define bathroom work without promising repairs
Name the toilet, tub, shower, basin, faucets, screen, mirrors, tile surfaces, accessible grout, extraction cover, storage and floor. State the cleaning method where the customer could otherwise expect specialist treatment.
Separate ordinary soil removal from damaged sealant, failed grout, corrosion, mould remediation, restoration and repair. Photograph visible damage before work starts. Cleaning does not repair a failed surface.
Split floor tasks by method
Write vacuuming, mopping and carpet extraction as separate lines. Each uses different labour, supplies and equipment. A vague line such as clean floors gives the customer and crew different ideas about the job.
Use separate options for wall washing, interior windows, blinds, furniture moving, cupboard interiors, appliance interiors, carpet extraction and garbage removal. Give each option an accepted or declined status before scheduling the clean.
Stop work that is blocked, unknown or unsafe
Give the crew a plain instruction. Stop the affected task when they find sharps, pest waste, unknown chemicals or material that appears to be biological contamination. Keep people away from that area and record the condition without disturbing it.
Do not turn specialist treatment into ordinary cleaning because the deadline is close. Decide who is trained and authorized to deal with the material before work resumes.
For a worker-exposure question, ask your provincial or territorial occupational health and safety authority. In Ontario, contact the authority through the Government of Ontario (opens in a new tab). Ask about the hazard in front of your crew rather than copying a procedure from another job.
Turn the scope into a deep cleaning labour estimate
Estimate each accepted task from the condition you inspected. Do not start with a property total and force the crew to fit inside it.
Use a worksheet like this:
| Room | Surface | Accepted task | Observed condition | Planned task time | Setup or access time | Paid cleaners |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [room] | [surface] | [specific action] | [condition] | [your figure] | [your figure] | [crew count] |
| [room] | [surface] | [specific action] | [condition] | [your figure] | [your figure] | [crew count] |
| [room] | [surface] | [specific action] | [condition] | [your figure] | [your figure] | [crew count] |
(task time + setup or access time) × paid cleaners = planned crew-hours
Crew-hours depend on elapsed time and the number of cleaners being paid. If several cleaners spend the same block of time carrying equipment, setting up or waiting for access, include every paid cleaner in that block.
Add work outside the room lines. Count unloading, chemical preparation, equipment carrying, water changes, machine changes, access delays, final checks, completion photographs, packing and key return when your crew performs them.
Compare planned task time with the same task in completed-job cost tracking records. Compare oven work with oven work and carpet extraction with carpet extraction. A whole-property average hides the task that missed its allowance.
Price the job from your own costs
Build loaded labour cost from your own payroll records and productive hours. Include the employment costs caused by paying the cleaner. Divide that labour total by productive hours from the same period, then apply the result to planned crew-hours.
For an Ontario job, use verified payroll records and confirm worker-coverage and GST/HST treatment with the official bodies named below.
Add job-specific supplies and consumables. Add equipment, travel, parking, building access charges and approved disposal when the job causes those costs.
Allocate overhead once. You might recover office, administration, insurance, vehicle, storage and phone costs through productive crew-hours. Do not also charge a cost directly to the job if the same cost already sits inside that overhead calculation.
Use this cost stack:
Planned crew-hours × your loaded labour cost = planned labour cost + job-specific supplies + job-specific equipment + travel, parking, access and approved disposal + allocated overhead = total planned cost total planned cost × your markup percentage = markup amount total planned cost + markup amount = quoted price
Markup is added to cost to produce the selling price. Margin is profit as a share of that selling price. Mixing them gives you the wrong total. The job pricing guide shows how to keep labour, materials, overhead and markup separate.
Price a short task with the same cost stack
Do not copy an unsupported hourly cleaning rate. For a task expected to take one paid crew-hour, use one hour of your loaded labour cost. Then add its supplies, equipment, travel or access cost, overhead and markup.
If the short task requires a separate visit, count the paid travel, setup and closeout work caused by that visit. One hour on the surface does not always mean one paid hour on the job.
Write a move out cleaning quote the crew can follow
Use the same room names and task wording in the customer document and crew sheet. The cleaning job workflow can keep that accepted scope attached to the work. A good move out cleaning quote tells the cleaner what to do without requiring access to the inquiry emails.
State the property status, customer preparation, access arrangements, who receives the finished job and where the crew sends completion photographs. Write the expected result for each included task. Keep permanent staining, damage and repairs outside that promise.
Write cleaning quote exclusions that stop free extras
State that the price excludes belongings removal, furniture moving, garbage removal, blocked surfaces, inaccessible areas, repairs, restoration and treatment of unknown hazardous material unless a listed line says otherwise.
Separate permanent staining from missed cleaning. Exclude work behind appliances or furniture unless the scope says the crew may move them. State any disposal or access limits instead of leaving the crew to negotiate at the door.
Copy-ready quote template
Use this blank move out cleaning quote template after the inspection:
Contractor business name: [business name] Contractor contact details: [phone, email and business address] Customer: [instructing customer] Service address: [full address and postal code] Quote number: [quote number] Quote issue date: [date] Quote valid until: [date] Proposed service date: [date or scheduling window] Property status: [vacant / partly occupied / occupied] Required handover: [new occupants / photographs / inspection / other] Authorized change order contact: [name and contact details] Included work: - Kitchen: [surfaces, appliances and tasks] - Bathroom(s): [surfaces and tasks] - Bedroom(s): [surfaces and tasks] - Living areas: [surfaces and tasks] - Floors: [vacuuming / mopping / extraction] - Other areas: [hall / stairs / storage / other] Options: - Appliance interiors: [scope and price]; [accepted / declined] - Cupboard interiors: [scope and price]; [accepted / declined] - Carpet extraction: [scope and price]; [accepted / declined] - Interior windows: [scope and price]; [accepted / declined] - Wall washing: [scope and price]; [accepted / declined] - Furniture moving: [scope and price]; [accepted / declined] - Garbage removal: [scope and price]; [accepted / declined] Customer preparation: [belongings removed, food removed, cupboards emptied, access cleared] Assumptions: [property condition, utilities, keys, parking, access and work hours] Cleaning quote exclusions: [blocked areas, damage, permanent staining, repair, restoration, hazardous material and disposal limits] Change order process: [affected task stops until the named contact approves added work and price in writing] Missed included work reported to: [name and contact method] Completion photographs sent to: [name and contact] Keys returned to: [name, place and method] Quoted total: [amount] Confirmed GST/HST: [included in the total / added to the total] Payment timing: [deposit, due date or handover stage] Customer acceptance: [name, date and method]
Control undisclosed work with a change order
Stop the affected task. Photograph the condition. Write the added task, added price and any schedule effect. Send it to the person named as the authorized contact and wait for written approval.
The Oak Street electrical job shows the document trail. Quote Q-1847 was 1,105 sample currency units and excluded chasing. The lined ceiling required extra cable and chasing, so the customer approved a 160 change order. Invoice INV-1847 became 1,265. The example is not a cleaning rate, and the change order costs are not given.
Use the same control on a clean. If oven interiors, cupboard interiors or carpet extraction were declined, they do not become free work when the customer asks on site.
Put the right Canadian checks behind the quote
Keep each question with the public body responsible for it. Do not treat registration, worker coverage, safety and tax as one vague compliance check.
Ask your provincial or territorial business registry about registering the business or business name. For an Ontario business, start with the Government of Ontario (opens in a new tab) and ask which registry handles the name and registration. Do not assume one province's process applies in another.
Ask your municipality whether the cleaning business needs a local business licence. Ask the provincial or territorial trade licensing and safety authority whether a licence or permit covers any specialized service you plan to sell. Do not send a tax question to either body.
Ask your provincial or territorial workers' compensation board about worker coverage. For an Ontario job, that body is the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (opens in a new tab). Use the board for the province or territory where the crew works.
Ask the Canada Revenue Agency (opens in a new tab) about a business number and how GST/HST applies to the transaction. Confirm whether GST/HST is included or added on the move out cleaning quote, then send the finished document to the customer named at the top.