Terms and conditions for a commercial cleaning contractor

Commercial cleaning is a business-to-business contract with thin margins, so the terms carry the profit: the specification that stops scope creep, the price review that keeps pace with wages, the liability cap that matches your insurance, and the exit provisions that deal with what happens to your staff when the client changes contractor. I draft those terms for a fixed fee of £995, delivered in five working days.

Who this is for

Commercial cleaning contractors in England and Wales cleaning offices, shops, schools, medical premises, industrial units and communal areas, from a small local contractor to a company running dozens of sites. These are business customers, so the consumer rules do not apply and the terms can be drafted as a proper commercial contract.

What matters in commercial cleaning terms

The specification and inspections

The contract should attach a specification setting out the areas, tasks and frequencies, and say that anything outside it is chargeable. Inspections, a reporting process and the client's right to require re-cleaning of a missed area should be defined, along with how the specification changes by agreement. A client who signs a one-page proposal and expects a deep clean every month is a dispute waiting for a specification.

Access, security and hours

The terms should deal with keys, access cards, alarm codes and out-of-hours access, say that the client is responsible for the security of its premises when it chooses to give you access, and record the hours in which cleaning takes place. Where staff need vetting for a particular site, the terms should say who pays for it and how long it takes.

Staff and what happens on a change of contractor

Cleaning staff are usually employed by you, and when a cleaning contract moves from one contractor to another the staff working on it may transfer to the incoming contractor under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006. The terms should say what information the client and any successor are entitled to, who bears the cost of any employment liabilities on exit, and that the client will not solicit your staff during the contract or for a period after it.

Consumables, equipment and liability

The terms should say whether consumables and equipment are included in the price, how they are charged if not, and who is responsible for the safe storage of chemicals on site. Your liability should be capped at a figure that matches your insurance, with consequential loss excluded. You cannot exclude liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, and any other exclusion in your standard terms is subject to the reasonableness test under the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977.

Term, price review and termination

A commercial cleaning contract needs a minimum term, a notice period after it, a right for you to review the price annually or when statutory wage rates change, and rights to terminate for non-payment or breach. Invoices should be monthly, with interest and fixed compensation on late payment under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. A term that lets you suspend the service for non-payment on notice is worth more than any interest clause.

What it costs

Customer or supplier terms and conditions, £995. One set of terms, customer-facing or supplier-facing, drafted around your business. Five working days.

Review of your existing terms, £495. You already have terms and want to know how much of a problem they are. Returned marked up with my amendments and an explanation of the changes. Three working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the terms and conditions drafting page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A full set of terms drafted around your business, not a template with your name inserted
• A covering note in plain English explaining every commercial choice I made and why, so you can defend the terms in a negotiation without ringing me
• Liability, payment, termination and IP provisions set at a level that will survive a procurement review
• Consumer-facing wording drafted to be enforceable where you sell to consumers
• Guidance on how to incorporate the terms properly, which is where most businesses actually fail
• One round of amendments after you have read them

What is not included

• Negotiating your terms with individual customers
• Sector-specific regulatory compliance beyond the contract terms themselves
• Website privacy notice and cookie compliance, which I quote separately
• Terms governed by the law of another country

Questions I am often asked

Can I pass on the cost of a rise in the minimum wage?

The terms can provide for the price to be adjusted when the statutory wage rates or your other direct costs change, with a mechanism for calculating the increase and a period of notice. Without that term you are absorbing every increase until the contract ends.

What if the client says the standard has dropped and stops paying?

The terms should give the client a defined process, a complaint, an inspection and a re-clean, rather than a right to withhold payment. Withholding should be limited to the disputed part of an invoice, if at all.

Do I need a separate contract for a one-off builders' clean?

The same terms work with a short order form describing the one-off job, the price and the date, so that the liability, payment and access provisions apply without a fresh negotiation.

Related guidance and services

• Terms and conditions drafting, £995, the service this page describes
• Contract review, £495, if a main contractor or business customer has sent you their terms to sign
• Terms and conditions for a domestic cleaning business, for household customers

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: September 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.