Terms and conditions for an oven cleaning business

An oven cleaning business needs terms that deal with what happens in a real kitchen: the oven that was already failing before you arrived, the door glass that will never come clear, the tenant who is not in, and the range cooker that was booked as a single oven. I draft those terms for a fixed fee of £995, delivered in five working days.

Who this is for

Domestic and commercial oven cleaning businesses in England and Wales, whether you trade as a sole trader, a franchisee or a limited company. Most of your bookings are homeowners, who are consumers, and the rest are letting agents, landlords, pubs, restaurants, care homes and schools, who are business customers. One set of terms can serve both if it is written with both in mind.

What matters in oven cleaning terms

The price quoted on the phone and the oven you find

Almost every job is priced before anyone has seen the appliance. A double oven booked as a single, a range cooker with two ovens and a griddle plate, an extractor with filters nobody mentioned, or years of carbonised fat that needs a second pass. Your terms should say what the quoted price assumes, how you re-price when you arrive, and what the customer pays if they decline the revised figure. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 requires a headline consumer price to include mandatory charges, so a minimum charge or a parking supplement belongs in the advertised figure.

What a clean can and cannot achieve

'Like new' sells oven cleaning, and under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 information the customer relies on forms part of the contract, so your advertising and your terms need to say the same thing. Pitted enamel, crazed or delaminated door glass, discoloured aluminium trim, a burnt-in mark on a self-cleaning liner: no amount of caustic will shift them. I draft a clause that describes what the clean covers, separates permanent damage to the appliance from soiling, and sets out the re-clean you offer when a customer is not satisfied.

Old appliances, existing faults and condition on arrival

The claim you will actually face is that the oven worked before you came and does not now: an element that fails when the power goes back on, a perished door seal, a bulb holder that crumbles, a fan bearing that gives up. Your terms should require the customer to declare known faults, record the condition you found before you start, and give you the right to decline an appliance that is already failing or to go ahead on a stated basis. Against consumers the Consumer Rights Act 2015 does not allow a trader to sign away statutory rights, so what protects you is what was written down at the door.

Dip tanks, parts taken off site and surrounding surfaces

Shelves, racks, trays, fan covers and extractor filters leave the property in your van and go into a heated tank. The terms should deal with parts damaged in the tank, parts not returned the same day, printed markings and coatings that dull, and items the customer later says are missing. Caustic products, laminate worktops, vinyl flooring, painted cabinet doors and unsealed stone are a poor combination, so the terms should record the protection you lay down, the customer's duty to clear the hob and the surrounding area, and what you will not clean.

Letting agents, access and cancellations

A good share of domestic work comes from letting agents and landlords for end-of-tenancy cleans, where the person booking is not the person in the property. The terms should state who your customer is and who pays when an agent books for a landlord, who is responsible for access, water and power, and what you charge for a wasted journey when nobody is in. Bookings agreed at the customer's home, or by phone or online, carry a fourteen-day cancellation right under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, so the terms and your booking confirmation have to deal together with the express request of a customer who wants the clean sooner.

Commercial kitchens, payment terms and liability

Pubs, restaurants, care homes and schools book you out of hours and pay on invoice, sometimes through a facilities company with its own paperwork. For business customers the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 gives you interest and fixed compensation on overdue invoices, and the terms either rely on it or set an interest rate that works as a real remedy. I also include a liability cap and an exclusion of indirect loss for business customers, because the claim from a commercial kitchen is a lost night's trading. Limits in written standard terms are measured against the reasonableness test in the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977.

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

I trade as a franchisee. Can I use my own terms?

Many oven cleaning franchisees are obliged to contract on the network's terms, and others only have to include certain provisions. Check what your franchise agreement requires before commissioning anything. Where you are free to contract in your own name, I draft the terms around your business, and I can look at the franchise agreement separately under my contract review service.

How do I make sure the customer is actually bound by the terms?

Incorporation is where most cleaning businesses come unstuck. Terms emailed after the van has left do not govern the booking. The terms need to reach the customer before the job is confirmed, through the booking form, the confirmation email or the paperwork the technician carries. My covering note sets out how to do that for phone, online and doorstep bookings.

What should the terms say when a customer complains about the finish?

They should give you a short window in which the customer reports the problem, a right to return and re-clean before anyone discusses money, and a requirement that you are let back in. Where a consumer complaint cannot be resolved, the Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes (Competent Authorities and Information) Regulations 2015 require you to point the customer to a certified provider and say whether you will use it.

Related guidance and services

• Terms and conditions drafting, £995, the service this page describes
• Contract review, £495
• Ask Caesar, £495 a month
• Terms and conditions for a domestic cleaning business
• Terms and conditions for a commercial cleaning contractor

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.