Terms and conditions for a window cleaning business

A window cleaning business needs terms that deal with the things that actually cost you money: the customer who cancels the round by ignoring you, the gate that is bolted on the day you turn up, the car parked under the front bay, and the scratch on the glass that was there before you arrived. I draft those terms for a fixed fee of £995, delivered in five working days.

Who this is for

Domestic and commercial window cleaners in England and Wales, whether you work a residential round with water-fed poles or hold contracts with offices, schools, shops and managing agents. Most cleaners have both. Homeowners are consumers and have protections they cannot sign away; commercial clients do not, so one set of terms has to handle each group differently.

What matters in window cleaning terms

The round, the frequency and how a customer leaves it

A window cleaning round is a recurring arrangement, and almost nobody writes down what it is. Your terms should say the cleaning interval, that you will attend on or around a stated cycle rather than a fixed date, and how either side ends it. Notice of one cleaning cycle is common and defensible. What is not defensible against a homeowner is a long tie-in or an exit fee they never had a real chance to see, because the Consumer Rights Act 2015 treats one-sided terms buried out of sight as unfair and an unfair term does not bind the consumer.

No access, locked gates and parked cars

You have loaded the van, driven the route and cannot reach the back elevation. Your terms should make the customer responsible for unlocking gates, moving vehicles off the frontage, closing windows and restraining dogs, and should set out what happens when they do not: you clean what you can reach, charge for that, and treat a wasted visit as a chargeable call-out or a missed clean. For consumers the charge has to reflect your real loss, because the Consumer Rights Act 2015 lists disproportionate default charges as suspect. State it clearly at sign-up and it will normally hold.

Signing up homeowners at the door or by message

Most domestic customers are signed up at their doorstep or through a text message or online form, which brings the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 into play and gives a fourteen-day cancellation right. Usefully for window cleaners, off-premises contracts of £42 or less sit outside those regulations, so a single small clean agreed at the door may not attract the right at all, while a contract for an ongoing round almost certainly will. Your terms need a consumer section and a sign-up process that fit together, or the fourteen days can stretch by up to twelve months.

Pricing, surcharges and getting paid on small tickets

Window cleaning fails on collection, not on margin. The terms should fix when payment is due after each visit, allow standing order or recurring card collection, and deal with the customer who lets three cleans build up. You cannot add a surcharge for a consumer paying by card under the Consumer Rights (Payment Surcharges) Regulations 2012, and a headline price advertised to consumers must include every compulsory extra under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, so conservatory or first-clean premiums belong in the quoted price. Commercial clients attract interest and fixed compensation under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.

Damage, existing defects and what you will not clean

Glass arrives from the factory with fabrication debris in it, seals perish, leaded lights bow and old timber frames rot. Once you have cleaned a pane, every mark on it becomes your problem unless your terms say otherwise. I draft a condition provision: you report visible damage before or at the first clean, you are not liable for pre-existing defects or for scratching caused by debris in the glass, and you may decline panes, frames or fittings that are unsafe or already failing. Add an exclusion list covering leaded and stained glass, painted frames, alarm boxes and anything beyond safe reach from the ground.

Commercial contracts, agents and taking over a round

Commercial work brings different risk: the managing agent who signs but is not the payer, retained cradles and access equipment you rely on but do not control, site inductions and permits, and liability caps that have to survive a procurement review. Against business customers, limits on liability are tested for reasonableness under the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, so they must be set at a figure your insurance supports. If you take over an existing commercial contract, the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 can move the outgoing contractor's cleaners to you, and your terms should address that before you price the job.

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 charge a customer who cancels on the morning of the clean?

You can, if the terms say so and the amount reflects what a lost slot actually costs you. Late cancellation charges on a domestic round should be modest, stated at sign-up and applied consistently. A charge that looks like a penalty invented after the event is the sort of term a consumer can refuse to pay, and pursuing it rarely ends well.

What if I also clear gutters and take the debris away?

That is a different service and needs its own section: separate pricing, no liability for blockages downstream of what you can reach, and photographs before and after. If you remove moss and debris from site rather than leaving it bagged, registration as a waste carrier with the Environment Agency is likely to be required, and commercial clients will ask to see it.

I already have terms from when I started. Are they worth keeping?

Possibly, and finding out costs less than replacing them. I will review your existing terms for £495 and return them marked up with my amendments and a note explaining each change in three working days. Most cleaners' terms fail in the same two places: how the round is ended, and how the terms were given to the customer in the first place.

Related guidance and services

• Terms and conditions drafting, £995, the service this page describes
• Employment contracts and handbooks, £595
• 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.