Most office cleaning checklists found online are either lists of cleaning products or translations of foreign content with no bearing on the reality of a Paris office floor. This one is different: it is the structure we actually apply on our jobs, with the frequencies we recommend and the reasoning behind each.
It serves two purposes. If you manage upkeep in-house, it gives you a ready-made framework. If you have a cleaning provider, it gives you an objective basis for checking what is actually being done — and above all what does or does not appear in your contract.
What should an office cleaning checklist contain?
An office cleaning checklist is structured around four frequencies. Daily: waste bins, washrooms, kitchen, high-touch points and circulation floors. Weekly: desk surfaces, internal glazing, high-level dusting. Monthly: skirting boards, radiators, light fittings, tops of furniture. Quarterly: external glazing, deep descaling, floor treatment.
Every day
Daily tasks
These are the tasks that determine the immediate perception of cleanliness and compliance with health obligations. If your contract provides for fewer than five visits a week, they are spread across the days worked — but washrooms and bins cannot wait more than 48 hours without visible consequences.
| Zone | Tasks to carry out | Why at this frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Workstations | Emptying bins and replacing liners · wiping clear surfaces · straightening furniture | Food waste generates odours in under 24 hours |
| Washrooms | Full disinfection of pans, seats and lids · basins and taps · mirrors · restocking paper, soap, hand towels · emptying bins · washing floors | Daily upkeep obligation for premises with staff on site |
| Kitchen / coffee point | Worktop and sink · exterior of appliances · table and chairs · emptying bins and cleaning the container itself · floor | Pest risk area as soon as food residue is left overnight |
| Reception & circulation | Floors (vacuum or wash depending on surface) · reception desk · glass doors at hand height · entrance mats | First impression for visitors, and the main soil-transfer zone |
| High-touch points | Door handles · light switches · lift buttons · handrails · keypads | Most-handled surfaces, principal transmission vector |
| Waste | Consolidation · sorting for recycling · taking down to the bin store · putting bins out at authorised days and times · bringing them back in after collection | In Paris, collection windows are regulated and enforced with fines |
Every week
Weekly tasks
These tasks are not immediately visible but are noticed very quickly when skipped. This is the first level to disappear when a contract is under-resourced in hours: the agent does the daily work properly and never has time for the rest.
| Zone | Tasks to carry out | Why at this frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Workstations | Full dusting of surfaces · tops and backs of screens · keyboards and mice · under desks · pedestals | Dust on high surfaces is the first giveaway of a rushed visit |
| Meeting rooms | Table and legs · chairs · screens and remotes · glass partitions against the light · acoustic booths | Intermittently used spaces where dirt builds up unwitnessed |
| Internal glazing | Glass partitions · glass doors full height · hand marks | Smears only show against the light, so occupants never see them |
| Washrooms | Descaling taps · tile grouting · wall tiling · under and behind the pans | Limescale sets within weeks and becomes irreversible |
| Kitchen | Inside the microwave · outside of the fridge · cupboard fronts · sink trap · dishwasher filter | Main source of friction between colleagues |
| Floors | Full wash across all areas · deep vacuuming of carpets · skirting boards in circulation areas | A rushed floor is clean in the middle and dirty at the edges |
Every month
Monthly tasks
The level almost no routine cleaning contract provides for explicitly, and the reason premises "cleaned every day" end up looking neglected after a year. Check whether they appear in your specification.
| Zone | Tasks to carry out | Why at this frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Joinery | Skirting boards throughout · door edges and frames · surrounds · window runners | Slow build-up, but very visible in raking light |
| High furniture | Tops of cupboards and shelving · tops of partitions · tops of pedestals | Never seen from floor level, systematically checked in an audit |
| Equipment | Radiators and heaters · ventilation grilles · accessible light fittings · extinguishers | A dusty radiator spreads dust across the whole floor |
| Kitchen | Inside the fridge · defrosting if needed · inside cupboards · descaling the coffee machine | To be agreed explicitly: rarely included by default |
| Common areas | Full stairwell · handrails along their length · bin store · plant room | Often outside the contract scope, a classic source of dispute |
Every quarter
Quarterly and annual tasks
These services almost always fall outside the routine cleaning contract and are quoted separately. Budgeting for them annually avoids unpleasant surprises and irreversible deterioration.
| Zone | Tasks to carry out | Recommended frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Glazing | External windows · frames and runners · accessible blinds | 2 to 4 times a year depending on exposure |
| Hard floors | Stripping · re-waxing or metallising · buffing | 1 to 2 times a year |
| Carpets & textiles | Hot water extraction · stain removal · anti-mite treatment | 1 to 2 times a year |
| Washrooms | Deep descaling of pipework · reworking seals · cleaning suspended ceilings | Quarterly |
| Seating | Shampooing office chairs · cleaning reception sofas | Annual |
High-touch points: the list to insist on in writing
This is the point we repeat most often to new clients. A specification stating "cleaning of offices and washrooms" does not cover these surfaces. They must appear by name, otherwise their treatment depends entirely on the agent's goodwill and whatever time is left.
- Door handles, both sides, including swing doors
- Light switches and wall plates, including the surround that darkens
- Lift buttons, inside the car and on each landing
- Stair handrails along their full length
- Keypads, intercoms and badge readers
- Taps and dispensers for soap and hand towels
- Shared equipment: photocopier, coffee machine, microwave, remote controls
Want to know what your contract actually covers?
Send us your current specification with your quote request: we will tell you what is missing, even if you do not change provider.
Request an office cleaning quoteAdapting frequency to your activity
The same floor area does not call for the same rhythm depending on use. An office floor at 40% occupancy through remote working and a medical practice of identical size have nothing in common in upkeep terms.
| Type of premises | Recommended rhythm | Watch point |
|---|---|---|
| Conventional offices | 2 to 3 visits per week | Match to real occupancy, often overestimated since remote working |
| Dense open space | 5 visits per week | High-touch points and washrooms are the absolute priority |
| Medical practice | Daily, reinforced protocol | Up to 1,000 visits a week: incomparable with an office of the same size |
| Coworking | Daily, sometimes twice daily | Constant turnover of occupants, heavily used kitchen |
| Retail / showroom | Daily before opening | Windows and floors directly shape the commercial image |
| Bank branch | Daily outside opening hours | Security and access constraints to settle at the quote stage |
The on-site time this checklist actually requires
A checklist is only worth something if the time allocated allows it to be carried out. This is the blind spot in most contracts: the tasks are listed, but the hours do not permit them. Here are the orders of magnitude we apply, based on €26 excl. VAT per hour.
| Floor area | Frequency | On-site time | Indicative budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 100 sqm | 2 to 3 times / week | 1h to 1h30 per visit | €230 – €510 excl. VAT / month |
| 100 to 200 sqm | 3 to 5 times / week | 1h30 to 2h30 per visit | €510 – €1,410 excl. VAT / month |
| 200 to 400 sqm | 3 to 5 times / week | 2h30 to 4h per visit | €850 – €2,250 excl. VAT / month |
| Over 400 sqm | Tailored | Team of 2 agents or more | On quotation |
These figures are orders of magnitude, not firm prices. A mostly glass-partitioned floor, a large number of equipped workstations or heavy footfall all increase the time needed. The useful benchmark lies elsewhere: if a provider offers you one hour per visit across 300 sqm while signing up to the checklist above, one of those two commitments will not be met.
What is never included in a routine cleaning contract
These services are quoted separately by every serious provider. Discovering them after signing is the leading cause of tension between a business and its cleaning company.
- External glazing and anything requiring a platform or telescopic pole
- Deep restoration after building work or before moving in — that is a project, not a routine visit
- Consumables: paper, soap, hand towels, liners. To be settled explicitly, recharged or supplied by you
- Floor treatment: stripping, metallising, hot water extraction of carpets
- The inside of IT equipment and anything requiring dismantling
Using this checklist to audit your provider
You do not need a formal audit. Five steps are enough to know where you stand, and together they take under an hour.
- Compare your contract against the four tables above. Every line missing from your specification is a task that will not be done systematically.
- Check that the number of hours per visit is written down. If there is only a monthly fee, the hours can be reduced without you being able to object.
- Do the walk-round after a visit. Tops of screens, skirting boards, switch surrounds, under the pans, glass against the light. Twenty minutes.
- Ask for the traceability sheet. If none exists, you will have no way of proving a failing on the day you need to.
- Ask for the insurance certificate and the URSSAF compliance certificate. A compliant provider produces both within 48 hours. A refusal or a delay is itself an answer.
Printable version of this checklist
The same content as a PDF, to print and tick off — plus material that does not appear on this page.
- ✓38 control points presented as tick boxes
- ✓12 audit questions to assess your provider, with a scoring grid
- ✓The Paris section: bins, city fines, access constraints
- ✓5 warning signs to spot on a quote before signing
Frequently asked questions about office cleaning
Have your premises priced against this checklist
We build your quote from the on-site time genuinely required to hold this standard. Response within 2 hours, free quote, and we start with no contract for six months.
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