The complete guide to managing cleaning in residential buildings

The cleanliness of the common areas is one of the first indicators of quality of life in a residential building. It affects residents' everyday comfort, the value of the property and the image of the building. Yet managing cleaning in a co-owned building remains a complex subject, where legal obligations, budget constraints and co-owners' sometimes conflicting expectations all meet. This guide reviews good practice for well-managed, effective cleaning.

Why cleanliness matters so much in residential buildings

The common areas of a building -- entrance hall, stairs, corridors, lifts, car parks, bin stores -- are spaces shared by all residents and visitors. How clean they are has a direct impact in several respects.

Occupants' comfort and health. Regular, thorough cleaning reduces the presence of allergens (dust mites, mould), bacteria and pests. In buildings where cleaning is neglected, health problems multiply: persistent odours in bin stores, mould in cellars, insects breeding in refuse chutes.

Property value. A well-kept building holds its value better. The condition of the common areas is one of the first things potential buyers notice on a viewing: a dirty entrance hall, dusty stairs or a car park strewn with litter can weigh on the sale price of a flat.

Community spirit. Clean shared spaces help people live well together. When the common areas are well kept, residents are more inclined to respect them. Conversely, a run-down building enters a vicious circle where lack of upkeep breeds lack of respect, which speeds up the deterioration.

Safety. Poorly cleaned stairs present a slip risk. Areas cluttered with rubbish increase the risk of fire. Faulty lighting in a dirty car park makes people feel unsafe. Regular cleaning contributes directly to the safety of the building.

The legal obligations of the property manager and the co-owners

Managing cleaning in a co-owned building takes place within a precise legal framework, which the property manager (syndic), as the agent of the association of co-owners (syndicat des copropriétaires), must comply with.

The co-ownership regulations (règlement de copropriété) are the first point of reference. They define the common areas, divide the cost of upkeep between the co-owners and may impose specific obligations regarding cleanliness. Some regulations set out the expected services in detail (cleaning frequency, areas covered), while others leave the property manager some discretion. In all cases, the property manager is required to see to the routine upkeep of the common areas, in accordance with Article 18 of the Act of 10 July 1965.

The decree of 14 March 2005 on the accounts of associations of co-owners introduced a mandatory chart of accounts that identifies cleaning costs within routine maintenance costs. This classification makes the budget more transparent and allows co-owners to follow how cleaning expenditure changes from one year to the next.

The departmental health regulations (règlement sanitaire départemental) impose minimum requirements for the sanitary condition of residential buildings. They may require regular cleaning of the common areas, maintenance of refuse chutes, periodic pest control and treatment of bin stores. Failure to comply exposes the co-owners to formal notices from the health authorities.

Accessibility rules arising from the Act of 11 February 2005 aim to allow people with reduced mobility to move around freely. An unsignposted wet floor, an obstructed corridor or a damaged floor covering are obstacles and may give rise to liability on the part of the co-owners.

Caretaker or cleaning company: how to choose

How cleaning should be organised is one of the most debated questions at general meetings. Co-owned buildings have two main options: employing a caretaker (gardien) or using an external cleaning company.

The caretaker is an employee of the co-owners. They carry out the routine cleaning of the common areas, but also have other duties: taking in parcels, keeping an eye on the building, minor repairs, letting contractors in. Their daily presence is an asset in terms of responsiveness and community ties. On the other hand, the cost is significant: salary, social security contributions, accommodation that comes with the job (often provided for by the collective agreement), training, and cover during holidays and sick leave. For small and medium-sized buildings, the cost of a caretaker is often out of proportion to cleaning needs alone.

An external cleaning company offers a professional and flexible solution. The service contract sets out precisely the tasks, frequencies, hours and conditions of the work. The property manager does not have to deal with the constraints of direct employment (recruitment, payroll, cover). The contractor brings its technical expertise, its professional equipment and its ability to adjust resources to needs -- extra help for a spring clean, special work after building works, graffiti removal.

The choice between the two options depends on the size of the building, the budget available, residents' expectations and the type of services required. In many cases, a combined solution makes sense: a cleaning company for routine cleaning, supplemented by a part-time caretaker for supervision and reception duties.

Budget and cost management for property managers

Keeping the cleaning budget under control is a major issue for property managers, who have to balance quality of service with sound financial management.

The items of expenditure to take into account include: the routine cleaning contract, one-off work (window cleaning, floor stripping, pest control), cleaning products (if not included in the contract), replacement consumables (bin bags, air fresheners, entrance mats) and exceptional services (post-construction cleaning, fire and flood damage cleaning).

Quotes should be compared on a like-for-like basis. A cheaper quote is not necessarily better value if it provides for too few visits, excludes certain areas or uses lower-quality products. The written specification (cahier des charges) must be detailed enough for the offers to be genuinely comparable: floor area per zone, type of flooring, frequency per task, products used, number of hours per week.

The cost of a cleaning contract for a residential building varies considerably depending on the floor area, the number of storeys, the presence of specific facilities (lift, car park, swimming pool) and the level of service expected. Only by comparing quotes drawn up on the same written specification, after a visit to the building, can you get a reliable idea of the budget required.

A rigorous tender, held every three to five years, keeps the contract competitive while avoiding changing contractor too often, which is detrimental to continuity of service.

Recommended cleaning frequencies by area

Setting cleaning frequencies means striking a balance between budget constraints and cleanliness requirements. The following recommendations are a benchmark suitable for most residential buildings.

• Entrance hall and letterboxes: daily cleaning. The hall is the building's shop window and its busiest area. A daily clean of the floor (sweeping and washing) and dusting of surfaces are essential.
• Stairs and landings: cleaning twice a week. Sweeping and washing of the steps, landings and banisters should be supplemented by regular dusting of skirting boards and light fittings.
• Lifts: daily cleaning of the lift car (floor, mirror, buttons), weekly cleaning of the landing doors.
• Bin stores and refuse chutes: cleaning and disinfection two to three times a week, with a full monthly hose-down and a deodorising treatment.
• Cellars and basements: monthly cleaning (sweeping, removal of bulky items, checking the lighting).
• Underground car park: monthly sweeping, quarterly high-pressure washing, immediate cleaning of oil stains and spills.
• Outdoor areas: weekly upkeep (picking up litter, sweeping paths, tidying the surrounding areas).
• Windows in common areas: quarterly cleaning of interior windows and accessible exterior windows.

These frequencies should be adjusted according to the size of the building, the number of residents, the presence of pets and the particular features of the building. An upmarket building or one in a densely populated urban area will need more frequent cleaning.

What a professional cleaning contract should contain

A well-drafted cleaning contract for a residential building should cover the following points to avoid misunderstandings and disputes:

• A detailed description of the services: tasks by zone, frequencies, cleaning hours, products and equipment used
• Financial terms: monthly amount, review conditions (indexation formula set out in the contract), invoicing and payment arrangements
• Additional services: prices for one-off work (window cleaning, floor stripping, pest control), conditions for calling them out and completion times
• The company's obligations: staff qualifications, supply of products and equipment, professional liability insurance, compliance with environmental standards
• The property manager's obligations: providing storage and utility rooms, access to the common areas, reporting problems
• Quality control arrangements: monitoring procedures, performance indicators, assessment grid, frequency of reviews
• Termination conditions: notice period, grounds for early termination, staff transfer clause (Annex 7 of the French national collective agreement for the cleaning industry)
• Contract term: generally one year, renewed automatically unless terminated, with three months' notice of termination

Drafting the contract deserves particular attention. A vague or incomplete contract is a source of recurring conflict between the property manager and the contractor, to the detriment of the co-owners.

Quality control and monitoring of services

However well drafted, a cleaning contract only works if it is backed up by regular, structured monitoring.

Introducing an assessment grid makes quality control objective. Each zone is assessed against precise criteria: cleanliness of the floor, no dust on surfaces, condition of shared toilets, odour, tidiness. Each criterion is given a score, and an overall score is calculated for each inspection.

Regular review meetings between the property manager (or the owners' council, conseil syndical) and the cleaning company's manager make it possible to review the quality of the services, deal with complaints and adjust the written specification if necessary. A quarterly meeting is a minimum; monthly meetings are preferable during the first year of the contract.

The involvement of the owners' council is a decisive factor in success. Council members who live in the building are best placed to see the quality of cleaning day to day and to pass their observations on to the property manager.

Digital tools now make monitoring easier. Some cleaning companies offer apps for viewing cleaning schedules, reporting a problem in real time (with a photo) and tracking how complaints are handled. These tools increase transparency and responsiveness.

Common problems and how to solve them

Managing cleaning in a co-owned building is not without its difficulties. Here are the most common situations and how to respond to them.

Antisocial behaviour by residents -- rubbish left outside the bins, cigarette ends on the stairs, bulky items dumped in the common areas -- is the main source of frustration for cleaning operatives and for considerate co-owners. The solution lies in displaying the rules, communicating regularly at general meetings and, as a last resort, charging the extra cleaning to the owner of the flat responsible when the person can be identified.

Operative turnover undermines continuity of service. An operative who knows the building is more efficient than a replacement discovering it for the first time. To limit this problem, favour companies that guarantee a dedicated permanent operative and invest in retaining their staff.

Disputes over quality are easier to settle when there is a precise written specification and an inspection grid. Without these tools, discussions come down to subjective impressions that are hard to resolve.

Adapting to the seasons is often overlooked. Autumn (fallen leaves, mud) and winter (grit, damp) call for extra cleaning at times, which the contract should anticipate.

Atlantis expertise for residential buildings

Active in the Paris region (Île-de-France) since 2000, Atlantis cleans residential buildings among other premises and carries out more than 1,200 cleaning visits a month.

A written specification. Every site has a written specification, by zone, by task and by frequency. It forms the basis of the contract and of quality checks.

Carefully chosen products. We favour ecolabelled products.

Cleaning a residential building cannot be left to chance. It requires a rigorous contractual framework, regular monitoring and an experienced contractor. By bringing these three conditions together, property managers and co-owners can ensure high-quality cleaning, keep their service charges under control and protect the value of their property.