What Is Strata Cleaning? A Guide for Building Managers and Owners Corporations
You walk into your building after a long day. The lobby smells fresh, the lift mirror has no fingerprints, and the bin room doesn't greet you before the front door does. Nobody notices any of that. But everybody notices when it's missing.
That invisible work has a name: strata cleaning. If you're the person who has to find, hire or keep an eye on the building's cleaner, this guide is for you. It covers what strata cleaning is,
what it includes, how it differs from commercial and office cleaning, how to pick a provider and how to check the work, with a free printable checklist at the end.
Quick answer: Strata cleaning is the regular cleaning and upkeep of the shared areas of a strata-titled building (lobbies, hallways, lifts, stairwells, car parks, bin rooms and gardens). It's hired and paid for by the owners corporation, usually through the strata manager, and funded from strata levies.
Who this guide is for
You are... | Your role in strata cleaning | Jump to |
Building manager | You're on site, brief the cleaners and check the work day to day | How to check your strata cleaner's work |
Strata manager | You run the scheme for the owners, get quotes and manage the contract | 6 questions to ask before you sign |
Owners corporation or strata committee member | You're an owner who approves the budget and the contract, and hears the complaints | What does strata cleaning include? |
Not sure which one you are? In NSW, every owner is a member of the owners corporation. The strata committee is the small group of owners elected to make day-to-day decisions. The strata manager is the professional the owners corporation hires to run the scheme. The building manager looks after the building on site, usually in larger complexes.
What does "strata" actually mean?
In NSW, a strata scheme is a building or complex split into individual lots (your apartment, townhouse or office suite) plus common property: everything that's shared. Think foyers, corridors, lifts, stairs, driveways, pools and gardens.
You own your lot. Everyone owns the common property together, through the owners corporation. Under the NSW Strata Schemes Management Act 2015, the owners corporation has a duty to maintain and repair that common property. Keeping it clean is part of that job.
What is strata cleaning?
Strata cleaning is the service the owners corporation hires to look after the common property, on a fixed schedule, for every resident at once. It isn't cleaning inside anyone's apartment. It's cleaning the parts of the building that belong to everyone and that no single owner is responsible for.
Three things make it different from a one-off clean:
It runs on a schedule. Weekly, twice a week or daily, depending on the size and traffic of the building.
It answers to a committee, not a single boss. Reports go to the strata manager or building manager, who answers to the owners.
It often blends into maintenance. Light bulbs, bins, gardens, pressure washing and small repairs tend to land with the same provider. That's why you'll often hear the term strata cleaning and maintenance.
What does strata cleaning include?
A good way to picture it: follow a resident from the street to their front door and back to the bins. Every shared surface on that route is strata cleaning territory.
Zone | What gets done | Why residents care |
Entrance and lobby | Glass doors wiped, floors vacuumed and mopped, letterboxes and intercom dusted | It's the first impression for buyers, tenants and visitors |
Hallways and corridors | Carpets vacuumed, hard floors mopped, skirting boards and light fittings dusted | High traffic, and scuffs show fast |
Lifts | Mirrors, buttons, rails and doors cleaned and sanitised, floors done | The most-touched surfaces in the building |
Stairwells | Swept and mopped, handrails wiped, cobwebs removed | Often forgotten, and a fire-exit route |
Bin rooms and waste | Bins rotated to the kerb and back, bin rooms hosed and deodorised | Smells and pests start here |
Car parks and driveways | Swept, oil stains and litter removed, periodic pressure washing | Safety and slip risk |
Shared amenities | Gym, pool surrounds, BBQ areas, rooftop or common rooms | These sell the lifestyle the building promises |
Gardens and grounds | Lawns, hedges, leaf litter and paths | Kerb appeal and property value |
On top of the cleaning, most strata providers offer a maintenance layer. At Lavender, that includes changing light bulbs, pool maintenance, minor painting and repairs, flood damage cleaning and full gardening and lawn care. For bigger jobs, see our building maintenance service.
How often should a strata building be cleaned?
There's no single rule. Frequency depends on the number of units, the foot traffic and the facilities. As a starting point:
Building type | Typical frequency |
Small walk-up (under 20 units) | Once a week |
Mid-size block with a lift (20–80 units) | Two to three times a week |
Large complex or high-rise (80+ units, pool, gym) | Daily, often with an on-site cleaner |
Mixed-use (shops or offices below apartments) | Daily for the retail areas, scheduled for the residential ones |
On top of the routine, plan periodic deep cleans: carpet shampooing, pressure washing, window cleaning at height. Many buildings schedule these quarterly or twice a year.
Who is responsible for what?
This is where most disputes between neighbours start, so here's the short version.
The owners corporation is responsible for common property: lobbies, lifts, hallways, car parks, gardens. That's what the strata cleaner looks after.
Each owner or tenant is responsible for the inside of their own lot, including their balcony in most buildings.
Windows are the grey area. In NSW, owners generally clean the windows they can reach safely from inside their lot, and the owners corporation looks after the ones that can't be reached safely (think high-rise exteriors).
Good to know: Your building's by-laws can change these rules. If in doubt, check them or ask your strata manager before booking anything.
Strata vs commercial vs office cleaning: what's the difference?
All three use mops and microfibre, so they're easy to mix up. The real difference is who you're cleaning for. Strata cleaning serves a whole community of owners. Commercial cleaning serves a business and its customers. Office cleaning serves a team at their desks.
Strata cleaning | Commercial cleaning | Office cleaning | |
Who hires you | Owners corporation, via the strata or building manager | Business owner or facility manager | Office manager or tenant |
Who uses the space | Residents, visitors, tradies, couriers | Customers, staff, the public | Staff and clients |
Areas cleaned | Shared common property only | The whole premises: shopfronts, warehouses, gyms, venues | Desks, kitchens, meeting rooms, bathrooms |
When it happens | Daytime, around residents coming and going | Often before opening or after close | Usually after hours |
Who pays | All owners, through strata levies | The business | The business or tenant |
Typical extras | Bins to the kerb, gardens, light bulbs, minor repairs | Floor care, high-access cleaning, specialist sanitising | Restocking supplies, carpet cleaning, tech wipe-downs |
Biggest challenge | Keeping many owners happy and reporting back to a committee | Heavy foot traffic and compliance | Consistency without disturbing work |
The short version: if the space is shared by people who live there, you need strata cleaning. If it's run by a business, look at commercial cleaning. If it's a workplace full of desks, it's office cleaning.
Mixed-use buildings, with shops or offices on the ground floor and apartments above, often need two of these at once. That's where one provider covering both saves a lot of back-and-forth.
How Lavender compares to other strata cleaning options
Most Sydney buildings end up choosing between three kinds of provider. Here's how they usually stack up on the things committees actually complain about.
What matters | Lavender Cleaning | Cleaning-only contractor | Sole trader |
Experience | Cleaning Sydney buildings since 1996 | Varies | Varies, often newer |
Urgent issues (spills, floods, a mess in the lift) | 2-hour response guarantee, 24/7 | Next scheduled visit, usually | Depends on one person's availability |
Cleaning and maintenance in one place | Yes: cleaning, gardens, light bulbs, pools, minor repairs | Cleaning only; maintenance goes to other trades | Cleaning only, sometimes light gardening |
Reporting to the committee | Weekly cleaning reports, daily communication records | Ad hoc, or on request | Rarely written |
Single point of contact | A dedicated Customer Service Manager per property | Account manager shared across many sites | The owner, when they're not on the tools |
Cover when a cleaner is sick or on leave | Trained team backs up every site | Usually | Often no cover |
Building size | From small blocks to 450+ unit complexes | Varies | Best suited to small blocks |
Safety and compliance | Documented WHS: hazard control, staff training, on-site records | Varies | Often informal |
Environmental practice | Microfibre systems, reduced chemicals, waste minimisation | Varies | Varies |
The cheapest quote isn't always the cheapest year. Missed visits, unanswered emails and three separate trades for one leaky gutter add up fast, in money and in committee meetings.
6 questions to ask before you sign a strata cleaning contract
What exactly is in scope? Ask for a zone-by-zone schedule, like the table above, attached to the contract.
How do you report back? Look for written reports the committee can read without chasing anyone.
What happens in an emergency? Get a response time in writing.
Who covers when my regular cleaner is away? Gaps show up fastest in bin rooms.
Can you handle maintenance too? One provider for cleaning, gardens and small repairs means one invoice and one phone number.
Are your staff trained, insured and covered by WHS procedures? Ask to see the documentation.
How to check your strata cleaner's work (a guide for building managers)
Signing the contract is the easy part. Keeping standards high in month 8 is where building managers earn their keep. A clean building is checkable: it's not about whether it looks fine from the lobby door, it's about the spots a rushed clean skips.
The 10 spots that tell you the truth
Walk these on every inspection. If they're right, the rest usually is too.
Check this | What "done well" looks like | Red flag |
Lift buttons and panels | No smudges, wiped and sanitised | Fingerprints build up around the ground-floor button |
Lift tracks and door runners | Free of grit and leaves | Debris in the door tracks |
Glass doors, low and high | Clear at child height and above eye level | Only the middle band is wiped |
Corners and skirting boards | No dust lines or cobwebs | Grey edges along carpet lines |
Stair landings, especially upper floors | Same standard as the ground floor | Standards drop the further from the lobby you go |
Handrails | Wiped, no sticky feel | Dust on top, grime underneath |
Bin room | Hosed floor, no smell, bins lined up | Odour, spillage, overflowing bins |
Car park corners and drains | Swept, drains clear | Leaf piles and rubbish in corners |
Light fittings and exit signs | Dust-free, all globes working | Dead insects in fittings, blown globes left |
Letterboxes and intercom | Clean, no junk-mail pile | Flyers on the floor |
A simple strata inspection routine
Weekly walk-through (10 minutes). Use the checklist below. Tick, note and photograph anything below standard.
Monthly review with the provider. Go through their reports and your notes together. Agree on fixes and a date.
Quarterly report to the committee. Summarise trends, not single incidents. Committees want to know if things are getting better or worse.
Annual scope check. Has the building changed (new gym, more residents, a new car-park level)? Update the schedule and the contract.
Tips that save arguments later
Put the schedule in writing. Every task, every area, every frequency. If it isn't written down, it's open to interpretation.
Inspect on different days and times. A Monday morning tells you more than the hour after the cleaner leaves.
Use photos with dates. They settle disputes faster than emails.
Raise issues with one point of contact. At Lavender, every property has a dedicated Customer Service Manager, so you're never chasing the right person.
Recognise good work. Cleaners who know someone notices tend to keep standards up.
Free download: Strata Cleaning Checklist (PDF). Every task a strata clean usually covers, split by area, with daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly frequencies and tick boxes for your inspections. Print it or fill it in on screen.
Strata cleaning FAQs
What does strata cleaning mean?
It means cleaning the shared areas of a strata-titled building: lobbies, hallways, lifts, stairwells, car parks, bin rooms and gardens. It doesn't cover the inside of individual apartments.
Who pays for strata cleaning?
The owners corporation pays, using strata levies collected from all owners. It's normally budgeted in the administrative fund.
Is strata cleaning the same as commercial cleaning?
No. Commercial cleaning serves a business and its whole premises. Strata cleaning serves a residential or mixed community and covers common property only.
How often should common areas be cleaned?
Most small blocks need a weekly clean; mid-size buildings two to three visits a week; large complexes daily.
Does strata cleaning include windows?
It covers common-property glass such as entry doors and lobby windows. Exterior windows that owners can't reach safely are usually arranged by the owners corporation as a separate, periodic job.
What is strata cleaning and maintenance?
It's strata cleaning combined with the small jobs that keep a building running: light bulbs, gardens, pools, pressure washing and minor repairs, all handled by one provider.
Is there a strata cleaning checklist I can use?
Yes. Our free Strata Cleaning Checklist lists every common-area task by zone and frequency, with tick boxes for building manager inspections. Download it here.
Ready for a building you're proud to come home to?
Lavender has been looking after Sydney strata buildings since 1996, from small walk-ups to 450+ unit complexes. One team for cleaning and maintenance, weekly reports, and a 2-hour response when something goes wrong.
Explore our strata cleaning services or request a free quote. Prefer to talk? Call (02) 9939 6536.
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