House cleaning contract template
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Between
Customer name
Scope of work
Describe exactly what is included — and what is not.
Price and payment
Total: $0.00
Deposit (50%): $0.00 before work begins
Balance: $0.00 on completion
Terms
Payment
A deposit is due before work begins. The balance is due on completion. Invoices unpaid after 14 days may carry a late fee of 1.5% per month.
Changes to the work
Anything outside the scope above is a change order, priced and agreed in writing before that work starts. Verbal changes are not binding on either of us.
Access
The client agrees to provide access to the property, water and power where needed, on the agreed dates. If we cannot access the site on a scheduled day, a return visit may be charged.
Weather and delays
Work may be rescheduled for weather or conditions that make it unsafe or would affect quality. We will give as much notice as we can. Neither party is liable for delays outside their control.
Existing condition
We are not responsible for pre-existing damage or for defects revealed by the work. Where we find something unexpected, we will stop and tell you before continuing.
Insurance
The contractor carries liability insurance and will provide a certificate on request.
Cancellation
Either party may cancel in writing before work begins. Deposits cover materials already ordered and scheduling held for you, and may be non-refundable to that extent.
This is a starting point written for small home service work, not legal advice. Contract law varies by state, and some states require specific notices, licence numbers or cancellation language on residential contracts. Have a local attorney read it once before you use it for everything.
Define a standard visit room by room
Cleaning scope expands slowly and invisibly. Nobody asks for more; it just becomes expected, one small thing at a time, until a two-hour visit takes three and the price has not moved.
The defence is a written standard visit:
Kitchen: surfaces, sink, hob, exterior of appliances, floor. Bathrooms: bath, shower, basin, WC, mirrors, floor. Bedrooms and living areas: dust accessible surfaces, vacuum, mop hard floors. Not included: inside oven, inside fridge, interior windows, laundry, bed changing, wall washing, decluttering, moving furniture over 20kg.
That exclusions list is not unfriendly. It is a price list waiting to happen — every item on it is something the customer can buy.
Keys, codes and access
You are being given entry to somebody’s home. Write down how keys are stored, who has access to codes, and what happens when a cleaner leaves your employment.
Then add the practical clause: if the cleaner cannot get in on a scheduled visit, the visit is chargeable. Lockouts are the most expensive routine failure in this trade — you have paid someone to travel and turn around.
Cancellation notice
24 or 48 hours. Later cancellations chargeable at a stated percentage. The slot cannot be resold at short notice, and without a clause the same few customers will cancel repeatedly.
Breakage and valuables
State that you are insured, that accidental damage will be reported immediately rather than discovered, and that items of exceptional value or fragility should be pointed out or put away.
Reporting a breakage yourself is what keeps a customer. Having them find it is what loses one.
Running the round
Jobber at $49/mo plus $29 per seat handles recurring visits, monthly billing and a client hub where customers reschedule themselves — which removes a large share of a cleaning business’s phone time. Housecall Pro includes five seats at $189/mo and adds employee GPS, which matters once cleaners work unsupervised. QuoteIQ at $29.99/mo suits a solo cleaner.
Questions operators actually ask
What should a house cleaning contract include?
The scope of a standard visit room by room, the frequency, what counts as an extra, access arrangements including keys and codes, the cancellation notice, and breakage and liability terms. The room-by-room scope is what prevents the slow expansion of what is expected each visit.
How do I handle keys and alarm codes?
With a written clause covering how they are stored, who has access, and what happens if a cleaner leaves your employment. Customers are handing you entry to their home, and a clear policy is both reassuring and the right thing to have.
What cancellation notice should I require?
24 to 48 hours, with a charge for later cancellations. A cleaner who arrives to a locked house has lost the slot and the income, and without a clause it happens repeatedly with the same customers.
What about breakages?
State that you carry insurance, that accidental damage will be reported immediately and repaired or compensated, and that items of exceptional value should be pointed out or put away. Nobody wants this clause until the day they need it.
Should recurring cleans have a contract at all?
A one-page agreement is enough, but yes. It is what stops the gradual expansion where the oven, the windows and the laundry quietly become part of a standard clean over six months.