Strata and Common Area Cleaning: What Owners Need to Know

Strata and common area cleaning in Adelaide covers everything the owners collectively share: lobbies, lifts, stairwells, corridors, car parks and bin rooms, priced as a monthly service per building rather than per hour. For a typical Adelaide residential or mixed-use block, budget from a few hundred dollars a month for a small property up to well over $1,000 a month for a larger building with multiple levels, lifts and a basement car park. The most important thing owners need to understand is accountability: the contractor should report to the strata committee or manager against a fixed scope, so you can see exactly what you are paying for.

What common area cleaning includes

Common areas are the shared parts of the building that no single owner is responsible for but everyone uses. A strata clean keeps these presentable, safe and well maintained. The scope should be written down and agreed, not left vague, because vagueness is where disputes start.

Entry lobbies and foyers: floors, glass, mats, mailboxes and seating.
Lifts: floors, walls, mirrors, buttons and door tracks.
Stairwells and fire stairs: sweeping, mopping and handrail wiping.
Corridors and landings: vacuuming or mopping, plus skirting and light fittings.
Car parks: sweeping, spot cleaning of spills and cobweb removal.
Bin rooms and waste areas: floor washing, deodorising and bin washdown.

How strata cleaning is priced

Unlike an office clean that is often quoted at $35 to $55 per hour per cleaner, strata cleaning is usually priced as a fixed monthly fee for a defined scope and frequency. This suits a body corporate budget because it is predictable and easy to approve at a committee meeting. Pricing is driven by 4 things.

Building size: number of levels, units and total common floor area.
Frequency: weekly, fortnightly or a mix (for example lobby weekly, car park monthly).
Features: presence of lifts, a basement car park, glass frontage or a pool surround.
Access and timing: whether work can be done in normal hours or must fit resident routines.

A small, walk-up block of a handful of units with no lift sits at the lower end. A mid-size or high-rise building with lifts, a basement car park and a glass lobby sits well above it. Always compare quotes on the same scope and frequency, or you are comparing different jobs.

Accountability to the committee and strata manager

The biggest complaint owners have about strata cleaning is not the price, it is not knowing whether the work is being done. The contractors we match address this with reporting and a clear scope, so the committee and strata manager can hold them to account.

A written scope of works listing every task and its frequency.
A visit log or sign-off sheet confirming attendance and what was done.
A single point of contact for the committee or strata manager to raise issues.
Photo reporting for periodic tasks such as car park sweeps or bin room washdowns.

Periodic versus routine tasks

Not everything needs doing weekly. A well-structured strata contract separates routine tasks from periodic ones so you are not overpaying for frequency you do not need, and not underdelivering on jobs that matter.

Routine (weekly or fortnightly)

Lobby floors and glass.
Lift interiors.
Corridor and stairwell vacuuming or mopping.
Bin room floor and deodorising.

Periodic (monthly, quarterly or annual)

Car park sweeping and pressure cleaning.
High-level cobweb and light-fitting cleaning.
Window and external glass cleaning, from $150 per visit.
Common area carpet cleaning at $3 to $6 per sqm, with a typical minimum of $150 to $250.

Common mistakes owners make

A few recurring errors cost strata schemes money and goodwill. Avoiding them makes the whole arrangement smoother for the committee and the residents.

Choosing on price alone without matching the scope, then wondering why standards slipped.
No written scope, so nobody can prove what was promised.
No reporting, so the committee finds out about problems from resident complaints.
Bundling one-off make-good or post-renovation cleans into the monthly rate instead of pricing them separately.

A good strata clean is quiet, consistent and easy for the committee to oversee. When you are ready to compare, getting matched with 3 vetted Adelaide cleaners who understand strata and body corporate work takes the guesswork out of the final decision.