TivloThe first two weeks of a new cleaning contract set the tone for everything that follows.
Get it wrong and you spend the next three months apologising for problems that could have been avoided. Get it right and you look like a company that's done this before - because you have, even if it hasn't always felt that way.
A handover process is not about paperwork for its own sake. It's about making sure that every person involved - your operatives, your supervisor, and your new client - knows exactly what is expected from day one.
Here is a practical structure you can adapt for any new contract.
Before You Start: The Handover Pack
A week before the first service date, prepare a handover pack for the contract. This is an internal document for your team, not the client.
It should include:
Site information
- •Address and access details (key codes, fob numbers, parking, security sign-in)
- •Site contacts: facilities manager name and number, out-of-hours emergency contact
- •Any site-specific rules (no entry to server rooms, specific floor-cleaning products only, visitor badge required)
Scope of works
- •Full task list, broken down by area and frequency
- •Any areas explicitly excluded from the scope
- •Product specifications if the client has requirements (COSHH data sheets if needed)
Scheduling
- •Service times and days
- •Frequency of each task (daily, weekly, monthly)
- •Any planned closures, holiday periods, or events that affect access
Staff assignment
- •Which operatives are assigned to this site
- •Who the site supervisor is
- •Who to call if someone is absent
This pack lives with whoever manages the contract. When something changes, the pack gets updated.
Day One: The Site Walk
Do not send your operatives to a new site without walking it first.
Before the first service, attend the site with your supervisor (or yourself if you're still hands-on). Bring your site contact with you. Walk every area that is in scope.
Go through the task list together and confirm what each item means in practice. "Clean the kitchen" at a 50-person office means something different at a building with a commercial kitchen. Establish what clean looks like for this site specifically.
Note anything that isn't in the scope but the client might assume is included. Raise it at the site walk rather than in a dispute six months later.
Take photos. A site record from day one is useful if there are ever questions about pre-existing damage or state of the building.
Day One: Briefing Your Operatives
Your team needs more than a task list.
Before they start, brief them on:
The client and the site. Who is the client, what kind of business is it, what matters to them. An office where staff work until 10pm needs a different approach from a school that's empty by 4pm.
Site rules. Access codes, areas they cannot enter, whether they can use the client's kettle, where to store cleaning materials.
The contact chain. If something goes wrong, who do they call? Not just you - what's the out-of-hours number for the site? Who is the on-site contact if there is one?
How to report issues. If they find damage, a plumbing problem, or anything they can't clean around, what do they do and how quickly?
A briefed operative who understands the client is less likely to make the kinds of errors that lose contracts in the first month.
Week One: The Check-In
After the first service, call the client.
Not to ask if everything was okay in a way that invites a polite "yes fine." Ask specifically: was the team on time, did they find the access without any problems, is there anything on the first inspection that stood out?
You are looking for early signals. A client who mentions "oh the kitchen floor still looked a bit dull" on day three is giving you something you can fix before it becomes a formal complaint.
Log the call. If anything needs addressing, confirm it in writing and track it to resolution.
Month One: The First Formal Review
At the end of the first month, conduct a formal review with the site contact.
This is a 20-minute meeting (on-site or a call) with three questions:
- •Is the service meeting your expectations?
- •Is there anything you'd like us to adjust?
- •Is there anything we haven't covered that you'd find useful?
Send a brief follow-up email summarising what was discussed and any agreed changes. This becomes part of the contract record.
Clients who have a formal review in month one are far more likely to still be clients at month twelve. It signals that you're paying attention.
The Documentation Problem
Most cleaning companies have a handover process in practice. They just don't have it written down.
That means when the person who onboarded a contract leaves, the knowledge walks out with them. The next supervisor doesn't know the access codes, the client's preferences, or what was agreed at the site walk.
A documented process that lives somewhere accessible - not in one person's phone or email - is what separates a growing cleaning business from one that stays small because it depends on one or two people knowing everything.
Tivlo gives cleaning companies a single place to store site documents, inspection reports, and client notes so nothing gets lost when staff change.
Find out how your business processes compare with our free Cleaning Business Scorecard.