Body Corporate Cleaning in Christchurch

Body corporate cleaning is different from every other commercial contract in one respect: your client is a committee, not a manager. Decisions are made at meetings, budgets are set annually, and the person who notices the problem is rarely the person who signs the invoice. PrestigePro cleans apartment and unit-title complexes across Christchurch, police vetted and $5 million public liability insured. WHO ACTUALLY DECIDES, AND WHAT THAT MEANS Most complexes operate under the Unit Titles Act 2010, with a body corporate committee and often a body corporate manager. Common property maintenance — lobbies, corridors, stairwells, lifts, bin rooms, car parks, shared paths — sits with the body corporate. Inside an owner's unit does not. Practically that changes how a cleaning contract has to work. The scope needs to be written down and agreed, because a committee changes members and the person who arranged the contract may not be there in two years. Invoices need to be clear enough to present at an AGM. And when an owner asks why something is not being done, the answer should be findable in the contract rather than dependent on someone's memory. We provide a written scope and schedule, and we invoice to the body corporate or the manager, itemised so it can be read at a meeting without explanation. WHAT GETS COMPLAINED ABOUT After enough of these, the pattern is consistent. Bin rooms, lifts and the entrance generate almost all the complaints. Bin rooms are the worst because they are usually enclosed, poorly ventilated and cleaned less often than they need to be. A bin room that smells makes the whole ground floor smell, and it is the most common single complaint at complex AGMs. It needs washing down, not just emptying. Lifts are noticed because people stand in them with nothing to look at. Marks on the walls, dust in the door tracks and a dirty floor are seen by every resident every day. The entrance and lobby set what residents and visitors think about how the building is run — and for owners trying to sell or rent, it is the first thing a prospective buyer or tenant sees. That has a direct financial consequence for owners, which is a useful argument when a committee is deciding whether to increase the cleaning budget. STAIRWELLS AND FIRE EGRESS Stairwells are cleaned as a matter of course, but they are also fire egress routes. If we find them being used for storage — bikes, boxes, furniture — we report it. Obstructed egress is a safety and compliance issue for the body corporate, not a cleaning one, and it is the sort of thing that accumulates quietly until it matters. BUDGETS, AGMS AND WHY WE QUOTE HONESTLY Body corporate budgets are set annually and are hard to change mid-year. That means a cleaner who underquotes to win the contract and then asks for more in six months creates a genuine problem for a committee, not just an awkward conversation. We quote what the job actually takes after walking the property. If we think the frequency you have asked for will not keep the complex to the standard you want, we say so at quoting time so the committee can decide with real numbers. And if the budget is fixed, we will tell you what can be done within it rather than promising everything and delivering some of it. WHAT IS COMMON PROPERTY AND WHAT IS NOT We clean common property only. We do not clean inside units, private balconies or courtyards, or areas an owner has exclusive use of, unless the body corporate has specifically arranged and is paying for it. This matters because owners do ask. Having the boundary in writing protects the committee from setting a precedent that becomes an expectation, and protects us from doing unbilled work. CONSISTENCY AND ACCESS Complexes need the same cleaner, both for standards and for security. Residents notice strangers in their building, and a rotating roster of unfamiliar people in a residential complex generates complaints of its own. The same police-vetted cleaner attends, key and fob access is held under a signed agreement, and we can be introduced to the committee. PRICING Quoted after a site visit — free and no obligation. Common property varies enormously between complexes, and floor area tells you very little about how long a building takes. Terms and conditions apply.