Offices, shops, surgeries, nurseries and restaurants all need the fit-out dust gone before the doors open. Complete After Builders cleans commercial premises at £30 per cleaner-hour plus £32 for equipment, so the smallest job, 2 cleaners for 3 hours, is £212 all in.

What a fit-out leaves behind

Most fit-out dust starts with the partitions. They are built, taped and sanded on site, and the jointing dust covers everything. Ceiling grids and light fittings collect it, and so do the tops of partitions, door closers and window boards. New desks, shelving and kitchen units arrive flat-packed and leave cardboard dust behind. Glass partitions carry fingerprints and the fitters' tape marks. Carpet tiles hold offcut fibres, toilets and tea points get grout haze, and a shopfront has the sign maker's glue on the inside of the glass.

A commercial builders clean, step by step

The crew works from the list agreed with the office: which floors, which rooms and what has to be ready first.

High level, as far as a 2 m ladder reaches: tops of partitions and door frames, light fittings, vents, window boards and the ceiling grid where it can be reached.
Glass: partitions, internal doors, the inside of the windows and the shopfront, with labels, tape and stickers taken off.
Desks, shelving, cupboards and drawers, inside and out once empty; kitchens and tea points, with appliances wiped outside.
Toilets and washrooms: tiles and grout, sanitaryware, taps, mirrors and fittings.
Switches, sockets, skirting, radiators and vents.
Floors last: hard floors vacuumed and mopped, carpet and carpet tiles vacuumed.
A walk-round with whoever signs the job off. Anything pointed out is put right before the crew leaves.

An exposed ceiling, a double-height reception or a warehouse roof needs access equipment the crew does not bring. A polished concrete or tiled floor that needs more than a mop can have a deep clean by the square metre (see hard floor cleaning), and fitted carpet in offices can be steam cleaned on the same visit and the office prices it from photos (see carpet cleaning).

Handover clean, snagging and the opening clean

Visit	When	What it covers
Builders clean	After the trades leave, before snagging	All the fit-out dust, labels, inside glass, kitchens, toilets and floors
Second clean	After snagging, a day or two before opening	Dust from the snagging trades and late deliveries, smears, floors again

Snagging brings dust back: a ceiling tile swapped, a door re-hung, a socket moved. If those trades are due after the builders clean, plan a shorter second visit before opening; it is priced the same way.

The handover cleans that go wrong are most often the ones done while trades were still working in part of the building, because dust from the next unit lands on shelves the crew has just finished. Every area to be cleaned has to be finished, with the trades, tools and packaging out.

How much does a commercial builders clean cost?

Commercial work is £30 per cleaner-hour plus £32 per job for equipment and detergents. A shop unit, office or surgery of up to about 50 m² after a light fit-out (decorating, new flooring and furniture, no new partitions) usually takes 2 cleaners for 3 hours: £212 all in. A heavier fit-out of the same size, with partitions built and sanded on site, is nearer 2 cleaners for 4 hours: £272. Larger floors get more cleaners: after a standard fit-out, 50 to 100 m² usually takes 2 cleaners for 5 hours (£332), 100 to 200 m² 3 cleaners for 6 hours (£572) and 200 to 300 m² 5 cleaners for 6 hours (£932), all in. Over 300 m², the office plans the crew from a floor plan, with a second day where one is needed.

The hours come from the floor area, the number of toilets and kitchens, how much glass there is and how much of the dust sits high up. Send photos, a short video or a floor plan and the office works out the crew and hours before you book. A site visit for a big or unusual job costs £20. The office can put the price in writing for whoever has to sign it off.

Homes are priced on after builders cleaning, and every add-on is on the full price list.

Fit-out rules in London and Manchester city centres

Council rules decide when a fit-out can finish. Where residents could be disturbed, the City of London Corporation limits noisy work and deliveries to 8am to 6pm on weekdays and 9am to 2pm on Saturdays, and next to occupied offices it can bar breakers and power-tool cutting from 10am to noon and from 2pm to 4pm. The City allows no skips or building materials on its streets at all and says building waste should be dealt with by the company doing the work, so a fit-out near Blackfriars keeps its rubbish inside the building or a licensed hoarding until a carrier takes it.

In Westminster, building work outside 8am to 6pm on weekdays and 8am to 1pm on Saturdays needs out of hours approval, which the council aims to answer within 10 working days for most works. In Manchester city centre a skip may only wait and load, never stand on the street, and the council can bar new scaffolding inside the city-centre perimeter on dates it gives when you apply, so a fit-out there plans its rubbish run and its access before the clean is booked.

Waste has paperwork too. Under the national duty of care a business must complete a waste transfer note for every load that leaves its premises and check that its carrier is registered. That sits with the fit-out contractor or with you; the crew takes away no builders' waste.

Before the crew arrives on a commercial site

every area to be cleaned finished, with trades, tools, materials and packaging out
water, hot water and power on, and the lights working
keys or fobs, alarm codes and the building manager told; a goods lift booked if there is one
a parking space, a loading bay or a permit for the crew
a named contact for the day, and any sign-in or induction the site needs
the opening date, so the office can fit the clean in before it

About a week's notice is usually enough for a single unit, and Fridays and weekends go first. Give more notice for a large site.

How the price works

CleanersHours£30£32 kit

Every crew brings its own vacuums, cloths, ladders and detergents; the £32 covers them once per job. The table shows our usual starting point for a standard fit-out, by floor area. Lighter or heavier work moves it, and you can set your own crew and hours in the form.

Price my clean

Suggested crews and prices for a standard refurbishment
Floor area	Crew	Price
Up to 50 m²	2 × 3 h	£212
50 to 100 m²	2 × 5 h	£332
100 to 200 m²	3 × 6 h	£572
200 to 300 m²	5 × 6 h	£932
Over 300 m², one day	6 × 7 h	£1,292

Commercial builders clean questions

Anything else? Ring 07418 351088.

Do you clean offices and shops after a fit-out?

Yes: offices, shops, surgeries, nurseries and restaurants, once the trades have finished and before they open. Commercial work is £30 per cleaner-hour plus £32 per job.

Can you clean one floor while the trades finish another?

No. Dust travels through stairwells, lifts and ceiling voids onto finished floors, so the crew comes once your fit-out is finished on every floor, with the trades, tools and packaging out.

Do you take away packaging and builders' waste?

No. Packaging, offcuts and waste go with the fit-out contractor or a licensed waste carrier, along with the waste transfer notes.

How do you price an open-plan office?

By cleaner-hours, estimated from photos, a video or a floor plan: the floor area, toilets, kitchens, glass and high-level dust. Each hour is £30 per cleaner, plus £32 per job.

Can you do a second clean just before opening?

Yes, priced the same way. It is usually shorter, because it picks up only the dust from snagging and the last deliveries.

Do you clean the outside of shopfront glass?

Where it can be reached safely from the ground, as an add-on: see outside window cleaning. The inside of the glass is part of the clean.

Other cleans after the builders

Builders nearly done?

Book the clean for the day after they finish. Price it in a minute, or ring and talk it through.

Get my price 07418 351088

Commercial after builders cleaning