Common area cleaning in Perth covers the parts of a strata property that no single owner owns by themselves. That means the lobby, the lifts, the stairwells and corridors, the car park, the bin store, the letterbox bank and the gardens and paths around the building. Anything inside an individual apartment is the owner’s own business. Everything outside their front door is shared, and keeping it clean is a job the strata company arranges on behalf of everyone.
That line between the two is the source of most of the confusion, so it is worth starting there.
What counts as common property in a WA strata scheme?
Under the Strata Titles Act 1985 (WA), common property is the land and structures owned by all the owners together, as tenants in common, and not contained within any one lot. Landgate, which administers strata titles in Western Australia, gives roofs, external walls, doors and windows, driveways, gardens, electrical wiring in common areas and pipes serving more than one lot as examples.
One point of local terminology, because it comes up constantly. In Western Australia the entity that owns and manages that shared property is a strata company. Body corporate is the term used in some eastern states, and while plenty of people in Perth use the two interchangeably, strata company is the one that appears in the WA legislation.
Section 91 of the Act requires the strata company to control and manage the common property for the benefit of all owners, and to keep it in good and serviceable repair and properly maintained. That obligation applies whether the wear has come from ordinary use, an inherent defect or anything else.
The Act does not use the word cleaning anywhere in that section, and it is worth being clear about it. What it requires is that shared property is properly maintained. Cleaning is one of the practical ways a strata company meets that duty, which is why a cleaning contract is a normal line in a strata budget rather than a luxury the owners vote on each year.
What does a common area clean usually include?
It varies with the building, but a regular visit to a Perth apartment complex generally covers:
- Entry foyer and lobby, including glass doors, intercom panels and letterbox surrounds
- Lifts, with particular attention to floors, handrails and the tracks the doors run in
- Stairwells and corridors, vacuumed or mopped depending on the surface
- Car park sweeping, and spot cleaning of oil marks where the surface allows it
- Bin store and bin wash areas
- Rubbish removal from common areas, including anything left beside the bins
- External paths and entries, swept or blown
- Glass in shared areas at an agreed frequency, since it is usually less often than the rest
Larger complexes with a pool, a gym or a shared rooftop will have those areas written into the scope as well, usually at a different frequency from the corridors.
Who decides how often it happens?
The strata company does, normally on the advice of the strata manager, and it is funded from the levies owners already pay. A small complex of eight or ten lots might have someone on site once a week. A larger building with a lift, a busy foyer and a shared bin room is more likely to need two or three visits, and some buildings in the busier parts of Perth are serviced daily.
The honest answer is that frequency should follow traffic rather than lot count. A twelve lot building with a lot of short term tenants and a single shared bin room can generate more mess than a thirty lot complex of long term owner occupiers.
What is usually not included?
This is where most disputes start. A common area cleaning contract does not normally cover:
- Anything inside a lot, including balconies in most schemes
- Window cleaning above ground level, which is a separate job with its own access and safety requirements
- High pressure cleaning of driveways and car parks, usually scheduled as a periodic extra
- Carpet steam cleaning in corridors, again periodic rather than routine
- Repairs, pest control and gardening, unless the contract specifically says so
Grounds and yard work is the one that catches people out most often. Gardens are common property, so somebody has to look after them, but garden maintenance and cleaning are different services and are not always bought from the same contractor.
How can a strata council tell whether the current clean is enough?
Walk the building on the day before the cleaner is due rather than the day after. That is when the gap between the scope and the actual need shows up. If the bin area smells, if there is grit in the lift door tracks, or if the foyer glass has a fortnight of handprints on it by the end of the cycle, the frequency is probably light for the building rather than the work being poor.
It also helps to have the scope written down properly. A scope that lists areas and frequencies, rather than saying clean common areas weekly, gives the strata council something to measure against and gives the contractor a fair basis to quote from.
Talk to us about your building
Cleanbright looks after common areas for strata properties across Perth’s western suburbs, and we are happy to walk a building with a strata manager or a council member and put a written scope together before anyone talks about price. You can see how we approach it on our strata cleaning services page.
If you would like a scope and a quote for your complex, call us on 1300 059 691 or email info@cleanbright.com.au and we will arrange a site walkthrough.
This article is general information and not advice. Obligations under the Strata Titles Act 1985 (WA) depend on your scheme’s own by-laws and circumstances.
