From Common Areas to Car Parks: What is Strata Cleaning?

Mark Watson

National Operations Manager

Reading Time: 13 Minutes

A busy apartment complex, a quiet retirement community, or a modern townhouse development, strata properties rely on shared spaces.

These areas — from car parks and recreational zones like pools to lifts and hallways — see a lot of traffic and need regular upkeep to stay clean and inviting.

It’s so important to maintain cleanliness in these areas. It’s not just about hygiene and tidiness, though those are important too. Clean strata properties boost the overall perception of your strata management company, increase tenant satisfaction and ensure a welcoming environment for all.

But the benefits of strata cleaning extend beyond what you might expect. Well-maintained common areas can improve tenant happiness, increase property value and can even have an impact on how your tenants interact with each other.

So, the impact of professional strata cleaning on your property is pretty massive.

In this article, we’re taking you through what strata cleaning is, what it involves and why it’s important to find a good strata cleaner.

The key takeaways

Strata cleaning is the cleaning of all common areas, shared spaces and recreational facilities within a strata building.
These cleaning services are important as they maintain a building while ensuring the hygiene and safety of the space for tenants and visitors.
Outsourcing strata cleaning is a more effective and cost-efficient exercise than hiring an internal team.
Keeping your strata property clean enhances the property’s value and improves the hygiene and safety of the property, keeping tenants satisfied.

What is strata cleaning?

Strata cleaning is exactly that — cleaning services for strata buildings. It’s for residential buildings with shared spaces and commercial buildings. These services are all about keeping common areas, car parks, lifts and other shared facilities in great, clean condition.

An important thing to note is that strata cleaning is only for common areas. So, it doesn’t include the cleaning of inside tenants’ homes or inside offices for commercial buildings. It’s those common areas such as:

Main entrances, lobbies & foyers
Hallways and elevator waiting areas
Lifts
Stairs and staircase surroundings
Rubbish chutes and rooms
Car parks in garages and outdoors
Bicycle storage areas
Gyms, swimming pools, saunas, game rooms

Stairs and staircase surroundings
Rubbish chutes and rooms
Car parks in garages and outdoors
Bicycle storage areas
Gyms, swimming pools, saunas, game rooms
Shared courtyards and outdoor areas
Communal laundries
Exterior windows and shared doors

The key duties and tasks involved in a strata cleaning service

So, we know strata cleaning covers those shared spaces, but what’s actually involved?

Routine cleaning tasks

Routine cleaning tasks are daily or weekly cleaning activities. These include tasks such as cleaning glass doors, vacuuming and mopping entryways and foyers and ensuring lifts and stairwells are clean and presentable.

Routine cleaning tasks are the kind your strata cleaner will complete in every visit or, maybe every second or third visit depending on how frequently they visit.

These are routine tasks because they’re so important for keeping high-traffic areas clean and presentable.

Glass doors and external windows can quickly build up fingerprints and smudge marks. While these may only be a month or even a week old, they can quickly make your building look dirty and leave the wrong impression on tenants and guests.

Entryways and foyers are an absolute must to keep clean, as dirt, debris, or spills not only look bad for the building but can also become a safety hazard.

Lifts and stairwells are high-use areas and their safety is essential. By keeping these areas clean and tidy, you can prevent slips and falls. As well as that, the sanitisation of handrails and lift buttons can prevent the spread of illness in strata buildings, too.

Routine tasks are generally laid out in a cleaning schedule. This ensures your cleaning team completes each task as necessary to maintain the cleanliness of your strata building.

Specialised cleaning services

As you might be able to guess, specialised cleaning services are those special once-in-a-while items. These are tasks like carpet cleaning, external and oversized window washing and exterior pressure washing.

These tasks are important to maintain the cleanliness and appearance of your strata building, but they don’t need to be completed too often.

Your specialised cleaning tasks might be scheduled once a month, once a quarter, or bi-annually.

Exactly how often these activities should be completed depends on your building. The number of tenants, the use of common areas and environmental factors will all affect this.

For example, you might find that a coastal strata property needs more frequent pressure washing completed due to the sand and salt buildup from the beach. It may also require more frequent carpet cleaning from the sand brought in by tenants.

These specialised cleaning tasks maintain the aesthetic appeal of your strata building, but they’re also really practical.

Completing carpet cleaning can prolong the life of your carpet and avoid costly replacements. Pressure washing your building’s exterior can prolong the life of your paint and potentially prevent structural damage caused by growths like mould and fungus.

So, these specialised cleaning tasks can actually work to save you and the body corporate time and money in the long run.

Inspection & maintenance

Professional strata cleaning services are only strengthened by professional maintenance. Regular inspections and maintenance help identify potential issues before they become big, expensive problems.

These inspections involve checking for leaks, electrical issues and general wear and tear. As items are identified, you can work with the body corporate and the relevant building and maintenance committee to begin actioning these items.

A facility management company, like Jani-King’s sister company, Jani-King Facilities Management, can work with you on this. A good facilities management company, like JKFM, will be able to inspect, diagnose and complete any necessary repairs in your strata building.

Just like both routine and specialised cleaning tasks, these inspections and maintenance are an investment for your building. By finding cracks and minor issues and having them repaired quickly, you can avoid big mishaps that cost the body corporate and negatively impact your tenants.

What areas are covered by strata cleaning?

Your strata cleaning company cleans all common areas and shared spaces, but what exactly does that include? We’ll break down all the different indoor and outdoor spaces strata cleaning companies will look at.

Common areas

Common areas include those spaces that guests and tenants use to enter their private homes or offices. These are areas such as entryways and foyers, hallways and in some commercial buildings or alternative accommodations, lounge areas. It’s these spaces that are often where guests or potential tenants experience a first impression of the building. It’s important these areas look and feel nice and clean and are safe for both tenants and visitors.

Car parks

Whether in a private garage car park or outside, it’s important to keep car parks clean. On a routine basis, this includes removing rubbish and debris and generally keeping the area tidy. Specialised cleaning tasks include pressure washing and scrubbing.

Recreational spaces

Some commercial buildings and strata properties will have shared recreational spaces. Pools and pool areas, gyms, games rooms and barbeque areas will require cleaning. These spaces can be a real value-add for tenants, but they’re no use if they’re not clean and pleasant to use.

Lifts and staircases

Lifts and staircases are two of the most high-traffic areas in a strata property. It’s important to keep them clean to maintain hygiene standards and reduce the wear and tear on these facilities. Lift mirrors can quickly become dirty and smudged, the floors can become slippery with dust and dirt and the buttons are pressed hundreds of times a day, so it’s important to clean lifts regularly. With the buildup of dust, dirt and debris, staircases can also become dirty and slippery. The handrails are a hygiene concern, too. It’s important to regularly clean these spaces for safety and hygiene reasons.

Benefits of good strata cleaning services

We’ve taken you through what strata cleaning is, the actual duties and which areas are included in the service, but why should you use strata cleaning services?

Increased property value

A well-maintained property attracts more tenants and can result in higher rental figures, making strata cleaning a worthwhile investment.

Potential tenants will immediately see common areas and shared facilities and the cleanliness of these spaces sends a message about the building as a whole. Existing tenants are more likely to stay long-term, too, if they’re satisfied with the frequency of cleaning and how the building is maintained.

Regular strata cleaning maintains the building and property, preventing costly issues and generally maintaining the overall value of the property.

Time and cost efficiency

Outsourcing your strata cleaning to professionals like Jani-King Australia allows strata managers to focus on your core responsibilities.

Hiring and managing an internal cleaning team can be time-consuming and costly. It comes with more overheads than just the labour, as you need to pay for the cleaning solutions and equipment as well.

As experienced strata cleaning professionals, we have efficient processes and specialist equipment to complete the job quickly and efficiently. This frees up your time while offering you peace of mind that it’s been completed effectively.

A professional strata cleaning service will offer you an ongoing relationship that sees your strata property well-maintained for a smaller cost.

Improved hygiene and safety

Strata cleaning ensures the hygiene and safety of your property’s shared spaces.

Strata cleaners will ensure that these spaces are cleaned and sanitised regularly, reducing the spread of germs and enhancing overall safety.

A clean space eliminates safety hazards like dirt, dust and debris, along with any other slip or trip hazards.

Effective strata cleaning is essential for maintaining and increasing the value of any building

Outsourcing these tasks to a reputable provider like Jani-King Australia can save time, enhance your property’s appeal and improve safety standards. Clean shared environments encourage your tenants to keep their spaces clean, too — it’s an investment that pays off in dividends.

Jani-King supports body corporates and strata companies with strata cleaning. We’re Australia’s choice for quality.