How to Choose a Reliable Cleaning Company in Singapore (8 Checks)

You are letting a stranger into your home, and the usual basis for the decision is a star rating that nearly every company in this market already has. These 8 checks are what to look at instead, in the order they decide whether the job goes well.

1. The scope, in writing

“General cleaning” means different things to different companies. Ask for the list: windows, inside the fridge, inside cabinets, balcony, ironing. 27 of the 43 companies here publish what is included somewhere on their own site, and 14 publish what is not. The second list is the more useful one. Get both in a message you can point back to.

2. The price, in writing, against that scope

A price only means something attached to a defined job. Ask for the all-in figure, and ask what counts as an extra: a same-day booking, a Sunday, a public holiday, supplies, transport. 18 of the 43 companies publish a price list at all, and the ones that do often publish the surcharges beside it. See the price guide for what the published figures look like.

3. Do they do your kind of job every week?

A company that does mostly office contracts is not the obvious choice for a post-renovation flat, and the reverse is just as true. Ask how often they do the job you are booking, and what the last one looked like.

4. Can you reach a person?

How quickly and clearly they answer your first message is a preview of the whole engagement. More to the point: ask who you call on the day if nobody turns up, and get that name and number before the day.

5. Who is actually coming

Some operators send whoever is free. A company that employs and trains its cleaners gives you the same standard each visit and owns the outcome when it slips. For a move-out clean or a post-renovation job, where the result is tied to money, this matters more than for a weekly tidy.

6. What happens when something is missed

Ask what the fix looks like rather than whether the work is guaranteed: who decides, how fast they come back, and what it costs.

7. Registered, and insured if the job warrants it

A registered business can be looked up and held to an agreement. Insurance covers the accident: a knocked-over vase, a scratched floor, an injury on site. Ask for both, and weigh the answer against what is in the room. Every company listed here is checked before it goes on the site.

8. The reviews, read properly

Sort a company’s Google reviews to lowest first, read the first page, and look for 2 things: whether the same problem repeats, and whether anyone from the business replied. We read 53,781 reviews across 42 companies: 820 of the 1,638 serious complaints got no reply. The method, and what it cannot tell you, is in how to check a company before you book.

Where to start

The 8 checks are quick once you know them, but they are 8 conversations with every company you are considering. The list on this site cuts that down: each company has its services, its own published prices where it publishes any, and its rating in one place, so you can shortlist on fit before you message anyone.

Read next: what house cleaning costs in Singapore, the move-out cleaning checklist, or see the companies.