How to Vet an After Builders Cleaning Contractor Before You Put Them on Your Programme

Every QS and PM closing out a build eventually types some version of this into Google: “after builders cleaning company Dublin” or “who to hire for post construction cleaning.” But that’s the wrong question to start with. The right one is: how do I know this contractor won’t be the reason my handover fails?

Cleaning is the last trade on site before your client, buyer or inspector walks through — which means it’s also the last chance for something to go wrong before it becomes visible. An unvetted cleaning contractor isn’t a minor risk item. It’s the difference between a handover that closes on schedule and one that gets pushed a week while someone re-cleans a unit and you explain why to your client. This is what to actually check before adding one to your programme.

1. Insurance — Ask for the Certificate, Not the Assurance
“We’re fully insured” is not proof of anything. Before a contractor sets foot on your site, get:
Public liability insurance — confirm the cover level is appropriate for the site (a €1m–€2m minimum is standard for most commercial and construction environments, but check against your own site requirements)
Employer’s liability insurance — if they’re bringing a crew, not a sole trader Confirmation the policy covers construction/post-construction environments specifically — some general cleaning
policies exclude construction sites, which matters if something is damaged or someone is injured
Ask for the certificate directly, not a verbal confirmation. A contractor who can produce it in an email within the hour isn’t the one you need to worry about.

2. RAMS — Before They Arrive, Not After You Ask
On any commercial, construction, or multi-trade residential site, a method statement and risk assessment should exist before the crew is scheduled, tailored to that specific site — not a generic template with the client name swapped out. This matters for two reasons: it protects everyone on site working alongside the cleaning crew, and if anything goes wrong, you have a document trail showing due diligence was done.
Ask directly: “Can you send RAMS for this specific site before we confirm the date?” If the answer involves any hesitation, that’s your answer.

3. Capacity and Mobilisation Speed
Programmes move. Trades overrun. Handover dates get brought forward by a client with no warning. The contractor who quoted well but can only mobilise a two-person crew with a week’s notice is not the contractor for a site where the schedule might compress overnight.
Ask specifically:
How many crew can you deploy on short notice, and what’s your minimum lead time?
Do you have capacity for multi-unit or phased handovers on the same week?
What happens if our date moves forward by 48 hours — what does that do to your price and your availability?
A contractor’s answer to the third question tells you more about how they’ll behave under real programme pressure than anything in their marketing.

4. Documentation and Evidence — Get This in Writing Before the Job Starts
The single biggest cause of disputes at handover is a disagreement over whether an area was actually cleaned to standard.
Before the job starts, confirm:
Before-and-after photos of every area, sent to you (not just kept on file “if needed”)
A completion sign-off you or your client can point to
A named point of contact — one person accountable for the job, not a rotating crew with no single owner
If a dispute does come up after handover — a client flags a mark weeks later — this is the evidence that settles it in your favour rather than becoming a costly, awkward back-and-forth.

5. Define the Scope in Writing — “Full Clean” Means Nothing
This is where budgets slip and expectations diverge. “Builders clean,” “deep clean,” “sparkle clean” and “post construction clean” all mean different things, and if the quote doesn’t spell out which one you’re getting and what’s included in it, you and the contractor may be working from two different definitions of “done.”
Before signing off a quote, confirm in writing:
Which stage(s) are included — rough/builders clean only, or builders clean plus a final presentation clean before handover Specific inclusions: floors by surface type, fixtures and fittings, kitchens/bathrooms, windows and glass, protective film removal Whether a final walkthrough and fix-on-the-spot correction is included, or whether snags get raised as a separate call-out A vague one-line quote is the single biggest predictor of a dispute later. A contractor who sends a scoped, itemised quote unprompted is telling you they’ve done this enough times to know where the disputes usually start.

6. Track Record on Comparable Sites
A contractor who’s only ever cleaned three-bed semis isn’t automatically wrong for a retail fit-out or a healthcare renovation — but the sites are different enough that experience matters. Ask for examples of similar-scale or similar-sector work, and ideally a contact reference from a main contractor they’ve worked with recently. Most reputable contractors will offer this before you even ask.

7. Red Flags Worth Walking Away From
No RAMS available on request, or a generic template that doesn’t reference your site
Pricing given with no site visit or drawings review — a number with no basis
No insurance documentation offered proactively
Vague answers about mobilisation timelines when you push on specifics
No single point of contact — you’re passed between different people each time you call
Any one of these on its own might be explainable. Two or more together usually means the risk sits with you, not them.

A Short Checklist to Run Through Before You Confirm

☐ Insurance certificates received and cover level confirmed appropriate for the site
☐ RAMS received, site-specific, before the job is scheduled
☐ Mobilisation timeline and crew capacity confirmed in writing
☐ Scope of work itemised — not just “full clean”
☐ Photo evidence and sign-off process confirmed
☐ Single point of contact named
☐ Reference or comparable project confirmed

If a contractor clears all seven before you’ve had to chase for a single one of them, that’s usually the strongest signal you’ll get. This is exactly the standard Hexaclean Solutions works to on every project — RAMS prepared and sent before we’re on site, insurance documentation available on request, before-and-after photo evidence on every job, a dedicated site supervisor as your single point of contact, and itemised scoping so there’s no ambiguity about what “clean” means before we start.

We work regularly with main contractors including Kilrock Construction, Conack Construction and Dominic O’Connor Construction on projects where the standard has to hold up to exactly this kind of scrutiny.
See our full after builders cleaning specialists page for the complete breakdown of documentation, process and coverage across Dublin and Ireland.

087 384 7501 — get RAMS, insurance documentation and a scoped quote before your next
handover. Hexaclean Solutions · Dublin, Ireland · hexacleansolutions.com