How to find a cleaner: know the job before you ask
A business can only quote properly when it knows the clean. Decide which one you need, count the bedrooms and bathrooms, and pick the extras: the oven, inside windows, carpet steam or wall marks. Then every business you talk to is quoting the same job, and the quotes can be compared.
Five checks to make before you choose a cleaner
Look up the NZBN
Ask for the business's New Zealand Business Number and search it on the NZBN Register. Each number is unique, so check the name it shows matches the name on the quote. Self-employed people can have an NZBN too; if someone doesn't have one, ask how else they can show you who they are.
Ask for a public liability certificate
That's the business's own insurance if it damages your home or injures someone while working. Look at the name on it and the expiry date, and make sure it's current.
Get the quote in writing
Consumer Protection says a quote is an offer to do the job for a specified price, generally a confirmed maximum, while an estimate is only the business's guess and isn't fixed. It suggests asking for it in writing, even from one business, and getting at least three if you can.
Ask about criminal record checks
Ask whether the people who'll come into your home have done a Ministry of Justice criminal record check. A person requests their own, the results go straight to them, and they choose who to pass them on to.
Agree the terms that matter
What's included room by room, the extras, what happens if something is missed, and when you pay. Get those in writing too, and don't pay the full amount before the work is done.
What a criminal record check on a cleaner can and can't show
The Ministry of Justice sends results directly to the person who asked, who can pass them on to anyone they choose. It aims to answer requests in up to 20 working days. Registered third parties, mainly employers recruiting staff, can also request a record, with the person's signed consent.
Under the Clean Slate scheme, a person doesn't have to give their full record to a third party unless an exception applies, and the Ministry says it's against the law to make someone reveal it. So ask the business what checks its cleaners have done, and leave the choice of what to share with them.
NZ Police vetting is a different thing. It's for approved agencies, and Police don't take vetting requests from individuals, so it isn't something a household can ask for.
Questions to ask a cleaner on the first phone call
- Is it the same cleaner every visit, and who comes if they're away?
- Do you bring your own products and equipment?
- What happens if something gets broken?
- What's not included in the price you're quoting?
- How do you look after keys and alarm codes?
- If I'm not happy with part of the clean, what do you do about it?
Reasons to keep looking for a cleaner
- No business name, no NZBN and no way to check who they are.
- The full amount wanted up front, in cash only.
- Nothing in writing about what's included.
- A promise that you'll pass a final inspection or get your whole bond refunded.
- Fumigation or flea treatment offered as part of a clean. That's pest control, a separate trade.
Your checks, and what a good cleaning business brings
Worth doing yourself
- The NZBN Register lookup, which anyone can do.
- Reading the quote line by line against what you asked for.
- Checking the dates on the insurance certificate.
- Dated photos before and after the first clean.
Where a cleaning business earns its keep
- A trading name and NZBN you can look up.
- Its own current public liability cover.
- A written list of what's included, with any re-clean terms.
- Products, equipment and the know-how for ovens, grout and glass.
If something goes wrong with your cleaner
Raise it with the cleaning business first, in writing, and say what you'd like done. Consumer Protection sets out how to complain and take it further. If you can't sort it out, the Disputes Tribunal settles small claims up to $60,000 without going to court.
Our advice on finding a cleaner: check in this order
Do the NZBN lookup before the first visit, not after; it's the quickest check you can make. Then ask for the certificate and the written quote together, so you're comparing like with like. On record checks, ask the business what its cleaners have done, and judge it on a straight answer.