Each check below uses something you can see or ask for yourself, so it works on any cleaning business, however you found it.
Four checks before the clean
Look up the NZBN
Ask for the business's New Zealand Business Number and search it on the NZBN Register at nzbn.govt.nz. Each NZBN is unique, and a listing can show the official name, any trading name and the registration status, so check they match the quote. Sole traders and partnerships can hold an NZBN as well as companies, but some details on a listing can be kept private, so a short listing isn't a warning sign by itself.
Read the public liability certificate
Liability insurance protects a business when someone sues it for damaging their property, and business.govt.nz names cleaners among the people who may need it. Ask to see the certificate and read two things: the name on it, and the date it runs to, which should fall after your clean.
Get the clean and the re-clean terms in writing
Ask for the clean room by room, and which extras sit on top: the oven, inside windows, carpet steam cleaning, walls. If the business will come back for anything missed, get those terms in writing as well: how long you have to ask, and what counts as missed.
Ask who will be in your home
Ask whether the people cleaning work for the business or for a subcontractor, and what checks the business runs on its own staff. You can ask whether its cleaners hold a Ministry of Justice criminal record check. Anyone can request their own, and the result goes to that person, who can choose to pass it on.
Why ask about a criminal record check
NZ Police vetting is for approved agencies, and Police don't process requests from individuals. A Ministry of Justice criminal record check is one a person can ask for about themselves, which makes it the sensible question to put to a cleaning business. Its answer is the business's to give, and yours to weigh up.
Questions to ask before you book
- What's your NZBN, and is that the name on the quote?
- Can I see your public liability certificate, and when does it run to?
- What does the clean cover, room by room, and which extras are on top?
- If something's missed, will you come back, and how long do I have to tell you?
- Who will be cleaning, and do they work for you or for someone else?
- What do you need from me on the day: keys, parking, power and hot water on?
Worth a second look
- The name on the quote doesn't match the NZBN listing, and there's no clear reason why.
- A liability certificate that has run out, or that's in another business's name.
- Just a figure and a date, with nothing in writing about what's included.
- A request to pay in full before anyone has seen the place.
- Any promise about your bond or the final inspection. Nobody can promise how a landlord will see the place.
Moving out of a flat?
Give the business your property inspection report, the record of the place on the day you moved in, so the clean aims for that rather than a showroom finish. Tenancy Services asks for reasonably clean and tidy, with your belongings and rubbish gone, and you can get there yourself or get someone in. Our bond rules page has the rest.
What these checks don't tell you
No register or certificate shows how carefully someone cleans. What you can judge is the quote: a written scope, the extras named, and straight answers to the questions above.