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Five Dock NSW 2046

Stair and shared toilet cleaning plans for Five Dock strip shops

Two tenancies, one narrow staircase and a single toilet at the top of it. Nothing in the leases says who cleans any of it. This page sets out how a landlord writes that small shared scope so it survives a change of tenant.

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In short

In a Five Dock strip building with a shop below and a suite above, the stair, the landing and any shared amenity form a third area that belongs to neither tenancy. A facility plan names those areas, sets a frequency for each, states who instructs the cleaner and records how the cost is divided between the two occupants.

Clean Best prepares that shared scope as its own priced item, separate from any work inside a tenancy. The proposal is fixed and follows an inspection, and instructions run through one nominated contact rather than through whichever tenant happens to be present.

The three surfaces that cause most of the trouble

Stair treads take the heaviest wear and are the hardest to clean well, particularly where the original timber or vinyl is worn at the nosing. The handrail is a touchpoint that gets noticed by anyone climbing with a hand out. The shared toilet is the item that generates actual complaints. Those three deserve individual lines in the scope with their own frequencies, not a single entry reading common areas.

Frequency for the toilet should follow the number of people with access rather than the number of tenancies. A suite of six upstairs and two staff below means eight users, and that is the figure that determines servicing and consumable volume. Writing the user count into the scope makes it obvious later why the frequency was set where it was, and gives a basis for changing it.

Dividing the cost without an argument every year

An even split is simple but often indefensible, because a ground-floor retail tenancy may barely use the stair while the upstairs suite uses it constantly. A user-count split is usually easier to defend and easier to adjust when a tenancy changes size. Whichever basis is chosen, it should be written down with the reasoning, so a new tenant inherits an explanation rather than a number.

The scope should also state what happens when one party wants more than the base level. If the upstairs tenant wants the landing detailed weekly instead of fortnightly, that is an addition to their contribution rather than an upgrade absorbed by the building. Keeping the base and the extras visibly separate stops the shared arrangement drifting upward without anyone agreeing to it.

Consumables, storage and access in a small building

Consumables are the most common flashpoint in a shared amenity, because whoever buys them feels they are subsidising the other party. The plan should say whether the cleaning arrangement supplies paper and soap, at what frequency, and how that cost is apportioned. Leaving it informal means it works until the person who has been quietly buying supplies moves out.

Storage and access follow. A small Five Dock building rarely has a cleaner's cupboard, so where a mop and machine live between visits has to be agreed rather than improvised. Key holding, the alarm arrangement and the hours the building can be entered belong in the same section, along with the name of the single person a cleaner contacts when something is locked.

Shared-area terms for a Five Dock building

  • Separate frequency lines for treads, handrail and landing
  • Toilet servicing set against the total number of users
  • The cost split basis, written with its reasoning
  • How one tenant's extra requests are approved and charged
  • Consumable supply, volumes and who pays for them
  • Equipment storage, key holding and entry hours
Clean Best team reviewing hygiene tasks in a Blacktown facility

Working in Five Dock and the Inner West

Five Dock in the Inner West is built around strip retail with professional services and healthcare suites above, in two-storey buildings that predate any concept of a facility manager. Staircases are narrow, landings are small, and the shared amenity is frequently a single toilet reached through a service corridor. There is nobody on site to notice when a bin is not emptied or a tread is marked, so the written scope has to carry the whole arrangement. Clean Best services Five Dock from Seven Hills and confirms realistic attendance times when the schedule is set.

Questions about Five Dock

Should the landlord or the tenants hold the cleaning agreement?

For shared areas, the landlord or managing agent is the safer holder. A tenant-held arrangement gives the other occupant no standing to raise problems and ends whenever that tenant vacates. A landlord-held scope survives turnover, keeps a single instructing party and lets the cost recovery run through the same mechanism as other outgoings.

How often does a shared toilet need servicing?

It depends on user numbers rather than on building size. A handful of staff may be served adequately by two or three visits a week with consumables checked each time. A busier suite with client visits usually justifies daily attention. The walkthrough counts users and looks at the existing condition rather than applying a default that suits neither party.

Can the stairs be cleaned outside trading hours?

Usually yes, and it is generally preferable because wet treads and a narrow stair are a poor combination during trade. The plan records the entry time, who holds the key and whether the alarm covers the common path. Where after-hours access is not practical, the work is scheduled at the quietest point and sequenced so one side of the stair stays usable.

What if one tenant refuses to contribute?

That is a lease and recovery question rather than a cleaning question, but the scope helps. A written shared-area specification with a stated apportionment basis is far easier to enforce than an informal arrangement. Clean Best contracts with the party who instructs, invoices that party, and does not become the intermediary in a dispute between occupants.

Do worn timber stairs need a different method?

Often they do. Worn nosings, gaps and original finishes tolerate far less water than a sealed vinyl tread, and aggressive chemicals can lift what remains of the coating. The plan records the surface, the agreed method and any section to be treated by hand, so a relief cleaner does not apply a general floor routine to a stair that will not take it.

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