The Optus Glean promise: predictability
Three pillars. Three commitments. No exceptions.
Predictable cost. One fixed monthly fee, set against a defined scope and an annual indexed review. No variable hours. No surprise invoices. No padded callout charges. Budgeted once, paid by Direct Debit, reviewed once a year.
Predictable presence. The site is cleaned every day it is meant to be cleaned. A named primary cleaner is rostered to your contract, supported by a named relief who is already vetted, inducted, and trained on the same colour-coded system and IPC standard. The schedule does not depend on whether one person is available on one day.
Predictable freedom. A single point of accountability. One contract. One named manager. One number to call. Cleaning is no longer a problem the site has to manage — it is a service that runs.
Why cleaning in Ireland is structurally hard to get right
Most cleaning provision in Ireland — including in healthcare-adjacent settings — is delivered by a workforce that is structurally part-time and casual. A significant proportion of operatives across the sector also work as healthcare assistants in nursing homes, residential care, and acute hospitals. Cleaning shifts are typically taken when healthcare shifts are not available, and released when they are. This pattern is consistent with CSO labour data on accommodation, food, and administrative-support employment, and it is the underlying reason that buyers across Ireland encounter inconsistency from agencies they have contracted in good faith.
The pattern is reinforced by two background pressures specific to Ireland. Housing affordability limits the catchment for any role paying at or near the minimum wage. The Contract Cleaning Employment Regulation Order rate of €14.80 per hour for 2026, set under the Labour Court's sectoral employment framework, sits close enough to flexible care-sector pay that operatives drift toward whichever shift pays slightly more on the day. Both pressures pull cleaning staff away from contracted shifts and toward casual healthcare work.
The result, from the buyer's perspective, is the experience most practice managers, facilities leads, and procurement officers in Ireland describe: a clean that is half-completed when the contracted cleaner is available, missed entirely when they are not, and accompanied by recurring conversations with the agency about cover that may or may not arrive.
This is the structural problem Optus Glean is built to solve. Our operatives are fully PAYE-employed with guaranteed weekly hours, paid leave, and pension contributions under Irish auto-enrolment. They are paid above the ERO floor deliberately — because the structural reliability of the service depends on the cleaner choosing to remain in the role rather than rotating through casual healthcare shifts. A named primary cleaner is assigned to your site, supported by a named relief, both Garda-vetted and trained to Optus Glean's documented HIQA-aligned IPC standard.
Cleaning Built for the Property Sector
Property managers, letting agents, Owners' Management Companies, and landlords share one common challenge: keeping properties clean, presentable, and compliant without the administrative burden of managing multiple cleaning providers. Whether you oversee a single apartment block or a portfolio of 200 rental properties spread across Ireland, the cleaning demands are constant. Tenants move out and new tenants move in. Common areas need regular maintenance. Vacant properties deteriorate without upkeep. Short-term lets require rapid turnaround between guests.
Optus Glean provides a single cleaning partner for every property need. One contract, one invoice, one quality standard across your entire portfolio. We work with PSRA licensed letting agents, OMC directors, private landlords, Airbnb management companies, and property portfolio managers in every county in Ireland. Our services cover the full lifecycle of property cleaning, from common area maintenance through to end-of-tenancy deep cleans, vacant property restoration, pre-sale preparation, and short-term let turnaround.
Every operative is Garda vetted and trained in property-specific cleaning protocols. We carry €6.5 million public liability and €13 million employer's liability insurance, giving your clients, tenants, and OMC members the assurance that a professional, insured cleaning team is maintaining their property.
Apartment Block Common Area Cleaning for OMCs
Under the Multi-Unit Developments Act 2011, Owners' Management Companies are legally responsible for the maintenance, repair, and insurance of common areas in multi-unit developments. This includes hallways, stairwells, lifts, lobbies, car parks, bin stores, and external shared areas. The Act requires OMCs to establish a sinking fund and maintain common areas to a standard that protects the value of the development and the safety of residents.
In practice, this means OMCs need a reliable, documented cleaning service that can demonstrate compliance with their obligations. Dirty common areas are one of the most frequent complaints at OMC AGMs, and they directly affect property values, tenant satisfaction, and the reputation of the management company.
Optus Glean provides scheduled common area cleaning for apartment blocks and multi-unit developments of every size across Ireland. Our apartment block cleaning service is built specifically for the OMC sector.
- Hallways and corridors: sweeping, mopping, and spot cleaning on every floor, typically twice or three times per week
- Stairwells: step sweeping and mopping, handrail and banister wiping, skirting board dusting from ground to top floor
- Lifts: interior panel cleaning, button sanitisation, floor mopping, mirror polishing, and door track clearing
- Lobbies and entrance areas: floor cleaning, intercom panel wiping, post box area tidying, entrance mat maintenance, and glass door cleaning
- Car parks: sweeping, litter picking, oil stain treatment, line marking visibility checks, and ramp cleaning
- Bin stores: floor washing, bin exterior cleaning, sanitisation and deodorising, and pest prevention measures
- External areas: path sweeping, garden furniture wiping, lighting fixture cleaning, and seasonal leaf clearance
We provide OMC directors with monthly cleaning reports, photographic evidence of completed work, and quality audit scores. These reports are suitable for presentation at AGMs and demonstrate that the OMC is fulfilling its obligations under the Multi-Unit Developments Act 2011. Our cleaning schedules are documented with method statements and risk assessments for every task, giving OMCs audit-ready documentation from day one.
The Multi-Unit Developments Act 2011 and Your Cleaning Obligations
The Multi-Unit Developments Act 2011 is the primary legislation governing the management of multi-unit developments in Ireland. It places specific obligations on Owners' Management Companies regarding the maintenance and upkeep of common areas. Section 18 of the Act requires OMCs to establish and maintain a sinking fund for the purpose of discharging expenditure on maintenance, repair, and replacement of common areas. Section 19 requires the OMC to prepare an annual service charge budget that includes the cost of maintaining common areas.
For OMC directors, this means cleaning is not optional. It is a statutory obligation. Failure to maintain common areas to an acceptable standard can result in complaints from unit owners, disputes at AGMs, and in extreme cases, enforcement action. A documented professional cleaning contract with clear specifications, scheduled frequencies, and quality reporting demonstrates compliance and protects OMC directors from personal liability claims related to common area neglect.
Optus Glean works with OMCs across Ireland to build cleaning specifications that meet these statutory requirements. We provide fixed monthly pricing that OMC treasurers can budget for, detailed service specifications that OMC secretaries can present to the board, and monthly quality reports that directors can share with unit owners.
End-of-Tenancy Cleaning for Letting Agents
End-of-tenancy cleaning is one of the most time-sensitive services in the property sector. Tenants vacate, and the property needs to be cleaned to a lettable standard before the next tenant moves in. Letting agents need a cleaning partner that delivers consistent results, works to tight timelines, and produces a standard of clean that satisfies both departing tenants seeking their deposit return and incoming tenants expecting a fresh start.
Our end-of-tenancy cleaning service covers every room and surface in the property to a deposit-back standard. This means the property will be returned to the condition it was in at the start of the tenancy, allowing the letting agent to release the deposit with confidence and avoid disputes.
- Kitchen: oven interior and exterior, hob, extractor hood and filters, all appliance surfaces, worktops, cupboard interiors and exteriors, splashbacks, sink and taps, floor, and all light fittings
- Bathrooms: shower enclosure, bath, toilet interior and exterior, basin and taps, mirrors, tiles and grout, extractor fan, floor, and all fixtures
- Bedrooms: all surfaces dusted and wiped, wardrobe interiors and exteriors, window sills, skirting boards, light switches, door handles, and floor
- Living areas: all surfaces, window sills, skirting boards, light fittings, switches, sockets, radiators, and floor
- Windows: internal glass cleaned on all windows throughout the property
- General: all cobwebs removed, all door frames wiped, all vents and grilles dusted, and all marks on walls spot cleaned
For PSRA licensed letting agents managing multiple properties, we offer priority scheduling with guaranteed same-day or next-day availability. You call us when the tenant vacates, and the property is cleaned and ready to show within 24 hours. For agents with regular monthly turnover, we set up a standing arrangement with pre-agreed pricing so there is no quoting delay on each individual property.
Vacant Property Cleaning and Void Maintenance
Vacant properties deteriorate quickly. Dust accumulates, damp can set in, pest issues develop, and the general condition of the property declines with every week it sits empty. For landlords and property managers, a vacant property is a liability. It generates no income but still incurs costs. The longer it remains vacant, the more work and expense is required to bring it back to a lettable or saleable standard.
Optus Glean provides vacant property cleaning and ongoing void maintenance to keep empty properties in lettable condition. Our void maintenance programme includes an initial deep clean to bring the property to baseline condition, followed by periodic maintenance visits at intervals you choose, typically fortnightly or monthly.
- Initial deep clean — Full property clean including all rooms, kitchen appliances, bathrooms, windows (internal), floors, and all surfaces. Removal of any debris, cobwebs, or post-vacancy build-up
- Periodic maintenance visits — Each visit includes airing the property (opening windows for ventilation), running taps and flushing toilets to prevent trap dry-out and sewer gas, checking for damp or mould and treating as required, dusting all surfaces, vacuuming or mopping all floors, and a visual property condition check with a report to the owner or agent
- Pre-viewing clean — A quick refresh clean before scheduled viewings to ensure the property presents well to prospective tenants or buyers
Void maintenance is particularly valuable for landlords with properties in rural areas or second homes that may sit empty for extended periods. It prevents the small issues that become expensive problems if left unchecked.
Pre-Sale Property Preparation
First impressions determine sale prices. A property that is professionally cleaned and presented will attract more viewings, generate stronger offers, and sell faster than one that looks tired and neglected. Estate agents know this, and the best agents recommend professional pre-sale cleaning as a standard part of the marketing preparation.
Optus Glean provides pre-sale property preparation that goes beyond a standard clean. We focus on the elements that buyers notice first and that influence their perception of the property's condition and value. This includes deep cleaning of kitchens and bathrooms to showroom standard, window cleaning inside and out to maximise natural light, carpet and floor cleaning to refresh worn flooring, pressure washing of driveways, paths, and patios to improve kerb appeal, removal of all cobwebs, marks, and scuffs from walls, ceilings, and fixtures, and general declutter assistance where required.
For estate agents and auctioneers, we offer pre-sale cleaning packages at fixed prices based on property size. The investment typically returns many times its cost through faster sales and stronger offers.
Airbnb and Short-Term Let Turnaround Cleaning
Short-term letting through platforms like Airbnb, Booking.com, and VRBO has created a specific cleaning demand: rapid, consistent turnaround cleaning between guests. The window between checkout and check-in is often just a few hours. The clean must be thorough enough to earn five-star reviews but fast enough to avoid delaying the next guest's arrival.
Optus Glean provides turnaround cleaning for Airbnb hosts and short-term let management companies across Ireland. Our turnaround cleaning specification covers full bathroom cleaning and sanitisation, kitchen cleaning including all appliances and surfaces, bedroom linen change (if linen is provided by the host), living area cleaning and tidying, floor cleaning throughout, bin emptying and re-lining, consumable restocking (toiletries, coffee, tea) if provided by the host, and a final walkthrough check against a property-specific checklist.
We work to your checkout and check-in times. For high-volume hosts with multiple properties, we assign dedicated teams who know each property's layout, linen arrangements, and specific requirements. This eliminates the learning curve and ensures consistent results at every turnaround. Pricing is fixed per turnaround based on property size, so there are no surprises on your monthly invoice.
Portfolio Volume Discounts
Property managers and letting agents who manage portfolios of 10 or more properties benefit from our volume discount programme. The more properties you bring under a single Optus Glean contract, the lower your per-property cleaning cost.
- 10 to 24 properties — 10% discount on all cleaning services across the portfolio
- 25 to 49 properties — 15% discount on all cleaning services across the portfolio
- 50 or more properties — 20% discount on all cleaning services across the portfolio
The discount applies to every service type: end-of-tenancy cleans, common area cleaning, vacant property maintenance, Airbnb turnarounds, window cleaning, and pressure washing. You receive a single monthly invoice covering all properties, with line-item detail for each property and service. This simplifies your accounts, reduces the number of supplier relationships you manage, and ensures consistent cleaning standards across every property in your portfolio regardless of location.
For large portfolio managers, we assign a dedicated account manager who handles scheduling, quality monitoring, and reporting across your entire portfolio. Your account manager is your single point of contact for everything cleaning-related, freeing your property managers to focus on lettings, maintenance, and tenant relationships.
Our Services for Property Management
Apartment Block Cleaning
Scheduled common area cleaning for OMCs. Hallways, stairwells, lifts, lobbies, car parks, and bin stores.
View service →End-of-Tenancy Cleaning
Deposit-back standard cleaning for letting agents and landlords. Same-day availability for priority clients.
View service →Vacant Property Cleaning
Deep cleaning and ongoing void maintenance to keep empty properties in lettable condition.
View service →Window Cleaning
Internal and external window cleaning for apartment blocks, rental properties, and pre-sale preparation.
View service →Pressure Washing
Driveways, paths, car parks, and external areas. Kerb appeal for sales and tenant satisfaction for lets.
View service →Why Property Managers Choose Optus Glean
Single Invoice for All Property Needs
One contract covers end-of-tenancy cleans, common area maintenance, vacant property upkeep, window cleaning, and pressure washing across your entire portfolio. One supplier, one invoice, one standard.
Garda Vetted Teams
Every operative is Garda vetted before they enter any property. Essential for letting agents and OMCs who need to demonstrate due diligence to tenants, unit owners, and regulatory bodies.
Portfolio Pricing
Volume discounts of 10 to 20 percent for portfolios of 10 or more properties. Fixed per-property pricing with no hidden charges. The more properties, the lower your cost per clean.
Rapid Turnaround
Same-day end-of-tenancy cleaning for priority clients. 3 to 4 hour Airbnb turnarounds. Properties cleaned, inspected, and ready before the next tenant or guest arrives.
Request a Property Management Cleaning Quote
Complete the form below and our property cleaning specialist will contact you within 24 hours.
Frequently asked questions
How much does managed-buildings cleaning cost in Ireland in 2026?
A managed building or OMC block is priced as a fixed monthly fee tied to a defined communal-area scope, included in the service-charge budget, held under a multi-year contract with an annual indexed review. The Contract Cleaning ERO 2026 sets a €14.80/hour labour floor across the sector. Reputable providers quote the contract — single line, single monthly Direct Debit — so the OMC accounts and the AGM both see one transparent number.
What standards apply to managed-buildings cleaning in Ireland?
The MUD Act 2011 sets the service-charge framework and the OMC's obligations to its members. The PSRA regulates the managing agent. The HSA's Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 covers communal areas as workplaces. The cleaning programme must produce a documented audit trail — frequency of attendance, scope per zone, SDS — that the managing agent can table at the next AGM if asked.
How does the cleaning fee fit into the OMC service charge?
The cleaning fee is a budgeted line in the service-charge schedule under the MUD Act 2011, allocated against the communal-area scope (lobby, lift lobbies, stairwells, corridors, refuse rooms, bin chutes, exterior glass within reach). A fixed monthly fee with annual indexed review is the only model that gives the OMC a clean budget line and the directors a defendable AGM position.
What's the difference between PAYE and casual cleaning contracts in property management?
A PAYE-employed cleaner is on payroll with the company that signs the contract, paid above the Contract Cleaning ERO €14.80/hour floor, with paid leave and PRSI/pension. A casual or self-employed operative is none of those things, and is often subcontracted in by an agency the managing agent never signed with. PAYE staffing is the only model that holds a named primary cleaner who residents recognise, and the only one that survives an OMC AGM challenge on supply-chain integrity.
How is service-charge transparency delivered in cleaning?
Transparency means the OMC and managing agent get a fixed monthly fee against a written scope, a documented attendance log (when the cleaner was on site, what was done), and an annual indexed review with the index source named (typically a published wage or services index). No "ad-hoc" charges, no surprise surcharges between AGMs. The directors should be able to tally invoice to budget to scope without a phone call.
How do I evaluate a cleaning provider for an OMC or managed building?
Three checks. One: are the operatives PAYE-employed by the company that signs the contract, or subcontracted? Two: who is the named primary cleaner and named relief — is the building a real account or a dispatch slot? Three: can the provider produce an attendance log and quality audit pack the managing agent can table at the OMC AGM without translation?
What should be in a cleaning contract for a managed building?
A defined scope per communal zone, attendance frequencies, named primary cleaner with relief, the chemical regime with SDS, PAYE-employed staff confirmation, fixed monthly fee aligned to the service-charge budget, annual indexed review with named index, transparent reporting to the managing agent, and a clean exit clause. No per-hour pricing. No "extras" that bypass the AGM-approved budget.
How often should communal areas in an apartment block be cleaned?
A typical OMC programme runs twice-weekly or three-times-weekly cleans of lobbies, lift lobbies, stairwells, and corridors; weekly attention on bin chutes and refuse rooms; monthly periodic tasks (high-level dusting, glass within reach, signage); and quarterly or six-monthly deep cleans of hard floors and soft furnishings. In Ireland, larger schemes typically step up frequency on ground-floor lobbies and lift cars.
How Optus Glean handles staff shortages
Every Optus Glean contract is staffed on a redundancy model rather than a single-person model. A named primary cleaner is assigned to the site at contract start. A named relief is assigned alongside them. Both are PAYE-employed by Optus Glean, both are Garda-vetted, both are inducted on the site's specific layout, access protocols, and colour-coded equipment system, and both are trained to the same documented HIQA-aligned IPC standard. Substitution is built into the contract from the first day, not arranged on the day cover is needed.
Sick day cover. When the primary cleaner is unable to work, the named relief is deployed. The site site contact is notified by 06:30 on the morning of the absence by SMS or email, with the name of the relief who is attending. The relief follows the same task list, uses the same equipment, and finishes within the same window. The standard of clean is unchanged because the relief was prepared for this scenario before the absence happened.
Annual leave cover. Annual leave is rostered weeks in advance and the relief is scheduled to cover the full leave period. The site is informed at the start of the leave period — not on the morning leave begins. This is the same model used in clinical rota management: known absences are pre-staffed, not improvised.
Long-term cover. If the primary cleaner is absent for more than two weeks (extended illness, parental leave, bereavement leave), cover is drawn from the wider trained bench rather than relying on the single named relief. The site is kept informed of the cover plan, the named individuals involved, and the expected duration. Continuity of standard is maintained because every operative on the bench is trained to the same documented standard.
Permanent reassignment. If the primary cleaner moves to a new permanent role within Optus Glean — promotion, relocation, retirement — the relief is promoted to primary on a planned timetable, a new relief is trained on the site, and both are introduced to the site before the handover takes effect. There is no day on which the site discovers, after the fact, that their cleaner has changed.
Substitution is Optus Glean's operational problem, not the site's risk to absorb. The buyer pays a fixed monthly fee for a defined scope to be delivered, every day it is meant to be delivered. The mechanism by which we deliver it — primary, relief, bench, retraining — is our cost to manage and our risk to carry.
Last reviewed: 2026-05-06