What does a developer require for handover cleaning?

The word "impeccable" has the particular quality of committing nobody to anything. Two contractors will sign it without hesitation, and neither will do the same job.

A usable requirement has three properties: it names a surface, it names an observable condition, and it names the condition of observation.

• "Clean glazing" is unenforceable. "Glazing with no streaks or film, checked from inside against the light, protective films and labels removed, frames, beading and tracks included" can be checked.
• "Clean floors" is unenforceable. "Floors free of residual cement haze, checked in raking light on a dry floor, joints free of cement deposit" can be checked.
• "Clean sanitary ware" is unenforceable. "Shower tray free of bedding-mortar residue, trap and overflow removed and rinsed, overrun silicone cut flush, WC flange treated" can be checked.
• "Clean joinery" is unenforceable. "Channels vacuumed, tracks dry-brushed then washed, drainage holes cleared and tested with water" can be checked.

The difference is not one of wording. A vague form of words can be argued over indefinitely; a precise one is either ticked or it is not. The full item-by-item detail is published in the checklist applied to a residential unit.

These are the six lines that separate a comparable quote from a decorative one. Ask every bidder for them, us included.

1. The starting condition on record. The price assumes a given site condition — which one? A quote that does not define "standard condition" and "heavy condition" will be revised on site.
2. The scope by unit type, unit by unit, and the treatment of communal areas — cleaned after the units they serve, never before.
3. The equipment and method by floor type. The answer immediately shows whether the contractor knows the surface. Porcelain, marble and zellige (traditional glazed mosaic tile) call for neither the same machine nor the same pad.
4. The number of team-days per phase, and the confirmation date.
5. The proof-of-completion process, covered further down.
6. The rectification terms: within what timescale, on what scope, under what conditions.

A seventh point is not asked for, it is verified: the contractor's compliance paperwork. An undeclared subcontractor exposes the client to real risk; checking costs no more than an exchange of documents.

A price can be renegotiated, a method can be corrected, a missed date cannot be recovered. Yet it is the line most often left vague in a brief.

What needs to be written:

• The entry condition: units released by every trade, rubble removed, water and electricity live on the unit. Without live meters, a rotary machine and a wet-and-dry vacuum are useless and the day is lost for both parties.
• The grout-curing period: at least 7 days between grouting and floor cleaning, otherwise the joint hollows out during rinsing and the cement haze comes back the following week — the mechanism is described in grout curing before floors are washed.
• Notice of availability: a phase announced in advance can be planned; the date of each visit is confirmed with the contractor's team.
• The unit that is not ready: what happens if an announced unit is not finished when the team arrives? The sound rule: cleaning starts once every trade has finished, and the unit is rescheduled for a date when it has.
• A buffer before the buyer's viewing: allow 24 to 48 hours between the end of cleaning and the first viewing, to let floors dry fully and to cover any rectification point.

A quote only holds if the client holds up its side. These five points belong to the developer, not the contractor, and their absence is paid for in days.

• Water and electricity on the unit, or a water point and a supply within 30 metres.
• Access: lift available on a booked slot, parking for the works vehicle, a carrying route. On a development, hand-carrying equipment up four floors doubles the time needed just to bring gear onto the unit.
• Removal of rubble and packaging before the team arrives: cleaning starts on a cleared unit.
• Units genuinely finished. A painter who comes back after the team has passed voids the unit. It is the most frequent cause of double billing.
• A single point of contact on site, able to approve a variation on the spot rather than referring back to a head office.

This is where Moroccan briefs are weakest, and it is exactly what protects the developer the moment a buyer raises an objection.

Three documents, and they should be asked for explicitly:

A jointly signed handover report per unit, carrying the checklist actually used. It fixes the condition at a dated moment. Without it, a defect noted three weeks after twenty different trades have passed through cannot be untangled.

A dated photographic report, sent before the site manager's visit. It saves one site visit in two and lets a rectification be handled without tying up the unit.

A rectification log: which point, flagged when, fixed when, by whom. A rectification commitment with no log behind it cannot be checked.

Insist that these three documents are produced by default, not on request. A contractor who already produces them for other clients will not charge extra for them; one discovering the requirement in your brief will either charge for them or skip them.

The classic blind spot: the quote covers "X units", and on handover day there are surfaces nobody has counted. Have the brief state what the per-square-metre price includes and what is added to it. At EPUREVA, that gives:

• The type of floor, home by home: 20 MAD/m² incl. VAT on standard tiles, 30 MAD/m² incl. VAT on marble, zellige (traditional glazed mosaic tile), bejmat, tadelakt (a lime-based plaster finish), polished concrete, stone or wood. See traditional floors.
• The minimum for each home: 2,000 MAD incl. VAT for a studio, 3,000 MAD incl. VAT for an apartment or premises, 7,500 MAD incl. VAT for a villa or riad. A small home is charged at the minimum, even within a development.
• Terraces, added to the indoor floor area: 10 MAD/m² incl. VAT on standard tiles, 30 MAD/m² incl. VAT on any other surface.
• The condition of the site: many marks from the works, +20%; thick residue on almost every surface, +40%; a home already furnished, +15%.
• What is included: floors and skirtings, accessible windows, bathrooms and WCs, stairs, small marks from the works and the finishing check — with no separate line for accessible glazing.
• A return after trades come back, when a technical snag calls a painter or a tiler back: it is a separate visit, to be planned into the schedule.

Example: a 160 m² apartment including 40 m² of marble comes to 120 × 20 + 40 × 30 = 3,600 MAD incl. VAT; with many marks (+20%), 4,320 MAD incl. VAT. These figures are indicative: scope and price are confirmed after photos or a visit. The full schedule is on post-construction cleaning prices.

As much as the right clauses, it is the wrong ones that derail a programme.

"Response within 24 hours on request, for the whole duration of the programme." No structured contractor allocates a team by the day with no notice for six months. What you will get is a signature followed by a refusal on the first call. Ask instead for short notice within an announced window — that can be organised.

"Capacity of X teams available." A figure written on a website or in a proposal commits nobody and cannot be checked. Ask for written confirmation of availability for your handover window, programme by programme: that can be checked, and it is enforceable.

"Late-delivery penalty charged to the contractor." It is easy to sign and never recoverable from a cleaning company whose invoice is less than half a percent of the unit's sale price. What actually protects a handover is a phased schedule, a named point of contact and a contractual rectification process — not a decorative clause.

The companion article on how costs are split is who pays for post-construction cleaning on a programme, and the on-site organisation is detailed in the logistics of a building handed over in phases. Our scale applied to a development is set out on the new-build and developer page. For an estimate, send the floor area and floor types of each home, and the target handover date.