Cleaning for property managers in Munich

The rhythm across the year

A schedule expressed in calendar weeks is more dependable than the phrase “every fortnight”. For each property we record the weeks and the weekday for the whole year. Bavarian public holidays such as Corpus Christi or Assumption Day regularly land on those dates; whether the visit moves forward or is made up afterwards is settled in advance rather than on the morning itself. Through the months of grit and wet footwear many properties run more tightly and switch back in spring.

Cost pools and comparability

The line between communal property and individually owned property decides who carries the invoice. Stairwell, entrance, basement and lift are billed to the association; cleaning a single flat is a separate job with its own document. We do not mix the two on one invoice, not even when both are done on the same day. Otherwise the annual statement shows a figure that can no longer be split cleanly between two cost pools.

At an owners’ meeting, quotations usually become incomparable because one provider names a monthly flat rate and another an hourly rate. Ours names three figures: people per visit, hours per visit and visits per year, calculated at €25 per person and working hour. No VAT is charged, in accordance with § 19 of the German VAT Act. From those you build the annual total yourself and hold it against any flat rate. If the association wants to spend less, we reduce the number of visits – not, unnoticed, the time spent on site.

What the invoice must show

German operating cost regulations list building cleaning as an item in its own right, in section 2 number 9. For it to survive scrutiny in the statement, the invoice has to state the property address and the service period rather than pull six addresses into one collective bill. We invoice each economic unit separately and keep recurring visits apart from one-off work such as vacancy or deep cleaning. Which item you pass on is your decision; our job is to make sure the invoice permits that decision at all.

Two kinds of handover

Between the outgoing handover report and the handover to the next occupant there are often only a few working days. What derails such appointments is rarely the state of the flat: the electricity has been disconnected so no vacuum will run, the water is off, or leftover furniture is standing about that nobody claims. Tell us the date as soon as the notice is in, not after the handover – while the timing can still be chosen.

When you take over a portfolio, you inherit properties about which almost nothing is documented: the key register has gaps, the step material is recorded nowhere, and the previous rhythm can only be inferred from old invoices. We walk such a building through once before quoting a number of hours. It works better to start with two or three addresses and add the rest after about six weeks. Taking on eight properties in one week comes at the expense of the first visits.

Travel costs per property

The travel flat rate of €18 applies per working day and job, not per person. For you that means: because each property stays a separate job for accounting reasons, the charge arises per property too – even for two buildings in the same street. It could only be merged by giving up separate invoicing. That would cost you more time when splitting the annual statement than the saved item is worth.