"Builders Clean" - what is it?

[raine]

The builders for my extension are contracted to do a "builders clean throughout" at the end of the job.

They claim that essentially amounts to vaguely running a broom around the room, and maybe a damp cloth over a window or two. They have partially laid a new floor, and the existing floor (part lino, part floorboards) is filthy with screed residue where they've not cleaned it when they laid the adjacent screed. It is not even close to being clean enough to use.

My interpretation of a builders clean has always been a team of girls (not being sexist - they are always girls!), from a firm that specialize in "builders cleans", do a thorough clean so that the place is fully livable / back to how it was before the builders started. My builders say no, that's a "deep clean".

Who's right?

 

[foxhole]

Builders clean is usually minimal, some don’t even throw their rubbish away .

 

[mattylad]

Sounds like an oxymoron that.

Builder and clean are 2 words that do not go together.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I would expect a scraper used on floors to remove on stuck plaster or screed and a thorough brushing and removal of all rubbish and debris. More than that, it would be unfair to expect.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

In my experience a builders clean should have already removed all construction waste, e.g. blocks and bricks, bagged materials (sand, plaster, etc), surplus timbers, tiles, etc. The cleaners will skip this, but not always. The team will scrape spills (plaster, etc) from floors and walls, remove all protective films from hard floors, carpets, woodwork, glazed units, etc, vacuum/mop and dust all hard and soft surfaces, clean glass, clean light fittings, generally remove all dirty marks, etc. It won't be perfect, but it will be thorough. And it isn't always women doing it. Main thing is that they arrive mob handed and they are fast

 

[Notch7]

It depends on the contract.

If you are having a full turn key project including bathrooms, kitchen, floor tiling, decorating etc then that should be left fully clean.

Ive read building work contracts that state 'housewife' clean......although I think that may have been commercial contracts.

 

[johnny2007]

Builders clean means they take their rubbish away and sweep the floor.
Deep clean (which good builders insist on doing) means that they give you the house and you can start living in it.
I always preferred a deep clean in my jobs since a fool decided that the best way to clean newly varnished doors was to use a scorer pad and finish off with white spirit.
Then he blamed us saying that we couldn't paint properly.
We ended up with a compromise charging half price to redo the doors.