Signing a commercial lease comes with a long list of decisions, and cleaning rarely feels like the most exciting one. Rent, square footage, parking and the length of the term usually take centre stage. Then the first month goes by, the trash piles up in the hallway, the lobby glass is smudged, and everyone starts asking the same question: whose job is this, anyway?
The short answer is that it depends on the lease. The longer answer is more useful, because once you understand how commercial leases usually divide responsibility, you can read your own agreement with a sharper eye, ask better questions before you sign, and avoid the awkward back and forth that happens when both sides assume the other one is handling it.
This guide walks through the common lease structures, the areas of a building that tend to cause confusion, and practical steps for landlords and tenants who want a clean space without a dispute. It is general information to help you get oriented, so for anything binding, your lease and a qualified real estate lawyer have the final word.
Why the Lease Document Holds the Answer
Residential renters often rely on local rules that spell out what a landlord must provide. Commercial tenancies work differently. Businesses are generally treated as capable of negotiating their own terms, so most of the rules about who cleans what come from the written lease itself, along with any building rules or schedules attached to it.
That means two tenants in the same neighbourhood, or even the same building, can have completely different cleaning arrangements. One might have nightly janitorial service built into the rent. Another might be responsible for every surface inside their unit and pay a share of the cost for cleaning the hallways on top of that. Neither is unusual.
When you sit down with a lease, look for sections with titles such as “Maintenance and Repairs,” “Services,” “Operating Costs,” “Common Areas,” “Janitorial” or “Surrender of Premises.” Cleaning obligations are often split across several of these, so reading only one clause can give you half the picture.
How Lease Type Shapes Cleaning Duties
The structure of the lease is the single biggest clue to who handles cleaning. Most commercial leases fall into a few broad families, and each one tends to push cleaning in a predictable direction. The labels can vary by region and by landlord, so treat these as starting points and always check the specific wording.
Gross Leases
In a gross lease, the tenant pays one rent figure and the landlord covers most of the building’s operating costs out of that amount. Cleaning is frequently one of those included services, particularly in multi-tenant office buildings where the landlord already has a janitorial contractor working the floors at night.
Even in a gross lease, the included cleaning usually has limits. A landlord might provide basic nightly service (emptying bins, vacuuming open areas, wiping restrooms) while leaving anything beyond that, such as kitchen deep cleans, carpet extraction or cleaning after a tenant event, to the tenant. The lease or a cleaning specification attached to it should list exactly what is included and how often.
Net and Triple Net Leases
Net leases shift some or all operating costs to the tenant on top of base rent. In a triple net lease, the tenant typically pays a share of property taxes, insurance and maintenance. Under this setup, tenants are commonly responsible for cleaning their own premises and also pay a proportionate share of what it costs the landlord to clean shared areas.
Single tenant buildings on net leases often go one step further. When one business occupies the whole property, the tenant may be responsible for nearly everything: interior cleaning, exterior upkeep, parking lot sweeping, snow clearing and landscaping. The landlord’s role can shrink to major structural items.
Modified Gross Leases
A modified gross lease sits between the two. Some operating costs are bundled into rent and others are passed through to the tenant. Cleaning is one of the items that gets negotiated most often here, so you will see every combination: landlord cleans common areas and tenant handles the suite, landlord cleans everything but bills it back, or tenant arranges its own service with the landlord’s approval of the vendor.
Because modified gross leases are so customized, they are the ones where reading the fine print matters most. Two leases with the same label can treat cleaning very differently.
Common Areas and Your Own Premises
Most commercial leases draw a line between the premises (the space you rent exclusively) and the common areas (spaces shared by all tenants or used by the public). This line does a lot of work when it comes to cleaning.
Common areas usually include lobbies, elevators, stairwells, shared corridors, shared restrooms, loading docks, parking areas and exterior walkways. In multi-tenant buildings, the landlord almost always controls the cleaning of these spaces, because one coordinated service is far more practical than six tenants each sending someone to mop the same lobby. The cost, however, is often recovered from tenants through operating cost charges.
The premises are where responsibilities vary most. Some landlords clean inside each suite as part of the building service. Others stop at the suite door. If your lease says the landlord provides “janitorial services to the building,” check whether “building” is defined to include your premises or only the shared spaces. That one definition can decide who cleans your floors every night.
What Shows Up in Common Area Maintenance Charges
Common area maintenance charges, often shortened to CAM charges, are how many landlords recover the cost of running the shared parts of a property. Cleaning is typically one of the larger line items, alongside things like landscaping, snow removal, security and lighting.
For tenants, the useful questions are how the share is calculated and what exactly is in the pool. A share is usually based on the tenant’s portion of the building’s rentable area, though some leases use other formulas. Ask whether cleaning costs for vacant units or for another tenant’s private space could end up in the shared pool, and whether there are caps on year over year increases.
Many leases give tenants the right to review the landlord’s operating cost statements or to request supporting detail. If cleaning charges seem out of step with the level of service you see, that review right is the polite, contract-based way to ask about it.
Cleaning Tasks That Often Fall Into a Grey Zone
Even a well-drafted lease cannot anticipate every situation. A few cleaning tasks come up again and again as sources of confusion, and they are worth raising before you sign.
Windows and Glass
Exterior windows, especially on upper floors, usually need specialized equipment and insurance, so landlords commonly handle them on a set schedule. Interior glass, such as office partitions, glass doors and storefront glass at street level, is more likely to be the tenant’s job. Retail tenants in particular may want storefront glass cleaned far more often than the landlord’s schedule allows, which means arranging and paying for it themselves.
Carpets and Hard Floors
Routine vacuuming and mopping are often included in whatever regular service the lease provides. Periodic deep work, such as carpet extraction, stripping and refinishing vinyl tile, or polishing stone, is a different matter. Leases sometimes treat this as maintenance of the tenant’s improvements, which places it with the tenant, and sometimes include it in the landlord’s service specification. If the floors are a big part of how your space looks to visitors, find out which applies.
Heating and Cooling Systems
Filter changes and duct cleaning sit right on the border between cleaning and maintenance. In many multi-tenant buildings, the landlord maintains central systems and passes the cost through. In single tenant buildings or spaces with their own rooftop units, the tenant may be responsible for servicing equipment that serves only their premises.
Waste, Recycling and Pest Control
Leases often say the landlord provides a central waste area while the tenant is responsible for bringing its garbage there and for any special disposal its business needs. Restaurants, medical practices and businesses that generate unusual waste streams should expect to handle that themselves. Pest control can go either way, though problems traced to one tenant’s operations are commonly that tenant’s responsibility to fix.
How the Type of Business Changes the Picture
The kind of business operating in a space has a big influence on how cleaning is divided, partly because some businesses need a level of cleaning far above what a standard building service provides.
Office tenants in multi-tenant towers often receive some level of included janitorial service, then add extra cleaning for kitchens, meeting rooms or high-traffic reception areas. Retail tenants in plazas and strip centres more commonly handle their own interior cleaning and storefront, while the landlord looks after the parking lot and shared walkways.
Medical, dental and food service tenants usually take on more responsibility for their own spaces. Their cleaning has to meet health and infection control expectations that a general building contractor may not be set up for, and regulators generally hold the operator of the business accountable for those standards. These tenants frequently negotiate the right to bring in their own specialized cleaning provider and to exclude their premises from the landlord’s general service, sometimes with a reduction in the related operating costs.
Move-In and Move-Out Expectations
Cleaning obligations show up at both ends of a lease, and these moments are where disagreements tend to get expensive.
At move-in, check what condition the landlord promises to deliver the space in. Some leases say the premises will be “broom clean,” which generally means swept and free of debris, but well short of spotless. If the previous tenant left the space in rough shape, or if construction is happening before you move in, you may want a clause requiring a full cleaning after the work is done, or plan to arrange one yourself before your team arrives.
At move-out, the surrender clause usually describes the condition you must return the space in. Common wording asks for the premises to be left clean, free of the tenant’s property, and in good repair, reasonable wear and tear excepted. Some leases require tenants to remove their improvements and restore the space. Falling short can lead to the landlord hiring cleaners and deducting the cost from the security deposit, so a thorough final clean, documented with dated photos, is usually money well spent.
Questions to Ask Before You Sign
A few direct questions during lease negotiations can save months of friction later. Landlords tend to appreciate them too, because clear expectations make for easier tenancies.
Start with the basics: Does the landlord provide any cleaning inside my premises? If yes, how often, during what hours, and what tasks are included? Is there a written cleaning specification I can attach to the lease? Who supplies consumables such as paper towels, toilet paper and soap in restrooms inside my suite?
Then move to cost and control. How are common area cleaning costs calculated and shared? Can I bring in my own cleaning company, and are there approval requirements such as proof of insurance or security clearance? Are there building rules about when outside cleaners can access the property, which elevators they use, or where they store equipment? Finally, what condition must the space be in when I leave, and how will that be assessed?
Choosing a Cleaning Provider When the Job Falls to You
If your lease puts interior cleaning on your side of the ledger, choosing a provider becomes part of running your business. The right fit depends on your space, your hours and your industry, but a few qualities matter almost everywhere.
Look for a company that carries proper insurance and can provide certificates to your landlord, since many buildings will not allow an outside crew in without them. Ask how staff are screened and trained, especially if your office holds confidential files or your building has strict security procedures. Flexible scheduling also counts for a lot, because building rules often limit when outside vendors can work, and your cleaning plan has to fit inside those windows.
Location matters as well. Dense urban buildings come with freight elevator bookings, loading dock rules and security desks that a crew needs to handle smoothly. Tenants in tower offices often look specifically for Manhattan office cleaning services or a similar local specialist, since a team that already works within high-rise building rules every night tends to settle into a new account with fewer hiccups. Businesses with several sites across a region may prefer a single provider that can cover them all under one consistent standard, such as a New York janitorial company with crews in multiple cities, rather than juggling a different vendor at each address.
Contract terms deserve a close look too. Your lease already ties you to a property for a set period, and you may not want your cleaning agreement to add another long commitment on top of it. If you are a tenant in the New York area comparing options, you can learn more about Executive Cleaning Services, a family-owned commercial cleaner that has served businesses since 1976 and does not require long-term contracts, as one example of how providers in this space describe their terms.
When Landlord and Tenant See It Differently
Sometimes, despite everyone’s best intentions, a disagreement comes up. A tenant feels the common areas are not being cleaned to the standard they pay for, or a landlord feels a tenant’s space is creating problems for neighbours. The good news is that most of these situations resolve with a calm conversation backed by the lease.
Start by rereading the relevant clauses together, so everyone is working from the same text. Keep records: dated photos, notes of when issues were reported, and copies of emails. Many leases have a notice provision that says how formal communications must be sent, and following it shows good faith and protects your position if things escalate.
If the lease is unclear, a written side letter or lease amendment that spells out the agreed arrangement can prevent the same issue from returning every season. For disputes that involve significant money or that affect the ability to operate the business, it is wise to involve a commercial real estate lawyer before taking further steps.
Building a Cleaning Plan That Works for Both Sides
The most comfortable tenancies treat cleaning as a shared project. Landlords want a well-kept building that keeps tenants happy and protects the property’s value. Tenants want a space that impresses visitors and keeps employees comfortable. Those goals line up nicely once responsibilities are clear.
A simple approach is to create a one-page cleaning matrix, either as a lease schedule or an informal document both parties keep on file. List each area of the property in one column (lobby, corridors, shared restrooms, suite interior, kitchen, windows, parking lot, waste area) and note who cleans it, how often, and who pays. It takes an hour to put together and can save a great deal of confusion when staff change or the building is sold.
Review the plan once a year, ideally around the time the landlord issues operating cost reconciliations. Business needs shift over time. A tenant that adds a staff kitchen, takes on more visitors, or starts hosting events may need more frequent service, and adjusting the plan early keeps everyone on the same page.
A Quick Recap for Busy Readers
Who cleans in a commercial lease comes down to the written agreement, and especially to the lease type and how it defines the premises and common areas. Gross leases often include some landlord cleaning, net leases usually place interior cleaning with the tenant, and modified gross leases can go in any direction depending on what was negotiated.
Shared spaces are usually cleaned by the landlord and paid for through operating costs, while tenants commonly handle their own suites, specialized cleaning and any extras their business needs. Windows, floors, ventilation, waste and pest control are the most frequent grey areas, and move-in and move-out conditions are where misunderstandings tend to cost the most.
Ask direct questions before you sign, put the answers in writing, and keep a simple record of who handles what. With that groundwork in place, a clean, welcoming workplace becomes one less thing to worry about, and both landlord and tenant can get back to the work that matters to them.