Stairwell Cleaning Schedule: Printable Template & Legal Position 2026
A sheet of paper hangs in the hallway: „Cleaning Schedule“, with twelve names below it and a grid of calendar weeks. After four months, the first boxes are left blank; after eight, the topic is on the agenda at the owners’ meeting. The schedule was rarely wrong, just too imprecise: it says who is due, but not what needs to be done and what applies when someone is absent.
We are Kleibrink Glas- und Gebäudereinigung GmbH from Gladbeck, a family-run business since 1983. A large part of our work involves residential buildings in the Ruhr area. We see both sides – buildings where the self-cleaning has been running for twenty years, and buildings where the cleaning schedule has become a source of ongoing disputes.
This guide provides a ready-to-use cleaning schedule template for printing and the legal position behind it: who is responsible, what the schedule must include, where the points of dispute lie, what happens when someone does not clean, and from when a professional company becomes cost-effective. A note upfront: we are a trade business, not a law firm. The information on the BGB, BetrKV and WEG is practical knowledge and does not replace legal advice.
Who is responsible? Tenancy agreement, house rules, WEG resolution
The starting point in a tenancy relationship is clear: under § 535(1) sentence 2 BGB, the landlord is obliged to hand over the rented property in a condition suitable for its contractual use and to maintain it in that condition. The stairwell is a common area – the cleaning obligation therefore initially lies with the landlord. If the tenancy agreement is silent on this, it remains there.
He can pass it on in two ways: he engages a service provider and passes the costs on as operating costs – building cleaning is expressly listed in § 2 No. 9 of the Operating Costs Ordinance (Betriebskostenverordnung) – or he transfers the cleaning to the tenants in the tenancy agreement, the traditional weekly cleaning rota. Both cannot be combined; see the guide on passing on the cleaning company’s costs to tenants for details.
If the cleaning obligation is transferred via a standard-form tenancy agreement, the clause is subject to §§ 305 ff. BGB: surprising clauses do not become part of the contract under § 305c(1) BGB, and clauses that unfairly disadvantage the tenant are void under § 307(1) BGB. The scope must therefore be defined and reasonable. A provision that permanently assigns the entire entrance area to the third floor while the ground floor only cleans its own floor is open to challenge. If the clause is void, the obligation reverts to the landlord. The house rules make the plan concrete, but they only bind tenants if they have been validly incorporated: they may set the frequency and order, but may not create new obligations.
Different rules apply in an owners’ association. The administration of the common property is the responsibility of the association under § 18(1) WEG; the adoption of house rules falls under proper administration pursuant to § 19(2) No. 1 WEG and is passed by a simple majority. A cleaning rotation plan can therefore be resolved, as can the engagement of a service provider. Costs are allocated under § 16(2) WEG according to ownership shares, unless a different key has been resolved. Anyone wishing to challenge a resolution must observe the time limits in § 45 sentence 1 WEG: the challenge action must be filed within one month of the resolution being passed and substantiated within two months of the resolution being passed. Practical advice: do not resolve „the cleaning“, but the specific plan as an annex to the minutes. To distinguish: Stairwell cleaning – an obligation or not?
Printable cleaning plan template
For display, the plan is also available as a ready-made A4 page: a rotation plan covering twelve weeks for up to eight households, with a date column, a „completed on“ field and a signature, plus a short list of what stairwell cleaning entails, and a note on quiet hours. The task table below supplements it with the activity and frequency per area – together, the two form a plan that still holds up after six months.
Download the cleaning plan template
A4 portrait, one page, printable in black and white: property and period, rotation for 12 weeks and up to 8 households, columns „Completed on“ and „Signature“, short list of tasks. Print, fill in, hang in the entrance hall.
Would you prefer to have the stairwell cleaned professionally? Stairwell cleaning from €160/month – free inspection, written fixed-price quote within 48 hours.
This table can be used as-is as a posted notice or as an annex to a resolution. The frequency figures are experience-based values for a normally used multi-family house; adapt them to your building, but do not omit any column – the last two are where disputes tend to arise later.
The following figures are market-standard reference points for the Ruhr area and do not constitute a quotation. Every property has its own particularities — access, height, condition and level of soiling can shift the price in either direction. The price becomes binding after the on-site visit. All amounts include VAT.
| Area | Tasks | Frequency | Responsible party | Completed (initials/date) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stair flight and landing of your own floor | Sweep, then damp-mop; include corners and step edges | weekly | Occupants of the floor | ☐ __________ |
| Handrail | Wipe with a damp cloth, top and bottom | weekly | Occupants of the floor | ☐ __________ |
| Balustrade bars, skirting boards, light switches, light fittings | Wipe down, remove dust and cobwebs | Monthly | Rotation | ☐ __________ |
| Main entrance, vestibule, doormat | Sweep and mop, shake out or vacuum the mat | weekly | Rotation | ☐ __________ |
| Front door, inside and out, glass, handle, intercom panel | Wipe glass streak-free, wipe handle and buttons | Every 14 days | Rotation | ☐ __________ |
| Letterbox unit | Dust, clean the nameplate, sweep behind | Monthly | Rotation | ☐ __________ |
| Stairwell windows (inside), window sills, frames | Wipe glass on the inside, damp-clean the sill and frames | quarterly | Rotation | ☐ __________ |
| Basement stairs, basement corridor, laundry room | Sweep, damp-mop, keep the drain clear | Monthly | Rotation | ☐ __________ |
| Waste collection point and bins | Sweep the area, take bins to the kerb for collection and back | weekly on collection day | Rotation | ☐ __________ |
| Bicycle storage, courtyard, access path | Sweep, collect fallen leaves | monthly, in autumn every 14 days | Rotation | ☐ __________ |
| Clear and grit the pavement | as per your city’s bylaws, daily in winter | as needed | own winter service plan | ☐ __________ |
How to use: one sheet per month, displayed in the entrance area, with a ballpoint pen nearby. Each task is ticked off with an initial and a date, not just a bare tick – this ends any debate about whether cleaning actually took place. The manager collects the sheets; after twelve months you will know whether the system works.
The rotating positions are governed by a second key. It prevents the most common injustice – that the same party always ends up with the entrance and the bin area:
The following figures are market-standard reference points for the Ruhr area and do not constitute a quotation. Every property has its own particularities — access, height, condition and level of soiling can shift the price in either direction. The price becomes binding after the on-site visit. All amounts include VAT.
| Period | Staircase and landings | Entrance and doormat | Basement and laundry room | Bin area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Flat 1 | Flat 2 | Flat 3 | Flat 4 |
| Week 2 | Flat 2 | Flat 3 | Flat 4 | Flat 1 |
| Week 3 | Flat 3 | Flat 4 | Flat 1 | Flat 2 |
| Week 4 | Flat 4 | Flat 1 | Flat 2 | Flat 3 |
If there are more than four flats, extend the table; each column must be fully cycled through once. Note which calendar week the rotation starts from and what applies in the event of a change of tenancy: the incoming tenant takes over the outgoing tenant’s position.
What a cleaning rota must include to hold up
A plan that merely lists names and weeks will hold up for about six months. These six points make the difference:
- Specific tasks rather than catch-all terms. „Cleaning the stairwell“ is open to interpretation; „sweeping and damp-mopping the steps, wiping the handrail“ is not.
- A standard for the result. The expectation is a clean, not a deep-cleaned, stairwell – this takes the edge out of any later complaints.
- Cover for holidays and illness. Whoever is unavailable arranges the swap themselves and records their partner – otherwise the week goes uncleaned.
- Materials and costs. Who provides the mop, bucket and cleaning products, and who pays for them? In a WEG, this is a line item in the budget plan.
- Time slot. A fixed cleaning day reduces queries and makes oversight straightforward.
- Point of contact. A designated person for complaints – otherwise disputes end up at the neighbour’s door.
Typical points of dispute – and how the plan defuses them
„It wasn’t cleaned.“ Most of the time it was cleaned, just not noticeable enough or on a different day. The tick-off column with initials and date resolves this faster than any discussion.
Time and day of the week. Mopping at half past ten in the evening is a genuine point of conflict in an echoing stairwell. In Nordrhein-Westfalen, the night period from 22 to 6 o’clock is protected (Section 9, Paragraph 1 of the Landes-Immissionsschutzgesetz NRW); in addition, there is quiet on Sundays and public holidays, as well as midday quiet, which many house rules stipulate. For more details: Cleaning the entrance hall and quiet hours.
Wrong products on sensitive floors. Vinegar-based cleaner on marble or terrazzo, abrasive cream on lacquered wood – such damage is expensive and irreversible. Note the floor covering in the plan and that neutral cleaners are to be used.
Who can no longer manage physically. This is the most common reason why self-cleaning breaks down: the average age is rising, two parties can no longer mop the stairs, the rest quietly take over – until they stop. A clean solution is a buy-out: whoever does not clean themselves pays a fixed amount, as set out in the resolution, into the common fund.
What happens when someone doesn’t clean
In a tenancy, cleaning is a contractual ancillary obligation where a valid clause exists. The usual route is substitute performance: the landlord issues a warning with a deadline, has the cleaning carried out and claims the costs as damages under § 280(1) BGB – the reasonable amount is the individual job, not the annual contract. If the tenant remains persistently inactive, termination under § 573(2)(1) BGB may be considered; this is the rare endpoint.
Conversely, tenants have a tool: if the stairwell is persistently neglected, a defect in the rented property with a right to reduce rent under § 536(1) BGB may exist. A few missed weeks are not enough.
In a homeowners’ association, the claim is not directed at the neighbour but runs through the association: every owner may, under § 18(2) No. 1 WEG, demand proper administration of the common property – that is, administration that serves the interests of all owners as a whole, in accordance with reasonable discretion and, where applicable, statutory provisions, agreements and resolutions. In practice, the practical solution is usually not a dispute with an individual party, but a new resolution.
In discussions about cleaning schedules, the duty of care is almost always overlooked: whoever maintains a building must ensure that no one is harmed, otherwise liability under § 823(1) BGB may arise. Delegating the cleaning transfers the execution but, according to case law, regularly leaves a duty of selection and supervision with the owner – whoever delegates must occasionally check. This becomes relevant with wet floors and winter maintenance: the duty to clear and grit the pavement is transferred to the adjacent property owners in North Rhine-Westphalia through the municipal street cleaning by-law. The times and areas are specified in your city’s by-law.
When a cleaning company pays off
Calculate the effort first, not the price. A twelve-unit building takes a good two hours for a proper cleaning; with weekly rotation, each unit is responsible roughly four times a year. Schemes rarely break down on the total number of hours but on reliability: as soon as two out of twelve units drop out, the remaining ten bear the burden, and the scheme loses its foundation.
From our experience, there are three tipping points: more than roughly eight residential units, a high proportion of rented units with frequent tenant turnover, and an average age at which physical work on the stairs can no longer be expected. At that point, outsourcing is usually more stable – because a contract brings coverage, proof of service and a point of contact.
On the cost: our stairwell cleaning starts at €160 per month. The ranges by building size and the comparison with employing your own cleaner on a Minijob contract are broken down in our guide How much does stairwell cleaning cost?. These figures are for guidance; we provide a reliable quote after a site visit.
For landlords, cost allocation is the decisive lever: the costs of building cleaning can generally be passed on under § 2 No. 9 BetrKV, provided the tenancy agreement contains a valid service charge clause and the duty of economic efficiency under § 556(3) BGB is observed. Switching from a cleaning rota to a professional company therefore does not necessarily increase the owner’s burden, but shifts it into the annual statement. What needs to be in the contract is covered in our article Cleaning contract with the managing agent. We service properties in Gladbeck, Bottrop and Essen and often bundle larger buildings with regular cleaning.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a stairwell cleaning rota legally binding?
It becomes binding only through its legal basis. In a tenancy, the cleaning obligation must have been validly transferred in the tenancy agreement; the house rules may specify it but cannot create new obligations. In an owners’ association, the binding force arises from a majority resolution – the house rules fall under proper administration pursuant to § 19(2) No. 1 WEG. A self-posted notice is a request, not an obligation.
What must a stairwell cleaning rota include?
Five entries per line: the area, the specific task, the frequency, the responsible party, and a field for ticking off with initials and date. In addition, rules for covering absences due to holiday and illness, the question of materials, and a fixed cleaning day. The template in this article can be used unchanged as a posted notice or as an annex to a resolution.
What can a landlord do if a tenant does not carry out their cleaning duty?
The usual course is a formal warning with a deadline, followed by substitute performance: the landlord has the cleaning carried out and claims the reasonable costs as damages under § 280(1) BGB. If the tenant remains persistently inactive, a termination under § 573(2) No. 1 BGB may be considered – the exceptional case. If the clause is invalid, the obligation remains with the landlord.
How often must the stairwell be cleaned according to the rota?
There is no legally prescribed frequency. In a normally occupied multi-occupancy building, the usual schedule is weekly for the stairs, landings, handrails and entrance; monthly for the balusters, letterbox system and basement corridors; and quarterly for interior windows. Quieter buildings manage on a 14-day cycle, while high-traffic ones tend to need two passes per week.
At what point is it worth hiring a cleaning company instead of using a cleaning rota?
In our experience, from about eight dwelling units, with frequent tenant turnover, or when several parties are no longer physically able to clean. Our stairwell cleaning starts at €160 per month; for landlords, the costs are generally passable on under § 2 No. 9 BetrKV. Work out the amount per dwelling unit per month.
Questions or a quote?
Is your cleaning schedule no longer adequate, or does the owners’ meeting want to see figures? We’ll come for a free site visit, record the floors, steps and floor coverings, and send you a written quotation. You’ll find the contact form on our homepage, or by phone Monday to Friday from 10 to 18 o’clock.
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