Stairwell cleaning: cycle, checklist, who is responsible?

The communal stairwell is the calling card of a block of flats — the first impression for visitors and prospective tenants. Even so, there is a good deal of uncertainty in many buildings: how often does it actually need cleaning, what does that involve, and who pays for it?

How often does it need cleaning?

There is no frequency laid down by law — what counts is what has been agreed in the tenancy agreement or in the house rules. In practice, a weekly to fortnightly cycle for stairs, handrails and the entrance area has become established; buildings with heavy footfall (many households, commercial use on the ground floor) often clean weekly, while smaller buildings get by with an interval of two to four weeks.

What does a complete stairwell clean include?

• Sweeping and damp-mopping the stair treads and landings
• Wiping down handrails, light switches and door handles (particularly relevant for hygiene)
• Cleaning the windows and window sills in the stairwell
• Removing cobwebs and dust from ledges and letterbox units
• Checking and cleaning the entrance area including the doormats

Who is responsible — and who pays?

In principle, cleaning is a matter for the landlord or the residents' association. It is often passed on to the individual households in rotation via the house rules — which in practice frequently leads to friction when one or two of them do not keep to their turn. Alternatively, the cost of professional cleaning can be passed on to the tenants as operating costs — the cost category itself is expressly covered in § 2 Nr. 9 of the Betriebskostenverordnung (BetrKV, the German operating costs regulation) as „Kosten der Gebäudereinigung“ (costs of building cleaning), provided that passing such costs on has been agreed in the tenancy agreement at all (§ 556 Abs. 1 BGB).

In summary

A clearly defined cycle with a fixed checklist prevents most disputes in the stairwell — whether you organise it yourselves or hand it over to a service provider.

How Zamsa helps

We take on the stairwell, cellar corridors and communal areas on the agreed cycle as part of our building cleaning service — with a defined scope of work, so it is clear from the outset what is done at which visit.