Few questions cause more friction at committee meetings than “whose job is that?”. A puddle in the lift, a grimy stairwell or an overflowing bin room can sit untouched for days because everyone assumes someone else is looking after it. This guide explains how cleaning responsibilities usually split in a Queensland strata scheme, and how to set things up so nothing falls through the gaps.
The legal starting point
Strata schemes in Queensland are governed by the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (the BCCM Act) and the regulation module that applies to your scheme — most residential buildings use the Standard Module or the Accommodation Module, while smaller and commercial schemes may use the Small Schemes or Commercial modules.
The principle that matters for cleaning is simple:
- The body corporate must maintain common property in good condition, which includes keeping it clean.
- Owners maintain their own lots, including in most schemes the balconies and courtyards that form part of the lot.
Your community management statement (CMS) and survey plan define exactly where common property ends and a lot begins. If a balcony, courtyard or car space is in doubt, the plan is the tie-breaker.
What counts as common property?
In a typical apartment building, common property includes:
- entrances, foyers, lobbies and letterbox areas
- lifts, corridors, stairwells and fire stairs
- car parks, driveways, visitor parking and bicycle storage
- bin rooms, bin enclosures and chute rooms
- pools, gyms, BBQ areas, rooftop terraces and function rooms
- gardens, paths, fences and external walls
- shared amenities such as toilets in commercial or mixed-use schemes
All of these are the body corporate’s responsibility to keep clean, safe and presentable.
Who actually does the work?
The body corporate is a legal entity, so in practice the work is delegated. Most schemes use one or a combination of the following.
A cleaning contractor
The committee engages a specialist contractor under a written agreement with a defined scope of works. This is the most common arrangement in small and medium schemes without a caretaker, and in larger buildings that want a dedicated, accountable cleaning team. See our strata cleaning services for what a full-service contract looks like.
A caretaker or resident manager
Many larger schemes have a caretaking agreement (often bundled with a letting business) under which the caretaker performs some cleaning and grounds duties. The agreement lists those duties — read it carefully before engaging anyone else, so the body corporate doesn’t pay twice for the same task. Our guide to caretakers versus cleaning contractors covers how the two can work together.
Specialist trades
Periodic work such as soft washing, external window cleaning, carpet steam cleaning and grease-trap servicing is often contracted separately, or added to the cleaning contractor’s scope as periodic tasks.
Where the body corporate manager fits
The body corporate manager administers the scheme: they keep records, issue levies, call meetings and frequently obtain quotes and manage contracts on the committee’s behalf. They are an important coordinator, but they don’t usually decide who is engaged — the committee (or the general meeting, for larger contracts) makes that call within the limits set by the regulation module.
Common grey areas
Balconies and window exteriors. If the balcony is part of the lot, cleaning it is the owner’s job. External glass that can only be reached by rope access is often treated as a body corporate task even where the window belongs to the lot — check your by-laws and past practice.
Spills and damage caused by an occupant. The body corporate generally arranges the clean-up to make common property safe, then may seek to recover the cost from the responsible owner. The priority is always safety first; an urgent spill shouldn’t wait for a debate. For eligible customers, our rapid response service exists for exactly this.
Bulk rubbish. Dumped furniture in the bin room is a constant headache. Your by-laws may require owners to remove their own bulk waste; in practice the body corporate often pays for removal and then enforces the by-law.
Car spaces. Exclusive-use car spaces may still be common property. Oil stains and general sweeping are usually handled as part of common-area cleaning, while a heavy oil leak from one vehicle may be charged back.
Setting it up so nothing is missed
- Write a scope of works. List every common area, every task and how often it’s done. Our guide to writing a cleaning scope of works walks through it.
- Map the scope against the caretaking agreement, if you have one, and mark which tasks belong to whom.
- Agree on reporting. You should be able to see that each visit happened and what was done. We use photo-verified, signed-off checklists and a client portal so the committee never has to take it on faith.
- Name a contact for urgent issues so residents and the manager know who to call when something goes wrong out of hours.
- Review it yearly. Buildings change: new facilities, new residents, new problem areas.
How we help
Strata Cleaning Co. works for body corporates, strata managers and building managers across Brisbane. We start every engagement the same way: we come to you, walk the building with you, and put a written scope and quotation in front of the committee. Book a free site visit and we’ll help you sort out exactly who should be doing what.
By Strata Cleaning Co. · 4 August 2026