Window cleaners

What to put in your job description

• The kind of home: a flat, a terrace, a semi or a detached house, and how many floors.
• Which windows: front, back, both, and any conservatory roof or skylights.
• Whether the back can be reached, and if there is a side gate to leave open.
• Whether you want the frames, sills, doors, gutters or fascias cleaned too.
• How often: once, every four weeks, every eight weeks.

Don't put your name, phone number or address in the description: every trade who covers your area reads it. Your name, phone, email and address go only to the trades who take the job (3 at most).

Questions to ask before you hire

• Do you use a water-fed pole or ladders, and for which windows?
• Is the price the same each visit, and does it include the frames and sills?
• How do I pay, and what happens if it rains on the day?
• Do you clean conservatory roofs, and how?
• Do you have public liability insurance?

Registers and schemes to check

There is no legal register for window cleaners. Some belong to a trade body, such as the Federation of Window Cleaners. The law on work at height applies to them: many use water-fed poles from the ground so they need ladders less. We don't check this for you yet.

What the job usually involves

• Cleaning the glass outside, with a water-fed pole from the ground or with ladders.
• The frames and sills, if agreed.
• Inside windows, conservatory roofs, skylights and gutters, as extras.
• A regular round, often every four or eight weeks.

How quotes and visits work

Window cleaners usually give a fixed price for each visit, by the size of the home. Ask what is included, how often they come and how you pay. Many take payment by card or bank transfer after each clean.

Ask for a written quote (a fixed price) rather than an estimate (a guess that can change), and for what it includes. If you agree a job in your home, you usually have 14 days to cancel under the Consumer Contracts Regulations; if you want work to start sooner, you may have to pay for what has been done.

Safety

• Leave the side gate open and the dog inside on cleaning day.
• Don't climb onto a conservatory roof to clean it: ask the cleaner.

Insurance

Ask for public liability insurance: it covers damage or injury caused by the cleaner, such as a ladder through a window.

Guides for homeowners

• How to compare quotes from local trades

We take jobs from anywhere in the UK: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Trades choose the postcode districts they cover.

Window cleaners by town and city

England

Scotland

Wales

Northern Ireland