A post-construction cleaning checklist has five parts: HEPA dust removal from high to low, overspray and tape residue, vents and grilles, the right final pass for each floor type, and the punch list room by room. Done in that order, the building is ready for the owner walkthrough.
The walkthrough is at nine. The general contractor closed the punch list at eleven the night before. Someone lifts a return-air grille in the new boardroom and drywall dust falls onto carpet that still has its mill tag on. This checklist is for that moment, and it is written for project managers, site supers and owners.
It is not a weekly janitorial spec. For that, see what commercial cleaning includes. Here the trades have left and the poly is down, or should be. You need the building presentable for occupancy, a landlord walk, or substantial completion under a CCDC-style contract. Everest books this work through the post-construction cleaning service.
What are the stages of post-construction cleaning?
Most sites need three passes. The first two are the cleaning itself, and the third is a short return visit. For how each pass is scoped and timed on a Vancouver commercial handover, see rough, final and touch-up cleaning in Vancouver.
- Rough clean: debris, dust and protection removed while trades are still finishing. It makes the later work possible.
- Final clean: the full detail pass described below, once every trade is out and the dust source is finished.
- Touch-up: a short second pass after painters return for the punch list. One-day “final” cleans rarely stay final.
What has to be true before the final clean?
- The dust source is finished. Do not send a crew while drywallers are still sanding two floors up. Fine dust re-settles on every sill you just wiped.
- The HVAC construction filter is still in place. If the mechanical contractor installed one, it stays until the last sanding pass. If nobody knows, write it down as an open item.
- Access works. Keys, fobs and alarm codes need to open the spaces on the quote. A locked server closet or a tenant suite that is not on the quote stays shut, and we note it.
How do you remove construction dust?
Use HEPA vacuums and work from high to low. Drywall dust is not the pile on the floor, which is easy. It is the film on top of door frames, inside switch and receptacle boxes once the plates are off, and on the back of T-bar. It also sits on top of cabinets and in the tracks of sliding windows. A shop vacuum without a HEPA filter moves that film into the next room.
- HEPA vacuum horizontal surfaces from high to low, then the floors.
- Change the filter when suction drops. A clogged filter blows dust back out.
- Wipe sills, frames, base and the tops of doors after the vacuum pass. One wipe is not enough on a sanded surface.
- Check a sample of electrical boxes while plates are off. Dust inside a box is for the electrician to clear, and we do not work inside live boxes.
- Lift a few T-bar tiles near the returns. If the back of the tile is furred, the ceiling plenum took the sanding.
- If poly, zip walls or floor protection are still up, stop. Cleaning around poly leaves a dirty outline.
If millwork still has film on it, pull it and wipe. If staff have already moved in and left papers, clean around them.
How do you handle overspray, tape and trade residue?
Test first, then clean. Paint overspray shows up on glass, hardware, stainless elevator frames and anodized aluminium. Blue tape leaves adhesive that looks like dirt until the right solvent hits it. Caulk smears stay on vinyl base for weeks if nobody checks the first coat.
- Glass and mirrors: scrape where the paint is dry, then wash. Do not grind grit across a new pane.
- Door hardware and lever sets: wipe the rose and the latch face. Overspray there looks like a cheap install.
- Elevator frames and stainless: approved stainless cleaner only, no abrasive pads on a #4 finish.
- Anodized storefront: skip aggressive solvents and test a low corner. A haze you cannot buff out becomes a warranty call.
- Tape residue on glass, base and millwork: floor protection tape is worse than painter’s tape, so budget time for it.
- Label stickers on appliances, fire extinguisher cabinets and new fixtures: peel and de-gum them, and leave code labels that must stay.
Grout haze on new tile goes back to the trade if a test wipe will not lift it. The same goes for adhesive that squeezed out under LVP.
Do you clean vents and ducts after construction?
We wash supply and return grilles and vacuum the first stretch of duct we can see, usually the first 20 to 30 centimetres. That is not a full duct clean. If the mechanical spec called for a duct wipe or a filter change at occupancy, that is the HVAC contractor’s job. It becomes ours only if you put it on our scope in writing.
If the construction filter is black and the grilles film over an hour after we leave, the unit is still throwing dust. That is a mechanical problem, and we can return after the filter is changed.
- Every supply and return reachable without a lift beyond the quote.
- Thermostat faces and occupancy sensors, which film over and then look broken.
- Transfer grilles in doors, which people forget.
- Bathroom fans and their grilles, but not the rooftop stack.
What is the right final pass for each floor?
It depends on the floor, so treat each type separately. Sealed concrete, polished concrete, VCT, sheet vinyl, LVP, ceramic and broadloom each take a different last pass, and a burnisher on the wrong floor leaves a haze.
- Start with a sweep or a HEPA vacuum. Dust left under a mop turns to mud and costs a second day.
- Do the expansion joints and saw cuts. They hold pellets of drywall and screw caps, and a flat mop skips them.
- Put clean mats at the entry before the last wet pass so the parking lot does not walk back in.
- VCT and sheet vinyl: strip only if the spec says so. A post-construction pass is often a scrub and a coat. Our guide to when to strip and wax floors explains the difference.
- Carpet: hot water extract after the dry soil is out. Do not soak a floor in an unheated building in January.
- Concrete: dust mop, then use the cleaner the floor finish allows. Do not leave a polymer film on a floor the owner wanted raw.
How many days a floor needs is not something to answer from a photo. A 4,000-square-foot clinic with new VCT and a warehouse with a sealed slab are different jobs. Count the rooms that still have floor protection down, and that number is the schedule.
Which rooms belong on the punch list?
We work from the general contractor’s punch list and the rooms you open. A generic “construction clean” with no list is how leftover paint cans, ladder dents in the base and a missed washroom get found by the owner. We photograph what we cannot move, and trade debris that is still a trade’s problem stays, with the room number written down.
- Washrooms: fixtures, stalls, mirrors and floors.
- Kitchens and staff rooms: inside new appliances while the film is still on.
- Stairs, landings and the elevator cab, which collects overspray and grit from every floor.
- Exterior glass at entries, if it is in scope. A clean lobby with dirty vestibule glass fails the first photo.
- Windows: interior glass and sills, from a ladder where the sill is out of reach.
Substantial completion and occupancy are different bars
A building can be clean enough for the inspector and still fail the owner’s walk. Say which walk you are aiming for before we price crew size. Occupancy by staff or the public needs the higher standard.
What to send before we quote
- The floor plate.
- The punch list.
- Which rooms we can open.
We will tell you what a first pass can cover and what has to wait for another trade.
Frequently asked questions
What should a post-construction cleaning checklist include?
HEPA dust removal from high to low, overspray and tape residue, grilles and the first stretch of duct, and the right last pass for each floor type. Finish with the general contractor’s punch list and a touch-up pass after painters return.
Is post-construction cleaning the same as janitorial cleaning?
No. Janitorial work keeps an occupied building clean on a routine. Post-construction cleaning gets a finished building ready for occupancy or handover after the trades leave.
Do you clean ducts after construction?
We wash the grilles and vacuum what we can see in the first 20 to 30 centimetres. A full duct clean is the HVAC contractor’s scope unless you put it on ours in writing.
How many passes does a construction site need?
Usually a final clean and a short touch-up after painters return for the punch list. A one-day “final” clean rarely stays final.
How soon can I get a post-construction cleaning quote?
We send a written quote within 1 business day. For larger sites we book a free site assessment first, then quote from the walkthrough.
Book the walkthrough
Send the floor plate and punch list, and we will tell you what a first pass can cover before we lock a date. Get a free quote. For the daily scope after you move in, use our commercial cleaning checklist, and see the cities we serve.
