What Is a Good Quote for Cleaning Services? (Real Examples + 2026 Ireland Guide)

Most Irish homeowners get a cleaning quote that looks like this — a single line on WhatsApp: "€90 for the day, sound?" That's not a quote. That's a guess.

The problem isn't the price. The problem is what's missing. No scope of work. No insurance reference. No VAT breakdown. No cancellation terms. And no way to hold anyone accountable if the job isn't done right — or if something in your home ends up broken.

A bad quote leaves you exposed in three specific ways: surprise charges added mid-job or after completion, no insurance recourse if a cleaner damages your property, and no written proof of what was agreed if a dispute arises. In 2026, with cleaning rates regulated under the SIPTU Employment Regulation Order and VAT rules firmly in place, there's no excuse for any professional cleaning company to hand you a one-line estimate.

This guide covers the 9 elements every legitimate cleaning quote must include in 2026, shows you real examples of good and bad quotes side by side, and gives you a comparison framework so you can evaluate any quote you receive in under 60 seconds.

Quick Answer: A good cleaning quote in Ireland is a written, itemised document that includes the cleaner's business and insurance details, a clear scope of work, hours allocated, hourly or flat-fee pricing with VAT shown separately, supplies and exclusions list, cancellation terms, and the quote's validity date. Verbal quotes and one-line text estimates are not professional quotes.

What Counts as a "Quote" — and What Doesn't

The word "quote" gets used loosely in the cleaning industry, and that looseness costs Irish homeowners money. Here's what actually counts — and what doesn't.

A verbal estimate is not a quote. If a cleaner walks through your home and tells you a price out loud, that conversation leaves no paper trail. No scope was agreed. No terms were set. If the job goes wrong, you have nothing to point to.

A WhatsApp or text price is a ballpark figure, not a binding document. "€90 cash, see you Tuesday" tells you approximately what you'll pay, but nothing about what you'll get for it. If the cleaner decides the oven was "extra" or the bathroom tiles needed a specialist product, you have no written scope to dispute it.

An email with a single price line — "Quote: €600/month for cleaning. Thanks." — is still not a professional quote. It's a number with no context, no breakdown, and no terms.

A written, itemised document with terms is the real thing. It covers scope, hours, price with VAT, supplies, exclusions, insurance, payment terms, and an expiry date.

Why does this matter specifically in Ireland? Because verbal agreements are legally weaker — if a dispute arises, you have no proof of what scope was agreed. Cleaning services fall under the Consumer Rights Act 2022, and written terms are your primary protection as a buyer. Additionally, VAT-registered businesses are legally required to issue itemised invoices and quotes — so if a company isn't providing this, they may be operating outside their compliance obligations.

The practical rule is simple: if you can't print it and hand it to your accountant, it isn't a quote.

The 9 Elements Every Good Cleaning Quote Must Include

1. Cleaning Company's Business Details

Every professional quote must open with the company's full business information: registered business name (exactly as it appears on Revenue or CRO records), a physical business address, a working phone number and email address, their VAT number if they are VAT-registered, and their company registration number if they are operating as a limited company.

This matters because if something goes wrong — damage to your property, a dispute over scope, a missed appointment — you need to know exactly who you are dealing with and how to find them. A cleaner who gives you a first name and a mobile number is not a business. They're an individual, and pursuing a complaint becomes significantly harder without verified contact details.

2. Public Liability Insurance Reference

A legitimate cleaning quote should explicitly reference the company's public liability insurance. This means naming the insurance provider, and either the policy number or the coverage amount. In Ireland, the minimum acceptable level of public liability cover for professional cleaners is €2.6 million, though many commercial cleaning companies carry €5–10 million.

If a cleaner damages your hardwood floor, breaks an appliance, or slips and injures themselves on your property, public liability insurance is what protects both of you. If there is no insurance reference on the quote — and you can't confirm coverage exists — you are personally carrying the financial risk for anything that goes wrong. That is never an acceptable position to be in.

3. Itemised Scope of Work

This is the section that prevents the most disputes. A proper cleaning quote breaks down exactly what will be cleaned, room by room or task by task, using specific action verbs.

A bad scope looks like this: "General cleaning." That phrase is meaningless. It doesn't specify which rooms, which surfaces, or what standard the work will be carried out to.

A good scope looks like this: "Kitchen — wipe-down all counters and splashback, clean hob and sink, wipe exterior of all appliances, mop floor, empty bin. Bathroom 1 — clean toilet inside and out, scrub sink, clean shower screen and tiles, mop floor, polish mirror." Every task is named. Every room is listed.

When the scope is clear and detailed, neither party can claim the other is misunderstanding what was agreed. If it isn't in the scope, it wasn't in the quote.

4. Hours Allocated (or Flat-Fee Basis)

Your quote must tell you either how many hours are allocated at a stated hourly rate, or give you a flat fee with an approximate time estimate attached to it. For team work, the quote should state how many cleaners will be attending multiplied by how many hours each will work.

The reason this matters is simple: you need to understand whether you are paying for time or for a defined outcome. A quote that says "€150 total" without specifying hours is vague enough to cause problems. Does the cleaner leave after three hours even if the job isn't done? Or do they stay until the scope is complete? An hours-and-rate structure answers that question before anyone arrives at your door.

5. Pricing — With VAT Shown Separately

In 2026, the standard VAT rate applied to cleaning services in Ireland is 13.5%. Any VAT-registered cleaning company is legally required to show this as a separate line on their quote. Your quote should show three numbers: the subtotal (price before VAT), the VAT amount at 13.5%, and the total including VAT.

This distinction matters more than many people realise. A quote that says "€150 total" when VAT is included is a different agreement from a quote that says "€150 + VAT" — the second one actually means you'll pay €170.25. That's a €20.25 difference on a modest clean, and the gap grows significantly on larger commercial contracts.

Independent cleaners who are below the €42,500 services VAT registration threshold are not required to charge VAT — but a professional quote from them should still state this explicitly, so there is no confusion about what the total represents.

6. Supplies — What's Included, What's Not

The supplies section is the single biggest source of unexpected charges in Irish cleaning quotes. A professional quote must state clearly which category each supply falls into.

Standard supplies — detergents, cloths, mops, vacuum — should be listed as either included in the price or bring-your-own. Specialist supplies — eco-certified products, antimicrobial treatments, heavy-duty oven cleaner — should be noted as either included or charged as an extra. Specialist equipment — carpet cleaning machines, pressure washers, industrial steam cleaners — almost always require a separate quote and should be flagged as such.

If a quote simply says "supplies included," push back and ask what that covers. The word "included" can mean all consumables, or it can mean a single bottle of surface spray. You need to know which one it is before you accept the quote.

7. Exclusions and Add-On Charges

A good quote tells you as clearly what it does not include as what it does. A professional exclusions list might read: "Not included — inside oven, inside fridge, interior windows above ground floor, ironing, exterior window cleaning, balcony." Alongside each exclusion, a professional quote will also list the per-task add-on rate if the customer wants to request that service.

This section protects both sides of the agreement. It protects you from a cleaner who refuses mid-job to tackle tasks you assumed were standard. It protects the cleaner from being held to tasks they never agreed to provide. The absence of an exclusions list is not a generous omission — it is an ambiguity waiting to become a dispute.

8. Cancellation, Rescheduling, and Payment Terms

Every professional cleaning quote should state the cancellation notice period (typically 24–48 hours in Ireland), the cancellation fee structure (many companies charge 50% of the session fee for late cancellations), the payment methods accepted (bank transfer, Revolut, card — cash-only arrangements with no receipt are a red flag), and the payment due date (on completion or within 7–14 days). Without a stated payment due date, payment timelines become a negotiation rather than an agreement. To see how a professionally structured cleaning arrangement works in practice, our office cleaning service in Dublin sets out exactly this kind of clear, documented process.

These terms protect both parties from the most common friction points in the client-cleaner relationship. Without written cancellation terms, there is no agreed basis for charging a cancellation fee — even if the cleaner turned down other work to hold your slot. Without a stated payment due date, payment timelines become a negotiation rather than an agreement.

9. Quote Validity Date

A professional cleaning quote should always state the date it was issued and the date it expires — typically between 14 and 30 days from issue. This seems like a small administrative detail, but it carries real commercial weight.

Since the 2026 SIPTU Employment Regulation Order came into effect, many cleaning companies have shortened their quote validity windows to 14 days, because labour costs are rising and rates need to reflect current market conditions at the time of agreement. A quote without an expiry date can be argued either way if costs have changed between issue and acceptance — and that ambiguity rarely resolves in the customer's favour.

Real Sample — What a Good Cleaning Quote Looks Like

Here is what a professional cleaning quote looks like when all 9 elements are present:

Premier Contract Cleaning — Quotation #PCC-2026-0418

Issued to: Sarah O'Brien, 14 Maple Avenue, Rathmines, Dublin 6 Date issued: 18 April 2026 Valid until: 18 May 2026

Service: Standard maintenance clean, weekly Property: 3-bed semi-detached house Time allocated: 3 hours per visit, 1 cleaner

Included scope: Vacuuming all carpets, mopping all hard floors, dusting all surfaces, kitchen counters and exterior of appliances, two bathrooms (toilet, sink, shower/bath, mirror, floor), bin emptying, bed-making.

Excluded (available as add-ons): Inside oven (€45), inside fridge (€25), interior windows above ground floor (€4 per pane), ironing (€20/hr).

Insurance: Public liability — Allianz Ireland, policy ref ALZ-PCC-2026 (€6.5m cover). All staff Garda-vetted.

Cancellation: 24-hour notice required. Late cancellation = 50% of session fee. Payment: Bank transfer or Revolut, due within 7 days of invoice.

Authorised by: Catalin Fatul, Director, Premier Contract Cleaning Business registration: [CRO number] | VAT: [VAT number]

Notice every one of the 9 elements is present. This is what you should expect from any professional cleaning company in Ireland — not as a bonus, but as a baseline.

What a Bad Cleaning Quote Looks Like (Real Example)

Here is what a bad quote looks like. These are not invented examples — they reflect the kinds of messages Irish homeowners receive every day.

Bad Example 1 — WhatsApp message:

"Hiya, did the look around. €90 cash for the day, supplies included mostly. Can start Tues. Let me know."

Bad Example 2 — One-line email:

"Quote: €600/month for cleaning. Thanks."

Here is what is wrong with each of these:

Neither includes a business name, address, VAT number, or any detail you could use to verify who you're dealing with. Neither references insurance — if this person damages a piece of furniture or has an accident on your property, you have no policy to claim against. The scope in Example 1 is "the day" — which could mean five hours or nine hours, and there's no task list to confirm what was agreed. "Mostly included" supplies is an open invitation for add-on charges to appear on your final bill. There is no VAT line on either quote, so you don't know whether the price shown includes tax or not. There are no cancellation terms, no payment terms, and no expiry date on either.

The risk summary is straightforward: if you accept either of these and the cleaner damages your property, you have no insurer to contact, no signed scope to dispute, and no business address to direct a complaint to. You accepted a guess and paid for an outcome you had no way to enforce.

How to Compare 3 Cleaning Quotes Side by Side

Getting three quotes is standard advice when hiring a cleaner in Ireland — but most people don't know how to compare them properly. Price alone is not enough. A cheaper quote that is missing three of the 9 essential elements is a worse quote than a slightly more expensive one that includes everything.

Use this framework to compare any three quotes you receive:

Work through each row for each quote before you look at the price column. Once you've confirmed which quotes are complete, apply the standard decision rule: discard the cheapest, discard the most expensive, and choose the middle quote. A complete €200 quote beats an incomplete €120 quote every time. The incomplete quote will cost you more before the month is out.

7 Red Flags in a Cleaning Quote (And How to Spot Them in 60 Seconds)

These are the warning signs that should make you pause before accepting any cleaning quote. Each one on its own warrants a question. More than two together should send you back to the market.

1. No business address or VAT number. A cleaner trading without verifiable business details is either unregistered or actively avoiding compliance. If something goes wrong, you will have very little recourse.
2. No insurance reference. The absence of a named insurer and policy reference means you are carrying all the financial risk for any damage or accident that occurs on your property during the clean.
3. "Cash only, no receipt." This arrangement gives you no paper trail, no proof of payment, and no means of disputing a charge. It also typically signals that the cleaner is not declaring their income — which is their legal problem, but your practical one if a dispute arises.
4. Vague scope — "general cleaning." Two words that mean nothing specific. Without a task list, any argument about what was or wasn't done becomes entirely subjective. The cleaner wins those arguments by default, because you have nothing to point to.
5. No VAT line on a company quote. A VAT-registered business that doesn't show VAT separately on a quote is either non-compliant with Revenue requirements, or hiding the true cost by rolling the tax into a "total" that sounds lower than it is.
6. A rate that is suspiciously cheap — below €14.80/hr in 2026. The SIPTU Employment Regulation Order sets a minimum labour rate for cleaning workers in Ireland. Any quote that implies labour below this floor is either underpaying workers, operating in the grey economy, or being delivered by an inexperienced individual without proper training or insurance.
7. No quote validity date. Without an expiry date, both parties are exposed to price disagreements. If cleaning rates rise between the time the quote is issued and the time work begins, there is no agreed basis for resolving the difference.

Premier Contract Cleaning quotes include all 9 essential elements as standard — see what a real Irish quote should look like by requesting a free written quote today.

2026 Pricing Reference — What a Fair Quote Should Cost

Before you evaluate the price line on any cleaning quote, it helps to know what fair looks like in the current Irish market. Here are the baseline ranges for 2026:

One number to keep in mind above all others: any 2026 quote that prices labour below €14.80 per hour is non-compliant with the SIPTU Employment Regulation Order. That minimum rate exists to protect cleaning workers — but it also protects you as a customer. Cleaners working below that rate are typically uninsured, untrained, or operating without declared income. The savings you see on the quote are usually recovered through corners cut on the job.

For a full breakdown of what you should expect to pay for a fair price for a 3-hour clean or for a complete guide to daily cleaner rates in Ireland, see the dedicated pricing guides. You can also review the average hourly cleaner rate in Ireland for 2026 and what factors affect it.

How to Request a Good Cleaning Quote — The 5-Step Briefing

The quality of the quote you receive is often determined by the quality of the briefing you provide. A vague request produces a vague quote. Here is how to brief a cleaning company properly so you get a complete, comparable quote back.

Step 1: Describe your property accurately. State the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, approximate square metres if you know them, and the floor types throughout (carpet, hardwood, tile, laminate). This allows the cleaner to estimate time correctly.

Step 2: Define the job clearly. Is this a one-off clean, a weekly or fortnightly maintenance arrangement, a full-day end-of-lease clean, or a deep clean? The type of job affects how the quote is structured and what a fair price looks like.

Step 3: List the specific tasks you want included — and any you want excluded. Don't assume the cleaner knows what you mean by "a good clean." Name the rooms. List the tasks. If you want the inside of the oven done, say so. If you don't want the cleaner touching your home office, say that too.

Step 4: Confirm what you'll provide versus what they'll provide. Will you supply cleaning products, or should they? Is there parking available, or will that be a cost to factor in? Who holds the key, and how does access work?

Step 5: Ask for the quote in writing — explicitly. Most cleaning companies will default to whatever format they're used to. If you don't ask for a written, itemised document, you may not get one. Be direct about what you need.

Here is a message you can copy and adapt when contacting a cleaning company:

"Hi, I'm looking for a quote for [weekly maintenance / one-off deep / end-of-tenancy] cleaning of a [3-bed house in Rathmines]. Could you send me a written quote that includes scope of work, hours, total price with VAT shown separately, supplies included/excluded, insurance reference, cancellation terms, and the quote validity date? Thanks."

This message signals that you know what a professional quote looks like — and most professional companies will rise to that standard.

How to Spot a Good Cleaning Quote in 60 Seconds

As a cleaning service owner, I can tell you that a solid quote isn’t just about numbers. It’s about clarity, trust, and professionalism. Here’s how to ensure you’re getting the real deal:

Start by running the 9-element checklist against any quote you receive. If more than two elements are missing, it’s not a real quote — it’s just an estimate with no guarantees. Lack of insurance, no VAT number, and no clear terms leave you exposed to risks.

Pay close attention to the labour rate. In 2026, any quote implying labour below €14.80 per hour falls below the SIPTU ERO minimum — and that’s a red flag for quality issues, underpaid workers, or legal concerns.

When comparing quotes, follow this simple rule: get three quotes, eliminate the cheapest and most expensive, and choose the middle one — but only after ensuring all 9 elements are in place.

At Premier Contract Cleaning, we take pride in offering professional quotes that are complete, transparent, and backed by insurance. We include all 9 elements in every quote, ensuring you get the highest level of service without any surprises.

Request your free, detailed quote today →

For more insights on hiring a reliable cleaning service for your business or home, check out our dedicated guides on commercial cleaning contracts and what to look for when choosing a service provider.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should a cleaning quote always be in writing?

Yes. Verbal quotes and one-line text messages don't qualify as professional quotes. A real quote is a written, itemised document covering scope, price, terms, and insurance — protecting both you and the cleaning company. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2022, written terms are your primary protection as a buyer of a consumer service. If a cleaning company won't provide a written quote, that is a red flag on its own.

Do cleaning companies have to show VAT separately on a quote in Ireland?

VAT-registered cleaning companies — those above the €42,500 services threshold in 2026 — are legally required to itemise VAT at 13.5% on their quotes and invoices. Independent cleaners below the threshold don't charge VAT, but should still state this clearly on any written quote they provide, so the customer knows exactly what the total represents and why no VAT line appears.

How long should a cleaning quote be valid for?

Standard practice in Ireland is 14–30 days. Since the 2026 SIPTU Employment Regulation Order came into effect, many cleaning companies have shortened validity windows to 14 days, because labour costs are subject to change and rates need to reflect current market conditions at the time the contract is agreed. If a quote has no validity date, ask the company to add one before you accept it.

What insurance reference should appear on a cleaning quote?

A legitimate cleaning company quote should reference public liability insurance with the insurer's name and either the policy number or the coverage amount. The minimum acceptable coverage for professional cleaners in Ireland is €2.6 million; many commercial cleaning companies carry €5–10 million. If it's not on the quote, ask before signing — and if they can't provide it, move on.

Is a cheap cleaning quote always a bad sign?

Not always — but in 2026 Ireland, any quote that implies labour below €14.80 per hour is below the SIPTU minimum rate. That usually signals underpaid workers, undeclared work, or lack of insurance cover. The cost of something going wrong is almost always higher than the money saved on the cheaper rate. A quote can be good value without being the cheapest option on the table.

How do I know if a cleaning quote is fair?

Check three things: all 9 essential elements are present, the labour rate is at or above €14.80/hr in 2026, and the total price falls within the fair market range for that service type. If all three pass, the quote is fair. If any one of them fails, ask why before proceeding. For a detailed look at cleaning a 3-bedroom house or the full deep clean cost guide, the pricing guides provide market-specific benchmarks.

Should I always go with the cheapest cleaning quote?

No. The standard advice is to get three quotes, discard the cheapest and the most expensive, and choose the middle one — but only after confirming that all 9 essential elements are present in that quote. Completeness beats cheapness every time. A complete €200 quote from an insured, registered, VAT-compliant company is a better purchase than an incomplete €120 quote from someone you can't hold accountable. For more guidance on evaluating quotes and avoiding the most common hiring mistakes, see the guide to red flags when hiring a cleaning company.

Catalin Fatul

Catalin Fatul is the founder and expert behind Premier Contract Cleaning, dedicated to providing top-notch cleaning solutions and tips. With a passion for cleanliness and a commitment to quality, Catalin brings years of experience in the cleaning industry to help readers maintain pristine spaces. Whether it's offering the latest cleaning hacks or recommending the best products, Catalin's mission is to make cleaning efficient, effective, and enjoyable.