When a body corporate refurbishes common property, the cleaning afterwards is the trustees' responsibility and it is routinely left out of the project budget. The work is approved, the contractor is appointed, the corridors are repainted, and then the scheme discovers that nobody priced getting the dust out of the corridor carpet, the lift lobbies and the clubhouse furniture, and there is no line to pay it from.
This describes ordinary practice in sectional title schemes rather than legal advice, and your scheme's rules and your managing agent govern.
Why it falls through the cracks
Because a refurbishment budget is built around the visible work.
Trustees approve a quote for painting the corridors or replacing the lift lobby flooring. That quote covers the contractor's own clearing up, which means removing their debris and leaving the area usable. It does not usually cover deep cleaning the soft surfaces the dust reached, because those are not part of the works and the contractor was never asked to price them.
The result is a scheme that has spent a substantial sum improving common property and then looks at grubby corridor carpet, because the improvement made it worse, see getting builders’ dust out of carpet.
What the dust actually reaches in a scheme
More than the area under works, because a residential block is a set of connected corridors with shared air.
Corridor and stairwell carpet along the route between the works and the exit or the lift. Lift interiors, which are the pinch point everything travels through. The lobby and any seating in it. Clubhouse and communal lounge furniture, if the scheme has one. And, depending on the work, the vent grilles in the corridors.
Worth noting the boundary clearly, because it causes arguments: this is common property. Inside an owner's section is that owner's responsibility, and the body corporate cannot commission cleaning inside a unit any more than an owner can commission work in the corridor. If dust has got into units, that is a separate conversation and separate quotes, though both can usually be done on the same visit, see how to split a quote along that boundary.
Getting it into the budget
The fix is entirely at approval stage and costs nothing then.
Price the clean with the works, not after them. A separate line in the same approval, so trustees are approving the whole outcome rather than the visible part of it and discovering the rest later.
Ask the works contractor what their clearing up covers. Usually debris removal and making the area usable, which is not the same as extraction on corridor carpet. Getting that in writing prevents the assumption that it was included.
Decide the standard before, not after.Trustees are spending other owners' money and will be asked about it at the AGM. A corridor that looks worse after a refurbishment than before it is a harder conversation than a line item that was approved openly.
Insurance, which trustees should be asking about anyway
Appointing an uninsured contractor to work in common property is a decision taken on behalf of every owner in the scheme, and it is worth being deliberate about it.
Ask any contractor working in the scheme for their certificate of public liability cover, check that it is current and that the insured name matches the entity quoting, see how to verify it properly. We carry cover and provide the certificate to trustees or the managing agent on request, before we arrive rather than after.
Scheduling around residents
People live here, which rules out the approaches that work in an empty commercial building.
Corridor work needs to happen at reasonable hours, since extraction is noisy and there are residents on both sides of the wall including shift workers and small children. Corridors also cannot be closed for long, because they are the only route to people's front doors, so the work is done in sections with a clear route maintained throughout.
Drying is the part that makes this workable. Controlled-moisture extraction leaves corridor carpet dry in 2 to 6 hours with airflow, so a corridor done in the morning is normal by mid-afternoon rather than being a wet hazard for a day.
Common questions
Who pays for cleaning after common property refurbishment?
The body corporate, since common property is its responsibility, which is exactly why it needs to be in the approved budget alongside the works rather than discovered afterwards. Works contractors generally price their own clearing up, meaning debris removal and leaving the area usable, not deep cleaning the corridor carpet and communal furniture the dust reached.
Can the body corporate arrange cleaning inside units after common property work?
No. Common property is the body corporate's responsibility and the interior of a section is the owner's, and neither can commission work in the other's area. Where dust has reached units, those are separate quotes to individual owners, although both can usually be carried out on the same visit, which is where the saving is.
What should trustees ask before approving a refurbishment quote?
Whether the contractor's clearing up includes deep cleaning of soft surfaces, in writing, and if not, a separate priced line for it in the same approval. Also the contractor's public liability insurance certificate, checked for currency and that the insured name matches the quoting entity, since appointing an uninsured contractor to work in common property is a decision taken on behalf of every owner.
How disruptive is corridor cleaning in an occupied block?
Manageable if it is sectioned. Corridors are the only route to residents' front doors so they cannot be closed for long, and the work is done in sections keeping a clear route throughout. Extraction is noisy, so it is a normal-hours job rather than an early or late one, and controlled-moisture cleaning leaves the carpet dry within 2 to 6 hours.