Property management and estate cleaning in Bremen

An administrative process, not a cleaning matter: a schedule of services per property, a traceable item and a regulated complaints route.

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In short

When owners discuss cleaning, it is rarely about how shiny the stairwell is. It is about an invoice that has to survive the service charge statement, and about who would have been liable had someone fallen on the wet entrance step. Cleaning of properties is therefore an administrative process, not a cleaning matter – and should be tendered as one.

The buyer's problem

The most common gap is not in the cleaning but between cleaning and winter service: who clears snow, who spreads grit, who clears again, and who removes the grit from the entrance area afterwards? If this transition stays undefined, a window arises in which nobody is responsible. Then there is the second weak point: a single uniform interval across the whole portfolio regularly leads to one property being over-served and another under-served – and the complaints come from the second.

What shapes the cleaning concept

Two buildings belonging to the same manager rarely have the same cleaning need. The interval is therefore set per property, and these factors determine it:

Number of residential units per floor and the number of lifts.
Underground car park or parking deck – and whether the entrance comes directly off the street.
Refuse room inside the building or in the yard, basement corridors, bicycle rooms.
Entrance situation facing the street and the amount of dirt carried in from there.
Ancillary areas: which are expressly included and which are expressly excluded.
Covering and coating of the circulation areas, and the drainage situation.
Complaints route: who reports, who confirms, and by when a report is dealt with.

Legal and technical classification

In residential property management the legal framework decides which item is defensible in the statement and who stands behind the condition of the property. Three things are regularly mixed up here.

Statutory duty: duty to maintain safety: The duty to maintain safety requires that circulation areas are kept in a condition that excludes danger to third parties, as far as that is reasonable. Responsible is not the cleaner but the party that organises the area. No particular cleaning method follows from this, but the duty to know the condition and to regulate cleaning in a traceable way.
Statutory basis of allocation: Betriebskostenverordnung (German Operating Costs Ordinance): Building cleaning, street cleaning and refuse removal are in principle eligible for allocation as operating costs, provided they actually arise and are properly accounted for. Not eligible are expenses attributable to the management or the owner – typically the cleaning of vacant units and cleaning after repair work. Whether a specific item is defensible is decided by your accounts department; we supply the specification of services, but not legal advice.
Statutory requirement: the principle of economic efficiency: For the service charge statement, tenancy law requires a reasonable relationship between cost and benefit. In practice that means the item has to be explainable. A flat amount for 'cleaning, portfolio' is not, because it does not show which area was treated how often. A property-specific schedule of services makes the item verifiable – for the accounts department, for the advisory committee and for the tenant who asks.
Contractual requirement: boundary to winter service: Who clears snow, who spreads grit, who clears again, and who removes the grit from the entrance area? This boundary belongs in the contract in full wording – regardless of who provides the service. It matters more than the difference in cost between two providers, because in the event of damage it decides who was responsible.
Public procurement law: only for public contracting authorities: A private condominium owners' association is not bound by public procurement law; it decides through resolution and the principle of economic efficiency. The position is different for municipal housing companies and publicly funded bodies: there the usual procurement rules apply, and providers must be able to present the corresponding evidence and suitability documents.
No certification by the service provider: We document the work carried out. We are not a certification body and certify neither the lawfulness of your service charge statement nor the safety of your circulation areas. Both are tasks of the management; our role is the traceable specification of services.

The rules named here describe requirements on how the work is carried out — they are not a certification held by BREREI. VDI and DIN standards are chargeable and were not available in full text; where a statement touches the standard in detail, this is noted in place.

What we need for a quotation

For a reliable calculation we need the following details. The more precise the breakdown, the fewer additional items arise in the first year.

Address and property type
Area breakdown with the circulation and ancillary areas to be treated
Number of floors and lifts
Condition of the underground car park or parking deck including drainage
Existing key and access arrangements
Desired interval per property
List of ancillary areas – expressly included and expressly excluded ones
Desired evidence and billing rhythm per property

Services that fit this industry

Four services cover a manager's portfolio. They differ not only in interval but also in whether they are ongoing operating costs or a separate occasion.

In-depth guide

The guide explains the legal framework and the methods in detail.

Choosing a cleaning company and comparing quotationsWhat quotations can actually be compared on — and why a square-metre price says nothing about the service.

Frequent questions from this industry

Answered briefly, so you can judge whether we fit your property.

Can we pass the cleaning costs on to tenants in full?

Building cleaning, street cleaning and refuse removal are in principle eligible for allocation, provided they actually arise and are properly accounted for. Not eligible are expenses attributable to the management or the owner – typically the cleaning of vacant units and cleaning after repair work. Whether a specific item is defensible in your statement is decided by your accounts department and, in a dispute, by the courts. We supply the specification of services, but not legal advice.

Is a framework agreement for the whole portfolio enough?

As a framework, yes; as a specification of services, no. A framework agreement governs term, payment method and liability. What is actually cleaned has to be described per property, otherwise the interval is open to negotiation – and every complaint becomes a case-by-case decision. That is exactly where most quotation comparisons fail: providers calculate different property scopes, and the figures are therefore not comparable.

How are locking systems and keys handled?

The intended procedure is documented handover with assignment to a property and documented return when staff change or the contract ends. Locking systems, transponders, basement and lift keys are assigned by name. How far the service provider's insurance cover extends and whether loss of a key is covered is a contractual and insurance question that has to be clarified before the contract is concluded.

What happens if a cleaner is absent?

Short-notice absences cannot be ruled out. What matters is what is agreed in the contract: a cover arrangement, a reporting route and making up the work within a defined period. We do not give blanket time promises, because they would not be verifiable on site. The specific arrangement is recorded before the contract is concluded and belongs in the contract, not in a set of meeting notes.

How often does an underground car park have to be cleaned?

That cannot be answered in general terms. What counts is the severity of the winter, the drainage situation, coated or uncoated concrete, the intensity of use and whether the entrance comes directly off the street. A thorough wet cleaning after the gritting season, supplemented by taking up sand and chippings as needed, is common practice. Both are defined for the specific property.

As an owners' association, do we have to put the cleaning out to tender?

A private condominium owners' association is not bound by public procurement law; it decides through resolution and the principle of economic efficiency. The position is different for municipal housing companies and publicly funded bodies: there the usual procurement rules apply, and providers must be able to present the corresponding evidence and suitability documents. For such clients the procurement timetable changes accordingly.

Discuss the schedule of services per property

We go through the portfolio and describe, per property, which area is treated at which interval.

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