Free maid and cleaning service contract template (Word + PDF)
A maid service contract template should cover twelve things: the services, the schedule, the price and payment, cancellations, access to the home, supplies, pets and safety, what happens if something is missed, what happens if something breaks, your cleaners, how either side ends the agreement, and signatures. The free template below has all twelve on three pages. Download it in Word to edit, or as a PDF to print and sign.
Download the Word template (.docx) Download the printable PDF
No email needed. The Word file opens in Word, Google Docs and Pages. Numbers in [brackets] are suggested defaults for you to change once, like [24] hours' notice to cancel. Blank lines are for each client's details. The PDF has the same wording with the defaults filled in.
The template is general information, not legal advice. Contract rules differ from state to state, so have a local attorney read your version before clients sign it.
What the template is for
It's a cleaning service agreement between your business and a residential client. Call it a maid service contract, a house cleaning contract or a housekeeping contract; they're the same document. Use it for recurring clients and for large one-time jobs like move-outs and post-construction cleans.
Most arguments with cleaning clients are about a handful of things: a late cancellation, a locked door, a task the client assumed was included, a broken item, or a price that changed. The contract settles each of them before the first visit, while everyone is still happy.
What to include in a cleaning service contract
Here are the twelve sections in the template and what each one protects you from.
1. Services
Name the service type (standard, deep, move in/out or post-construction), the size of the home and any add-ons. Then attach your checklist and say that anything not on it isn't included. That one sentence ends most "I thought you did the inside of the oven" conversations. If you don't have a checklist yet, print the house cleaning checklist for the service you're selling.
2. Schedule
One time, weekly, every other week or every four weeks, with a start date. Promise an arrival window, not an exact time. Two hours is common and leaves room for traffic and a job that runs long.
3. Price and payment
Write a flat price per visit, not an hourly rate. The client knows what they'll pay, and you aren't punished for working fast. Put the first visit and the recurring price on separate lines, because the first visit is usually a deep clean and costs more. Show the recurring discount too. If you haven't set prices yet, the cleaning price calculator works them out by square footage, and how much to charge for house cleaning explains the table behind it.
Two more lines earn their place here. The first says the price assumes the home is as the client described it, and that you'll quote a new price before starting if it isn't. The second lets you raise a recurring price with 30 days' written notice, so you aren't locked into this year's price forever.
For payment, the simplest term is a card on file that you charge after each visit. The template has a checkbox where the client authorizes that. If you bill some clients instead, use the cleaning invoice template.
4. Cancelling and rescheduling
Give clients a free way out with notice, and a fee without it. The template uses 24 hours and leaves the fee blank. A late cancellation costs you the slot and often your cleaner's pay for it, and so does arriving to a locked door, which is why the same fee covers both. Whether and how much you can charge is a state question, so check before you fill in the number.
5. Access to the home
Record how the cleaners get in: the client is home, a key, a door code or a lockbox. If you hold keys or codes, promise to keep them secure and to return or delete them when asked. Clients read this section more closely than any other.
6. Supplies and equipment
Say that you bring your own. If a client wants a particular product on their stone counters or wood floors, they provide it and you use it as the label says. See the cleaning business supplies list for what "your own" should cover.
7. Pets and safety
Ask the client to tell you about pets and to secure any that might bite or bolt. Then list what your cleaners don't do. The template rules out mold, pest infestations and human or animal waste, lifting more than 35 pounds, climbing above a two-step stool, and outside windows above the ground floor. Change the list to match what your insurance covers and what you're willing to send someone to do.
8. Satisfaction
If something on the checklist was missed, the client tells you within 24 hours and you come back and redo that area free. Offer a re-clean before a refund. It costs you less, and it gives you the chance to fix the problem and keep the client.
9. Damage and valuables
Things break eventually. The clause asks the client to report damage within 48 hours, commits you to repair, replace or pay fair value up to a cap you set, and excludes damage that was already there, normal wear, and items that weren't secured. It also asks the client to put away cash and jewelry before each visit, which protects your cleaners from accusations as much as it protects the client.
There's a checkbox for general liability insurance. Tick it only if you carry it. If you don't yet, read cleaning business insurance before you take on homes with expensive things in them.
10. Your cleaners
You choose who to send, and they may be employees or independent contractors. The client also agrees not to hire your cleaners privately during the agreement or for 12 months after, or pays a placement fee if they do. How far a clause like this can be enforced varies by state, so this is one to ask your attorney about by name.
11. Ending the agreement
The template has no minimum term. Either side can end it with 7 days' written notice, and you can end it immediately for non-payment or an unsafe home. Residential clients are wary of being locked in, and an easy exit makes the agreement easier to sign. The recurring discount does the work of keeping them.
12. General terms and signatures
The closing section says the document is the whole agreement, that changes must be in writing (a replied-to email counts), and which state's law applies. Both of you sign and date it, and each keeps a copy.
How to fill it in
- Open the Word file and set your defaults once: the notice periods, your cancellation fee, your damage cap and your placement fee. Remove the brackets as you go.
- Delete any clause that doesn't apply to you, and delete the note at the bottom.
- Add your business name and logo at the top, then save that as your master copy.
- For each new client, fill in the blanks: name, address, service, home size, schedule and price. They should match your quote exactly.
- Attach the checklist for that service, send both for signature, and keep the signed copy.
Clients can sign electronically. In the US, electronic signatures are generally valid for agreements like this one, so any e-signature tool works, and so does a pen at the walkthrough.
Residential vs commercial cleaning contracts
This template is written for homes. A commercial cleaning contract needs more: a scope of work by area and frequency, a fixed term with renewal, payment terms like net 15 or net 30, proof of insurance at the limits the client asks for, and often a 30-day termination clause. How to start a commercial cleaning business walks through those terms and how to bid for the work.
The other contract: the one with your cleaners
A client contract doesn't cover the people doing the cleaning. If you use independent contractors, you need a signed agreement and a W-9 from each of them. Both are in the free Road to 10K guide, along with a hiring guide, and how to hire cleaners walks through the process. For how the paperwork fits together when you set up the business, see cleaning business license and registration.
Where software takes over
A signed contract sets the rules. Someone still has to apply them at 7 a.m. when a client texts to cancel. With BookedEZ, clients book on your booking page, see a flat price from their square footage and add-ons, and save a card when they book. By default they can reschedule or cancel online up to 24 hours before a visit. After the clean you charge the saved card through your own Stripe account, and if you charge a cancellation fee, the client gets an email saying so. Each cleaner sees the job's checklist on their phone, so the list you attached to the contract is the list they work from. From $29 a month for your whole team, and the first 14 days are free.
Common questions
Do I need a contract for house cleaning clients?
No law requires one for most house cleaning, but you should use one for every recurring client. It puts the price, the cancellation fee, what the clean includes and what happens if something breaks in writing before the first visit, which is when those questions are easy to settle.
What should a cleaning service contract include?
The two parties and the service address, the service type and home size, the schedule, the flat price and how it's paid, the cancellation and lockout policy, how the cleaners get in, who brings supplies, pets and safety limits, what happens if something is missed or damaged, a clause about hiring your cleaners directly, how either side can end the agreement, and signatures.
Is a maid service contract different from a cleaning service contract?
No. Maid service contract, house cleaning contract, housekeeping contract and cleaning service agreement are names for the same document: the agreement between a cleaning business and a residential client. The same template works under any of those titles.
Can a client sign a cleaning contract electronically?
Yes. In the US, electronic signatures are generally valid for agreements like this one. Email the Word or PDF file through any e-signature tool, or have the client sign a printed copy at the walkthrough. Keep a signed copy for every client.
Is this the same contract I use with my cleaners?
No. This template is the agreement between your business and a client. The agreement between your business and the cleaners who work for you is a separate document, usually an independent contractor agreement with a W-9, or employment paperwork if they're employees.
Just getting started? Read how to start a cleaning business. Need clients to sign it? See how to get clients for a cleaning business.