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The per square metre rate is not what blows out a builders clean
An independent guide to builders cleans and post-construction cleaning in Australia. What the per square metre rate covers, which detail items are charged separately, and what a handover clean should actually include.
Where a builders clean quote actually goes
Builders cleans are quoted per square metre, but the items that blow the price out are not priced that way. Window tracks are per window, grout haze and silicone are per bathroom, and rubbish removal is per load. We set the per square metre rate against the per item charges to show where the money really goes.
Quoted per square metre, billed per window
A builders clean in Australia is published at $6 to $12 per square metre, or $350 to $1,800 and up per project. On a 200 square metre house that is roughly $1,200 to $2,400, and it is the number almost every quote leads with.
The detail work is not priced that way. Window and track detailing is published at $40 to $120 per window. Grout haze removal is $100 to $200 per bathroom. Adhesive and silicone removal is another $80 to $150 per bathroom. Rubbish removal is $150 to $900 depending on load.
A house with fifteen windows and three bathrooms can carry $600 to $1,800 of window work and $540 to $1,050 of bathroom detailing before anyone touches a floor. That is why two quotes on the same square metre rate come back thousands apart, and why the only useful question is which detail items are inside the rate and which are on top of it.
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