By the Templateez Team · Licensed Attorney · July 2026

Intake Forms for Cleaning Companies: Residential vs. Commercial

A cleaning company that uses the same intake form for a three-bedroom house and a 40,000-square-foot office building is making the same mistake as a restaurant that serves the same portion size to a solo diner and a table of eight. The information you need is fundamentally different. The liability exposure is different. The scheduling, access logistics, and scope definitions are different. And if your intake form doesn’t reflect those differences, you’re setting yourself up for the kind of misunderstandings that cost clients and money.

I’ve worked with cleaning company owners who learned this the hard way. One in particular stands out — a residential cleaner who used an all-purpose marble countertop cleaner on what turned out to be a honed Calacatta marble surface. The homeowner’s $12,000 island was etched with swirl marks that required professional restoration. The cleaner’s intake form asked about “number of rooms” and “preferred cleaning day.” It didn’t ask a single question about surface types, special materials, or products to avoid. That omission cost about $3,800 in restoration and a lost client who had been worth $400 a month in recurring revenue.

Why One Form Doesn’t Fit All

Residential cleaning is personal. You’re in someone’s home, around their belongings, their pets, their children’s toys. The client cares about the smell of the products you use, whether you move furniture, and whether the dog needs to be crated. The relationship is one-to-one — the person paying you is the person whose space you’re cleaning.

Commercial cleaning is operational. You’re dealing with a facilities manager or office administrator who may not even be present during cleaning. The scope is defined by square footage, floor types, restroom counts, and specific areas (break rooms, conference rooms, lobbies). The relationship is business-to-business, often governed by a service agreement with penalties for missed cleanings.

A cleaning services intake form designed for residential clients captures the personal details that keep homeowners happy. A commercial version captures the operational details that keep contracts profitable. Trying to serve both with one document means you’re either asking homeowners irrelevant questions about restroom fixture counts, or failing to capture the square footage data you need to price a commercial bid accurately.

Residential Intake: What to Ask the Homeowner

Property Layout and Size

For residential cleaning, you need more than just “how many bedrooms.” Your intake form should capture:

• Total square footage (or approximate if the client doesn’t know — number of stories is a decent proxy).
• Room-by-room breakdown: bedrooms, bathrooms (full vs. half), kitchen, living areas, dining room, home office, laundry room, finished basement, bonus rooms.
• Number of stories and stairways. This affects time estimates and determines whether your crew needs to haul equipment between floors.
• Garage, porch, or patio inclusion. Clients often assume outdoor or semi-outdoor spaces are included. Ask explicitly.

Surface Types and Special Materials

This is where the marble-countertop disaster lives. Your form needs a checklist of surface types present in the home:

• Flooring: hardwood (what type?), tile, laminate, vinyl, carpet, stone (marble, travertine, slate).
• Countertops: granite, marble, quartz, butcher block, laminate, concrete, soapstone.
• Specialty surfaces: stainless steel appliances, glass shower doors, natural stone shower walls, copper sinks.
• Items requiring special care: antiques, artwork, collectibles, instruments, expensive rugs, anything the client specifically wants you to be careful around.

For each surface type, you can then match the appropriate cleaning products and techniques — and document that matching. If the client has Calacatta marble and you note it on the intake form, your crew knows to use pH-neutral stone cleaner, not the all-purpose spray.

Pets and Household Members

Pet information isn’t a courtesy question — it’s a safety and logistics question.

• Type and number of pets. Dogs, cats, birds, reptiles, fish tanks that need to be avoided.
• Pet behavior during cleaning. Will the dog be friendly, nervous, aggressive? Does the cat dart out open doors? Does the bird need its cage covered during chemical use?
• Pet areas. Does the dog have a crate area, a bed, food and water bowls that need to be cleaned around? Litter box location?
• Pet-related cleaning needs. Excessive fur on furniture, litter tracking, accidents that need enzyme cleaners rather than standard products.

Household members matter too. Is anyone home during cleaning? Children who shouldn’t be around chemicals? Family members who work night shifts and sleep during the day? An elderly parent with mobility limitations who uses specific pathways through the house?

Access and Security

How does your crew get in? This section should cover:

• Key, lockbox code, garage code, or smart lock code.
• Alarm system: code, provider, procedure if triggered accidentally.
• Gate or doorman access for condos or gated communities.
• Parking instructions. Where can the cleaning van park without getting towed or ticketed?
• Who to contact if there’s a problem accessing the property. Primary and backup contact numbers.

Chemical Sensitivity and Product Preferences

This question has grown in importance every year. Your form should ask:

• Does anyone in the household have allergies or chemical sensitivities? If yes, to what specifically?
• Does the client prefer “green” or eco-friendly products?
• Are there specific products the client wants you to use or avoid?
• Does the client supply their own products, or do you bring yours?
• Fragrance preferences or aversions. Some clients love the smell of pine; others get migraines from it.

Service Frequency and Scope

• One-time, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or seasonal?
• What’s included in a standard visit vs. what’s an add-on (inside oven, inside refrigerator, windows, baseboards, ceiling fans, light fixtures)?
• Deep clean first, then maintenance? Most recurring clients need an initial deep clean before transitioning to regular service. Price these separately.
• Move-in/move-out cleaning? These have their own scope expectations — inside cabinets, appliance cleaning, wall washing.

For a deeper look at how cleaning service intake forms fit into your overall client onboarding process, check out our cleaning service intake form guide.

Commercial Intake: What to Ask the Facilities Manager

Commercial cleaning intake is a different conversation entirely. You’re talking to a facilities manager, office administrator, or property management company. They care about consistency, compliance, and cost. Here’s what your commercial intake form needs:

Facility Details

• Total cleanable square footage. Not total building square footage — subtract server rooms, locked storage, and areas you won’t access.
• Floor types by area: carpet (commercial loop, broadloom, tile), VCT, polished concrete, hardwood, epoxy, anti-static flooring in data centers.
• Number and type of restrooms: single-stall, multi-stall, locker rooms, showers. Restroom fixture count drives supply costs and time estimates.
• Common areas: lobbies, break rooms, conference rooms, kitchens, mail rooms, copy rooms.
• Special-use areas: medical exam rooms, labs, clean rooms, food preparation areas, gyms. Each has its own sanitation requirements.

Scheduling and Access

• Preferred cleaning hours. Before business hours, after business hours, overnight? Some facilities allow daytime porter service for common areas.
• Building access procedure: security desk sign-in, badge access, key checkout, guard escort.
• Cleaning frequency by area. Restrooms might need daily attention. Carpet vacuuming might be three times per week. Window washing might be monthly.
• Holiday and closure schedule. When is the building closed? Are there any holidays or closures when cleaning should or should not occur?

Compliance and Documentation Requirements

Commercial clients — especially healthcare facilities, schools, and government buildings — often have specific compliance requirements:

• Green cleaning certifications required?
• Safety Data Sheets (SDS) for all products used on-site?
• Background checks required for cleaning staff?
• Insurance requirements (general liability minimums, workers’ comp proof)?
• Reporting and inspection procedures — daily logs, weekly walkthroughs, monthly quality audits?

Supply Expectations

Who provides what? This is one of the most common sources of commercial cleaning disputes.

• Cleaning supplies and chemicals: client-supplied or contractor-supplied?
• Restroom consumables: paper towels, toilet paper, hand soap, air fresheners — stocked by you or by the client?
• Equipment: do you bring your own vacuums, floor scrubbers, and carpet extractors, or does the facility provide them?
• Trash liners and recycling: who provides bags? What are the recycling/composting requirements?

If you’re also offering specialized services like carpet and floor cleaning or window cleaning as add-ons to your janitorial contract, those services need their own scope sections. Don’t bury them in the general cleaning form — price and scope them separately to avoid the “I thought that was included” conversation.

The Walkthrough: Intake Form Meets Reality

No intake form replaces a site walkthrough, but the best intake forms make the walkthrough more productive. Here’s the process that works:

Step 1: Send the intake form before the walkthrough. Let the client fill out what they know — square footage, room counts, frequency preferences, special requirements.

Step 2: Review the completed form before you arrive. Note any gaps or areas where you need clarification.

Step 3: During the walkthrough, verify the form’s data against reality. The client said 2,500 square feet? Does that look right? They didn’t mention the finished basement? The “two bathrooms” includes one with a jetted tub that takes 20 minutes to scrub?

Step 4: Update the form with your walkthrough notes. Document the condition of surfaces, pre-existing damage (stains, scratches, chips), and any concerns you want on record before your crew touches anything.

That last point is critical. Documenting pre-existing damage on the intake form protects you from claims that your crew caused damage that was already there. “Scratch on hardwood floor in master bedroom, noted during initial walkthrough, client acknowledged” is the kind of note that ends a dispute before it starts.

Pricing Implications

Your intake form is also your estimating tool. Every question on the form should connect to a pricing variable. Square footage drives base time. Number of bathrooms drives cleaning time and supply costs. Surface types drive product selection and technique requirements. Pets drive fur-removal time. Frequency drives per-visit discounting.

If you’re not connecting your intake data to your pricing model, you’re either undercharging (because you didn’t account for the Calacatta marble) or overcharging (because you estimated for four bathrooms when there are only two). Either way, you’re not running a tight operation.

For a broader look at how other cleaning and janitorial companies structure their client onboarding, see our intake forms for cleaning services and janitorial guide.

Recurring Client Management

The intake form isn’t a one-and-done document for cleaning companies. Residential clients’ situations change. They get a new pet. They renovate the kitchen. They switch from bi-weekly to weekly. Your intake form should be revisited at least annually for recurring clients, or any time the client reports a significant change to their home.

Commercial contracts typically have a formal review cycle — quarterly or annual. Use those reviews to update the intake data: has the facility added or closed floors, changed restroom configurations, brought in new furniture that needs different care?

The Bottom Line

Your intake form is the foundation of every client relationship in the cleaning business. For residential clients, it captures the personal details that prevent damage claims, match expectations, and build trust. For commercial clients, it captures the operational data that drives accurate pricing, consistent service delivery, and contract compliance. Using one generic form for both is like mopping a marble floor with a wire brush — technically you’re cleaning, but you’re creating a bigger problem than the one you started with.

Invest in intake forms designed for how cleaning companies actually operate. Your estimates will be more accurate, your client onboarding will be smoother, and you’ll have the documentation to protect yourself when the inevitable “that scratch wasn’t there before” conversation happens.

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