What is window cleaning?
Window cleaning covers internal and external glass, delivered periodically and usually involving working at height or reach-and-wash systems from ground level.
Access determines both the method and the cost. Reach-and-wash from the ground removes the height risk entirely for lower elevations and is why it has largely replaced ladders.
Above the reach of a pole system the options are powered access, rope access or a building's own cradle, each with its own competence and inspection requirements.
Where a building has a cradle, its LOLER position is the building owner's rather than the cleaning contractor's, which is a boundary worth establishing before the first visit.
In practice
A client pointing at marks on the inside of a second-floor window.
Internal windows above safe reach were excluded. External windows are a separate contractor. The glass has two owners and one appearance.
Windows are the single most common scope boundary a building occupant cannot see, and they judge the cleaning contract on it.
Saying so plainly at tender is cheaper than explaining it quarterly.
What goes wrong in practice
- Ladders used where a reach-and-wash system would eliminate the risk.
- Cradle inspection status assumed rather than confirmed with the building owner.
- Frequencies agreed with no reference to the access method's cost.