Although most clients book the trucks, movers, and cleaners on the same day, the main failure in this process is the furniture still being in the way on moving day. This furniture obstructs cleaners from performing their duties and adds excess time to the moving day process. Cleaners cannot perform their duties if furniture is obstructing the area to be cleaned. While a lot of clients can book their moving day service providers, the reality of the process doesn’t match up with their expectations. Moving day consists of numerous steps, all of which happen sequentially. Understanding the process helps clients know when the service window is complete.
The Four Stages, in Order
A standard moving day for a property with both a removalist and an exit cleaner is broken into four parts:
- Clear the property of boxes and furniture
- Cleaning begins, room by room, as the property is cleared
- Whole property is turned over to the cleaner once the removalist is finished
- Last walk through, photos, and key handover
A cleaner will not start work on a room if removalists are still working on that room. The two service providers will not work in the same room at the same time. This is the biggest flaw in most moving day plans. It is also the reason moving days usually run over time.
Stage 1: Before the Truck Arrives
Before a removalist for moving day turns up, all the items being moved need to be boxed up and ready to go. Removalists load and carry, and do not sort through unboxed items to pack them into boxes.
All the drawers should be empty. Flat-pack furniture should be disassembled. Items that you are moving personally, including jewellery, passports, hard drives, should be with you in your car before the truck arrives.
The Australian Furniture Removers Association sets the benchmarks most Australian removalists operate by, including public liability insurance and a goods-in-transit insurance policy.
Ask your provider what their goods-in-transit insurance covers before moving day, not after something is damaged in transit.
Items that are hazardous, including gas cylinders, paint and flammable liquids, can’t be moved on a removalist truck, no matter how well they are packed. Know what the removalist crew can’t move well in advance of moving day, so you can make alternative arrangements for their disposal, rather than finding out at loading time.
Make sure the truck has clear access. The day before the move, you need to make sure the driveway can be accessed by the truck. The truck also needs to be able to turn at the end of the driveway. Have a permit arranged from the council if the street can’t be accessed. Notify building management and reserve the lift if you are moving out of an apartment. All of this needs to be arranged a week before moving day.
Disconnect appliances the night before. A washing machine needs to be given 24 hours to drain fully after being disconnected. The fridge also needs to be defrosted and dried out the night before. End-of-month moving dates fill up weeks in advance in every major city, so book early and re-confirm all access details in writing two days before.
Stage 2: Clearing the Property in the Right Order
Start from the back of the property and work toward the front door. Heavy items, like beds and wardrobes, come out first, followed by boxes, and last, if time permits, delicate and fragile items. These should be transported separately from the main load.
Work room by room. Once a room is cleared, the next provider can gain access to it.
This is how the two providers can work at the same location at the same time: the cleaner takes the finished rooms, and the removalists work in the unfinished rooms.
Let the cleaning provider know which rooms are finished via text message. This allows them to start in the finished rooms, as opposed to waiting to enter with the rest of the property finished. With a three-bedroom property, this allows for about 30 to 45 minutes of parallel working time.
Items for the council pickup should not be removed during the load. Arrangements for the tip should be made prior to moving day. To familiarise yourself on how to prepare for the load, see our guide on room-by-room preparation.
Stage 3: The Cleaner Takes Over
Once the disconnection of the power has been arranged, confirm with the power company this has been organised for after the cleaning is completed. The cleaners will not be able to vacuum, run the oven clean cycle, or do anything requiring electricity.
The booking for the exit clean should be made separately from the removalist booking, even if both are being arranged for the same day.
Different companies, with different subcontractors, do different tasks at different times. The removalist doesn’t liaise with the cleaner for you.
In Queensland, a company assigned to your job will do a bond clean. In WA, a vacate clean will be done. In NSW and VIC, an end of lease clean will be done. The service is the same, regardless of the name. The property is returned to the condition it was in at the start of the tenancy, fair wear and tear excepted.
If you have a copy of the ingoing condition report, leave it at the property for the cleaner to reference. It shows the agent’s documentation of the condition of the property when they did the inspection, if there are any existing marks on walls of rooms, and where the main focus of the clean needs to be. Understanding what the property condition report captures can help you understand what areas may attract the most focus during the final inspection.
Stage 4: Key Handover and the Final Photographs
The property should be cleaned and empty on moving day. If the key handover happens on a different day, secure the property as arranged and hand the key to the agent’s office.
Return all keys, remotes and security fobs provided at the start of the tenancy. Most leases say that all copies must be returned at the end of the lease. If a key is not returned, a landlord can charge the cost of replacement, which is preventable and one of the most common bond claims raised by agents.
How Much Buffer Time to Allow
Give a time buffer for move-out cleaning. One hour is the absolute least you should allow. For larger properties, a two-hour buffer is more reasonable.
Move-outs always run over time. Disassembling a wardrobe or bookshelf takes longer than expected, and access points may require the removal truck to be repositioned. The buffer accounts for these and other time constraints without creating a backlog.
For time management, work backwards from the key handover. This means allowing time for the cleaning, the buffer, the loading time of the removalists (allow a 30-minute window for each). This will give you a reasonable time for the removalists to arrive.
If the Removalists Run Late
Contact your cleaning provider as soon as you become aware of a removalist delay.
Most removalist companies can be flexible if they are given ample notice. They may be able to extend or shorten the booked window by agreement, but they need to be notified beforehand to make changes to their own schedule.
If the delay is such that the cleaner cannot complete the full job in the allotted time, the options are to do a partial clean of the empty rooms for the time being with the cleaner coming back the next day to do the full clean, or a full rescheduling of the clean. Verify any fees that may apply for a re-attendance or rescheduling before agreeing to either of the options mentioned above.
For information on how to schedule a clean and a move on the same day, check out the same-weekend sequencing guide.
For information on what to organise weeks before moving day, such as disconnecting utilities, providing a change of address, and handing back your lease, the 8-week checklist can help.
You can book a house removalist through Urgent Pro when you have all the access details and have created an inventory of the items being moved. The right truck size is allocated to the job the first time this way.
FAQs
What is the best order to do things on moving day?
The removalists and cleaners work in parallel in different rooms, not in the same room at the same time.
Can the cleaner start before all the furniture is out?
Yes. The cleaner can start as soon as a room is empty. The cleaner starting to work on an empty room while the removalists continue to work in other rooms is workable. A cleaner starting work when there is still furniture in every room is a coordination failure.
How long should I allow between the removalists finishing and the cleaner starting their main work?
The clean-up work is time-consuming, so the best practice is to allow at least one hour. For larger properties, three bedrooms or more, it is suggested to allow two hours. The best practice is to allow a long enough window to absorb any overruns that happen on most moving days. This prevents a short window from making the cleaning work unmanageable.
What happens if the removalists run late on moving day?
Contact the cleaning service immediately. The cleaning service can usually adjust the start time. If there is a significant delay, a partial clean will be done, and the cleaning service will come back the following day to complete the service. Confirm whether there will be a charge to do the clean the following day.
Do I need to be present for the final inspection and key handover?
No, but if you wish to take photos of the final clean to show the condition of the property before keys are handed over, you should do so. Photos are time-stamped, and if a deduction is made from the bond, you will have proof of the condition of the property when the keys were handed over.