Janitorial Services
Synonyms: Cleaning Services، Custodial Services، Building Cleaning، Housekeeping Services
Last updated: 2026-09-25
Short Definition
Janitorial services are the routine cleaning of a property’s common areas, façades, glazing, car parks, public washrooms and lifts, collecting waste from the building and moving it to bins, and seasonal deep cleaning, often supplemented by pest control and tank cleaning through specialist providers.
Overview
Legal Basis
In jointly owned property, Article 24 of the Law of Ownership, Partition and Management of Real Estate Units (M/85 dated 2/7/1441H) directs the owners’ association’s funds to managing the property and maintaining the common parts, and Article 26 allocates costs by area. The Waste Management Law (Royal Decree No. M/3 dated 5/1/1443H) regulates waste collection, transport and treatment under licences from the National Center for Waste Management. The definition of facilities management in the Real Estate Brokerage Law (M/130) includes waste disposal. Cleaning services are subject to the VAT Law (M/113 dated 2/11/1438H) at 15%.
Practical Example
A 12-storey office tower in Olaya, Riyadh, has 18,000 sq m of lettable area. Management contracts a cleaning company for 8 workers on two shifts plus a supervisor, at SAR 38,000 a month before VAT, i.e. SAR 456,000 a year (SAR 524,400 including 15% VAT). Because the rent is commercial and taxable, the registered owner recovers the input VAT. The leases provide for recovering service costs from tenants by area: 456,000 ÷ 18,000 = about SAR 25.3 per sq m a year before VAT. The cleaning contract includes a weekly inspection checklist, a one-hour response time for reports, a 2% deduction from the monthly invoice for each failed inspection, and handover of waste to the licensed collector.
Common Mistakes
- ✗A cleaning contract that only specifies headcount, without performance standards, schedules, inspections or deductions.
- ✗Disposing of waste or renovation debris informally or through an unlicensed party, exposing the owner to violations.
- ✗Charging tenants cleaning fees their leases do not provide for, or allocating them in an undisclosed way.
- ✗Leaving the 15% VAT out of the cleaning budget, or assuming it can be recovered on a residential property whose rent is exempt.
- ✗Neglecting unseen areas such as bin rooms and basement car parks, leading to pests, odours and complaints.
International Differences
In international markets cleaning is usually part of the service charge in commercial and multi-owner buildings, governed by performance standards in facilities management contracts. In the UAE service-charge budgets are approved by the regulator in some emirates; in Turkey cleaning is part of the management fee (aidat) paid by occupants; in Egypt it is handled by the occupants’ union or the owner; and in the UK the law protects tenants from unreasonable service charges. In Saudi Arabia cost sharing in jointly owned property follows the area ratio, and waste disposal is tied to a dedicated law and licensing authority.
