How much should I pay a cleaner per Airbnb turnover?

Most short-term rental turnovers are priced per clean rather than hourly, with rates set by the size of the property and the depth of the reset. A studio or one-bedroom often falls in the lower range, while a large multi-bedroom home with laundry on site costs more. The contract should fix the base rate per turnover, list any size or add-on surcharges, and state whether the host or the cleaner pays for consumables like soap, paper goods, and coffee.

Who supplies cleaning products and linens for an Airbnb turnover?

This is one of the most common disputes, so the contract should say it plainly. Some hosts stock all supplies and linens on site and the cleaner only provides labor; others expect the cleaner to bring equipment and restock consumables and bill them back. If the cleaner manages laundry off site, the agreement should cover linen par levels, replacement of stained or damaged items, and who absorbs that cost.

How do I handle same-day check-out and check-in in the contract?

Tight turnovers are the whole point of short-term rental cleaning, so the agreement should set a deadline tied to the platform check-in time rather than a vague "by end of day." A common structure is access after check-out at 11am and the unit guest-ready by the 3pm check-in, with a defined rush fee or rescheduling process if a guest checks out late.

Should an Airbnb cleaner be an employee or an independent contractor?

Most hosts engage cleaners as independent contractors or hire a cleaning company, which keeps payroll and tax obligations off the host. For that classification to hold, the cleaner should control their own schedule, use their own methods, and serve other clients. The contract should state the relationship clearly and avoid language that treats the cleaner like a supervised employee.

What happens if a cleaner reports guest damage during a turnover?

Damage reporting is a feature, not an afterthought, because the cleaner is often the first person to see a problem before the next guest arrives. The agreement should require the cleaner to photograph and report damage within a set window so the host can file a platform claim in time. It should also separate guest-caused damage from normal wear and from damage the cleaner is responsible for.

Airbnb Cleaning Contract Template: How to Write a Short-Term Rental Cleaning Agreement

A step-by-step guide to drafting a short-term rental cleaning agreement, with scope checklists, turnover timing, pricing models, and common mistakes to avoid.

A short-term rental lives or dies on the turnover. A guest checks out at 11am, the next one arrives at 3pm, and in those four hours the unit has to go from lived-in to photo-ready. The person who makes that happen is your cleaner, and the document that keeps the relationship from falling apart is an Airbnb cleaning contract.

This guide walks through how to write one, whether you host a single unit and want to lock in a reliable cleaner, or you run a cleaning business that wants to add short-term rental turnovers as a service line. It covers scope, timing, pricing, supplies, and access, plus the clauses that head off the disputes this niche runs into most.

What an Airbnb Cleaning Contract Actually Covers

A short-term rental cleaning agreement is a type of service agreement between a property host (or their management company) and a cleaner or cleaning company. It is different from a standard residential cleaning agreement in a few specific ways:

Turnovers are deadline-driven. The clean has to finish before the next guest's check-in, not whenever the cleaner gets to it.
It includes a reset, not just a clean. Beds are stripped and remade, towels swapped, consumables restocked, and the space staged back to its listing photos.
The cleaner becomes the host's eyes. They report damage, low supplies, and maintenance issues that a guest would otherwise complain about.

Because of those differences, copying a generic house-cleaning contract usually leaves out the parts that matter most for hosts. If you want a baseline to compare against, our cleaning service contract template covers the standard residential structure, and this guide layers the short-term rental specifics on top.

Key Clauses to Include

1. Parties and Property Details

Name the host or management entity and the cleaner or cleaning company in full. List each property the contract covers by address, and note the size: bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage, and whether there is on-site laundry. If you add or drop a property later, the contract should allow a written addendum rather than a brand-new agreement.

For a host with several units, an attached property schedule keeps the main agreement clean and lets you adjust the per-unit rate without rewriting everything.

2. Scope of Work: The Turnover Checklist

Scope is where most cleaning disputes start, so be specific. A turnover is not "clean the place." It is a defined list of tasks the cleaner performs every time. Spell out the standard checklist:

Strip and remake all beds with fresh linens
Replace all towels and bath mats
Clean and sanitize bathrooms, including shower, toilet, sink, and mirrors
Clean the kitchen, including counters, sink, stovetop, microwave, and inside the fridge
Run, empty, and put away the dishwasher
Take out all trash and recycling and replace liners
Vacuum and mop all floors
Dust surfaces, sills, and reachable fixtures
Restock consumables: toilet paper, paper towels, soap, coffee, and any host-provided welcome items
Stage the unit back to the listing photos and check that the guest-facing items are in place

Then separate out deep-clean tasks that happen on a schedule rather than every turn: inside the oven, baseboards, windows, under furniture, and appliance descaling. Decide whether these are billed separately or rolled into a periodic deep clean, and put that in writing.

3. Turnover Timing and Access

This is the clause that makes a short-term rental cleaning contract different from any other. Tie the deadline to the platform check-in time, not the clock.

State that the cleaner gets access after the guest's check-out time, and that the unit must be guest-ready by the check-in time. Spell out how access works: a smart lock code, a lockbox, or a key handoff. If you use a smart lock, note who manages codes and that the host will provide a working code before each turnover.

Cover the messy real-world cases too:

Late check-outs. If a guest stays past check-out, the turnover window shrinks. Define a rush fee or a rescheduling path.
Back-to-back bookings. A same-day turnover with a tight window may carry a premium rate.
Cancellations. If a booking cancels and the host cancels the clean with short notice, decide whether a cancellation fee applies.

4. Pricing and Payment

Short-term rental cleaning is almost always priced per turnover, not hourly, because the host needs a predictable cost they can pass to guests as a cleaning fee. Set the base rate per unit, then list any surcharges: extra bedrooms, pet turnovers, oversized parties, or excessive mess beyond a normal stay.

Address these payment points directly:

Invoicing cadence. Per clean, weekly, or monthly.
Payment timing. Net 7, net 15, or on receipt.
Consumables. Whether the per-turnover rate includes restocked supplies or the cleaner bills them back at cost.
Laundry. If the cleaner handles linens off site, price that as a line item with a clear par-level expectation.

A clear pricing structure protects both sides. The host avoids surprise invoices, and the cleaner does not eat the cost of a guest who left the place wrecked.

5. Supplies, Linens, and Equipment

Decide who provides what and write it down, because "I thought you were bringing that" is how turnovers fall apart. There are two common models:

Host stocks everything. The host keeps cleaning products, linens, and consumables on site, and the cleaner provides labor only.
Cleaner provides equipment and restocks. The cleaner brings their own supplies and equipment and bills consumables back to the host.

If the cleaner manages laundry, set linen par levels per unit (for example, two full sets of sheets and towels per bed so one set is always in rotation), and state who pays to replace items that are stained, torn, or go missing.

6. Damage Reporting and Inspections

Your cleaner is the first person in the unit after a guest leaves, which makes them your best early-warning system. Require them to photograph and report any guest-caused damage, missing items, or maintenance issues within a set window after the turnover, so the host can file a platform damage claim before the next guest arrives.

Draw a clear line between three things: damage caused by a guest, normal wear and tear, and damage the cleaner is responsible for. The cleaner should not be on the hook for a guest's broken lamp, and the host should not be on the hook for a vacuum the cleaner ran over a power cord with.

7. Quality Standards and Remedies

Define what "guest-ready" means and how problems get fixed. A workable standard is that the unit must pass the host's checklist and match the listing photos. If a guest reports a cleanliness issue at check-in, the contract should give the cleaner a chance to fix it quickly, often a same-day re-clean at no charge, before any deduction applies. Tie remedies to documented issues, not vibes.

8. Independent Contractor Status

Most hosts engage cleaners as independent contractors rather than employees, which keeps payroll, withholding, and benefits off the host's plate. For that classification to hold up, the cleaner needs real independence: their own schedule, their own methods, and other clients. State the relationship plainly in the contract, and avoid language that treats the cleaner like a supervised staff member.

If you are formalizing that side of the relationship, our independent contractor agreement covers the classification and tax-responsibility clauses in more depth.

9. Liability and Insurance

Cleaners work unsupervised in a property full of someone else's belongings, so allocate risk clearly. Decide whether the cleaner carries general liability insurance, what happens if a cleaner is injured on site, and how each side handles claims. Many hosts add a hold-harmless clause so that ordinary turnover work does not turn into a liability fight. Require the cleaner to keep entry codes and guest information confidential, since they have standing access to the property.

10. Term, Termination, and Notice

State whether the agreement is ongoing or fixed-term, and how either side ends it. Short-term rental hosts need reliability above almost everything, so set a notice period long enough to find a replacement cleaner, commonly two to four weeks. Spell out immediate-termination grounds too: repeated missed turnovers, no-shows that cost the host a booking, or theft.

How to Write an Airbnb Cleaning Contract: Step-by-Step

Step 1: Identify the parties and properties. Use full legal names, and attach a property schedule if more than one unit is covered.

Step 2: Build the turnover checklist. Write the standard per-turn task list, then separate the deep-clean tasks onto a schedule.

Step 3: Set the timing rule. Tie access and the guest-ready deadline to the platform's check-out and check-in times, and cover late check-outs and back-to-backs.

Step 4: Fix the pricing. Set the per-turnover rate, list surcharges, and state how consumables and laundry are handled.

Step 5: Assign supplies and linens. Pick a supply model, set linen par levels, and decide who replaces damaged items.

Step 6: Add reporting, quality, and remedy clauses. Require damage photos within a window and define the re-clean process for guest complaints.

Step 7: Lock down status, liability, and termination. Confirm independent contractor status, allocate insurance and liability, and set the notice period.

Step 8: Sign before the first turnover. Both parties sign and date, and each keeps a copy.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Treating it like a regular house clean. A residential agreement skips the turnover deadline, the staging requirement, and the damage-reporting duty, which are the three things hosts actually depend on.

Leaving timing vague. "Clean by end of day" does not work when a guest checks in at 3pm. Always tie the deadline to check-in.

Not deciding who buys supplies. This single ambiguity causes more friction than almost anything else. Pick a model and write it down.

Skipping the late-check-out case. Guests stay past check-out constantly. If the contract has no rush fee or rescheduling rule, the cleaner absorbs the chaos and resents it.

Misclassifying the relationship. Treating a contractor like an employee, then calling them a contractor on paper, invites a classification problem. Keep the independence real.

No damage-reporting window. Platform damage claims have deadlines. If your cleaner reports a broken table a week late, you have already lost the claim.

Whose Side Is the Contract Written From?

The same document reads differently depending on who you are.

A host wants tight deadlines, a guaranteed re-clean for guest complaints, fast damage reporting, and a reliable notice period so a cleaner cannot vanish mid-season.

A cleaning business wants clear scope so it does not get asked to deep-clean an oven on a 90-minute turnover, a rush fee for late check-outs, and a remedy clause that requires documented issues before any deduction. If you run a cleaning company, the same logic that protects you here applies across your other service lines, including one-off jobs covered by a carpet cleaning contract.

A balanced contract names both sets of expectations instead of pretending one side has none. That is usually what keeps a host and cleaner working together past the first busy season.

Related guides

Generate Your Airbnb Cleaning Contract with Contractable

A short-term rental cleaning agreement is not complicated, but it has moving parts a generic template will miss: turnover timing, the reset checklist, supply ownership, and damage reporting. Contractable builds a customized cleaning contract in seconds, with the right scope, pricing structure, and clauses for your properties, whether you host one unit or manage a portfolio. No legal background needed.