Short answer: to pass a final inspection in Victoria, the property needs to be "reasonably clean" and in the same condition as your incoming condition report, allowing for fair wear and tear. In practice that means a full clean of the kitchen (including the oven and rangehood), bathrooms, inside windows and tracks, skirting boards, walls with marks spot cleaned, and floors vacuumed and mopped. Use the room-by-room checklist below.
We're a Melbourne cleaning team, and this is the same checklist we work through on every end of lease clean.
Before you start
- Find your incoming condition report. It's the benchmark. Victorian rules say "reasonably clean" doesn't mean cleaner than the property was when you moved in.
- Move everything out first. It's much faster to clean empty rooms, and you'll spot marks hidden behind furniture.
- Check your lease for carpet cleaning. Under Victorian regulations, a rental provider can only require professional cleaning in limited situations (see our bond guide).
Kitchen
- Oven: racks, trays, door glass (inside and out), walls and floor of the oven
- Cooktop and knobs, degreased
- Rangehood: exterior, underside and filters
- Cupboards and drawers, inside and out, including the tops
- Benchtops and splashback
- Sink, tapware and drain, polished
- Dishwasher: filter, door seal and interior
- Fridge space: floor and walls where the fridge stood (if you supplied the fridge)
- Light switches, power points and handles wiped
Bathrooms and toilets
- Shower screens: soap scum and water marks removed
- Tiles and grout scrubbed
- Bath, basin and tapware cleaned and polished
- Mirrors streak-free
- Toilet inside and out, including the base and behind the seat hinges
- Vanity cupboards and drawers, inside and out
- Exhaust fan cover dusted
- Mould you caused removed (shower mould is one of the most common inspection issues)
Bedrooms and living areas
- Inside windows, sills and tracks
- Skirting boards and door frames
- Doors and handles
- Walls: marks and scuffs spot cleaned
- Light switches and power points
- Wardrobes: shelves, rails and tracks
- Blinds dusted or wiped
- Cobwebs removed from ceilings and corners
- Carpets vacuumed; hard floors vacuumed and mopped
Laundry, outdoor areas and garage
- Laundry tub, taps and cupboards
- Dryer lint filter and the space behind the machines
- Balcony or courtyard swept and mopped
- Garage swept and emptied
- All rubbish and belongings removed
Common things renters miss
From the cleans we do, these are the items that most often get flagged:
- 1Oven door glass: grease gets trapped between the panes.
- 2Rangehood filters: they're greasy even when the rangehood looks clean.
- 3Window tracks: dust and dead insects build up in the corners.
- 4Shower screens: soap scum that's only visible from an angle.
- 5Tops of cupboards and skirting boards: dust that's easy to miss at eye level.
DIY or professional?
You can do it yourself with this checklist. For a typical 2-bedroom apartment, expect most of a day, more if the oven or shower needs heavy work. A professional clean makes sense when you're short on time, the oven or bathrooms need serious work, or you want a re-clean guarantee if the agent flags something.
At Fresh Plus Cleaning, our end of lease cleans cover everything on this checklist (including the oven and rangehood), with fixed upfront prices from $435. If anything on our checklist is raised within 72 hours, we come back and re-clean it free. Carpet steam cleaning and shower mould treatment are optional add-ons.
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Frequently asked questions
Do I have to get the carpets professionally cleaned in Victoria? Only in limited cases. Victorian regulations say a rental provider can only require professional cleaning if the property was professionally cleaned right before you moved in (and you were told), or if it's needed to return the property to its starting condition, allowing for fair wear and tear. Check your condition report and lease.
How clean is "reasonably clean"? Consumer Affairs Victoria describes it as free of marks, dirt, cobwebs, stains and dust, to the point where further reasonable cleaning wouldn't improve it. It doesn't need to be better than when you moved in.
When should I book an end of lease clean? Book it after you've moved everything out and before your final inspection, ideally a day or two before you hand back the keys, so there's time to fix anything that's flagged.
Sources: Consumer Affairs Victoria, Director's Guideline 2 – Cleanliness (Residential Tenancies Act 1997). This article is general information, not legal advice.
