Move-In and Move-Out Cleaning in Dubai

The last box is out of the apartment. The fridge is still there, the balcony door sticks in its dusty track, and your agent has booked the inspection for tomorrow. This is the point when a move-out clean earns its place in the schedule. The crew can reach the floor under the bed, see what has collected inside the wardrobe runners and spend time on the oven while the kitchen is empty. The decision is whether the quote covers those jobs and whether the team can finish while you still have access to the property.

For a typical empty apartment, start with Elite Maids or Sialvi Clean. Both publish prices by bedroom count and list oven, fridge and cupboard interiors. Elite Maids gives VAT-inclusive starting rates and publishes a 24-hour window for reporting a missed checklist item. Sialvi gives more villa starting prices and builds an on-site check into the end of the visit. If you're coordinating several units, or need the quote to name items such as a washing machine, extractor and awkward glass, OUSIS offers a written turnover scope tied to the building and date.

Compare the advertised move-clean prices

These are provider starting rates in AED, checked on 7 November 2026. Condition and additions can change a quote. The time bands shown are the companies' estimates for two-bedroom apartments.

Elite Maids advertises VAT, materials and equipment within these move-clean rates. Its general terms allow a materials charge for this service category, so obtain an inclusive written confirmation for your booking. Sialvi specifies equipment and supplies and confirms a fixed price after seeing photos or the property. Ask for the final payable total including VAT on that quote. OUSIS says its teams bring equipment and supplies and sets the price in the written scope.

For a two-bedroom flat, the difference between the advertised starting figures is AED 51. That is a small gap if one quote includes the extractor, both bathrooms and the whole usable balcony and the other prices one of those separately. Send both companies the same photos and describe what stays behind. If there is no oven, mention that. If there are two refrigerators and a freestanding freezer, name all three. The value of an itemised quote is that you can see whether a lower figure buys the same visit.

Elite Maids for an apartment with a clear handover deadline

Elite Maids publishes the most useful starting figures here if you are budgeting for a studio or one-bedroom apartment. It estimates three to four hours for a studio, four to five for a one-bedroom and five to seven for a two-bedroom. A three-bedroom apartment is a longer job, estimated at seven to nine hours in its FAQ. Ask for a separate villa price and the crew size. The combined three-bedroom-and-villa price card is broad, while the FAQ distinguishes apartment starting prices from individually quoted villas.

The Elite Maids move-clean checklist is particularly useful for a kitchen with built-in equipment. It names the oven, fridge and microwave interiors, extractor, cupboard interiors and splashbacks. In the bathrooms it names cupboards as well as fixtures and tiles. Bedrooms and living areas include wardrobe and drawer interiors, skirting, light fixtures and wall marks. The company also lists window tracks, balcony surfaces, floors and AC vents. If the external face of a window needs special access, give the team a photo and ask which panes it can reach under the booked scope.

For a tenant handing back keys, the important line on the service page is the return arrangement. Elite Maids says to report a missed checklist item within 24 hours for a free re-clean. That is a reporting window. Arrange a time when you or your agent can walk through, and keep access available if the team has to return. Where the property manager will collect every access card straight after inspection, leaving a day between cleaning and handover makes that arrangement more practical.

The Elite Maids general terms name EXCELLENCE DOMESTIC WORKERS SERVICES CENTER LLC as the service entity. They require 24 hours’ notice to postpone or cancel and distinguish domestic cancellation charges from other services. Get the move-clean cancellation amount on your confirmation, especially if the movers might run late. Empty cupboards and defrost the fridge and freezer before the visit. The terms place responsibility for moving heavy furniture or appliances on the customer.

Bookings are available through the website, app or WhatsApp. Same-day work depends on availability. If you are booking around a fixed inspection time, ask when the cleaners will actually reach the unit, how many are coming and when they expect to hand it back. A confirmed appointment and a usable finish time are separate pieces of information. The Elite Maids Instagram profile links back to the company website.

Sialvi Clean for an empty villa or an on-site walkthrough

Sialvi Clean is useful when a flat rate for a villa is hard to find. Its move-in and move-out service starts at AED 900 for an empty three-bedroom villa or townhouse, with a typical seven to eight hours and three cleaners. It lists eight to ten hours and three to four cleaners for four- to five-bedroom villas. Treat those times as a guide to the size of the booking. Send photos of stairs, the maid's room, a large terrace and any appliance that stays so the quote describes the property you are actually leaving.

The company lists interiors of ovens, fridges, freezers, cabinets, drawers and wardrobes. Its scope also covers bathroom descaling, window tracks, balcony cleaning, AC grilles and spot-cleaning of wall and door marks. The service FAQ specifies interior window glass. If the terrace has a long bank of glazing, split the request into interior panes, reachable exterior panes and any glass requiring specialist access. That gives the quote a useful boundary and keeps the team from discovering the awkward part at the end of the day.

Sialvi's service page says the supervisor walks through the result with you or your agent and fixes missed items from the agreed list before the team leaves. If you are away, it offers photos. Ask your agent to open the cupboards and inspect the appliance interiors rather than relying on a wide photo of the kitchen. Send photos of any particular issue you want the team to revisit, such as one stained shower screen or a freezer drawer. Arrange for the person looking at those photos to be available while the supervisor is still there.

The Sialvi booking terms say additional services requested after quotation can cost extra and payment is due on completion unless agreed otherwise. The move-clean page also asks that water and electricity remain on. Its general terms request complaints within 24 hours and ask for cancellation notice as early as possible, without a fixed cancellation fee schedule. Agree the charge if the move date changes. See the official Sialvi profile for its own cleaning presentation.

That matters especially on a large villa. if utilities end early or keys are collected mid-afternoon, even a full crew can run out of usable time.

OUSIS for a written turnover scope, especially across several units

OUSIS describes its move service around the time between furniture removal and a walkthrough. It takes a building name, unit size and required date, uses photos when helpful and says it will identify a job that needs a visit first. It gives a written scope and price. It also offers one written scope and supervisor for multiple units. If you are arranging three apartments, give it three dates and identify which one has an incoming tenant or fixed inspection so the quote can reflect the actual order of work.

For a single property, the service is worth comparing when there are details the other quotes have left broad. OUSIS explicitly names runners and handles on wardrobes, drawers and cabinets, as well as the insides of the oven, hob, extractor, fridge and washing machine. It describes cleaning balcony tiles, railings and sliding tracks. For outside glass it differentiates what can be reached from the floor and what the team would approach with a water-fed pole. A tower's access rules still matter. Identify the floor and panes, and get the agreed reach written down.

The company recommends booking 24 to 48 hours ahead and makes same- or next-day work subject to availability. It says payment follows the job and describes a walkthrough before the incoming tenant visits. For a building with staggered access, ask for the expected finish for each unit and tell the team who can sign off each one. The handover date becomes more useful once it is translated into a time, a unit number and the name of the person with a key.

The company links to OUSIS Cleaning on Instagram from its website. Its move-in transformation reel shows a villa hallway being prepared, with material still on the floor in the opening footage. It gives a visual sense of what a property can look like before a move-in clean. Use the service scope and the agreed timetable for your own job.

Build the day around access and a final check

For a move-out, work back from the inspection. Give yourself a chance to walk the property after the clean. Then put the clean after the movers and any agreed repair or painting work. If your movers are scheduled to finish at noon, allow for the possibility they need the service lift longer. A cleaner arriving while beds are still coming apart can start in a bathroom, but the kitchen cupboards and the floor beneath the furniture only become available once the move is out of the way.

For a move-in, first confirm when you can take possession of the property. Then schedule the clean and leave time before delivery. Open the wardrobes and kitchen drawers yourself before putting clothes or crockery away. If the property has just been fitted out, send photos of fine dust, protective film, paint or cement residue. OUSIS lists post-construction cleaning as a separate service for those conditions. A recently vacated flat and a newly completed flat can both be empty and still need different tools and time.

Confirm the inspection, access cards, permits and utilities with your own property manager. Dubai Residential's tenant FAQ, for example, describes a joint inspection, return of access cards and a process involving final utility documentation. Give your cleaner the actual window in which you will have water, power and entry. Where a move-out process involves final bills or utility requests, ask the property manager how to sequence those steps with the clean. An instruction to leave a key with the concierge only works if the concierge accepts it and can release it to the team.

If the inspection and clean have to happen on one day, use the upper end of the provider's estimate when planning the gap. A 9 am start with a five- to seven-hour estimate for a two-bedroom apartment leaves very little margin for a 4 pm inspection. Delayed lift access, extra grime in the oven or a walkthrough with the supervisor can use the remaining time. A later inspection or an earlier clean gives you somewhere to put those minutes.

Send the details that change the quote

Start with the building, bedroom and bathroom count, whether it is an apartment or villa, and the latest time the crew can finish. Attach a kitchen photo with the appliances in view, a close-up of any heavy residue, and a picture of the balcony or glass that is difficult to reach. List what will remain on site. A furnished rental can still be a turnover job, but ask for separate lines for the work beneath furniture, carpet extraction or a sofa clean so everyone knows what has been booked.

A message for a two-bedroom apartment could read like this. “The movers finish on Tuesday and the keys go back on Thursday at 11 am. The unit will be empty apart from an oven, fridge and washing machine. Please quote for both bathrooms, cupboard and wardrobe interiors, the appliances you can clean inside, balcony and sliding tracks. Tell me which exterior glass you can reach, the total including VAT, the expected finish and whether we can check the work with the crew.” Add a photo of the wall if there is an area where you are unsure whether it needs cleaning or repainting.

Walk through in the same order as your agreed scope. In the kitchen, look inside the oven and open a few drawers, including the lowest one. In the bathroom, look at the bottom of the shower glass and the tap bases. Slide the balcony door open and inspect the track. Take dated photos of the finished property and note anything the team has agreed to revisit. If you find a cracked tile, damaged seal or missing fitting, record it separately for the property manager. That keeps the conversation with the cleaner focused on work the crew can still do.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to remove everything before the team arrives?

Empty cupboards, wardrobes and drawers if you want them cleaned inside. Remove food from the fridge and freezer, and agree with the crew how it wants the freezer prepared. If something must stay, such as a landlord's sofa or a stack of boxes waiting for collection, send a photo so the team can allow for the space it takes up.

Does a move clean include the inside of the AC?

The listed vent or grille work is a surface item. If your concern is inside the system, request a separately described AC service. A move crew can clean an accessible grille as part of the property scope while a different team handles the equipment itself.

Will a cleaner remove every mark before handover?

A crew can treat agreed dirt, grease and some surface marks. Paint damage, deteriorated sealant and scratches may need a repair or touch-up. Show the cleaner and the property manager a close photo early so you can schedule the right work while you still have access.

What if I'm already out of Dubai?

Arrange a named person who can give the crew access, receive the completion call and inspect the work. Ask the property manager about any authorization it needs for someone to attend on your behalf. Confirm where the keys go afterward and how the team can get back in if an item from the agreed scope needs another pass.