Lobby cleaning checklist
The lobby is the one part of a building the owner sees every time they visit, and it is where they bring people who might lease a floor. It is also built from the materials that show dirt most clearly: polished stone, big panes of glass and brushed steel. This checklist scores it against that standard.
Each area is scored Pass, Fail or N/A. The list assumes the nightly clean, with the lobby ready for the start of the business day. If the building has a day porter keeping the lobby up through the day, use the day porter checklist for that part of the work and this one for the night.
Inspect in daylight at least once a month. Glass and stone that look fine under the lobby's own lights at night can show every streak and dull patch when the morning sun comes through the front windows. That is the light the building owner will see them in.
Entrance and Vestibule
- Exterior entry glass, door handles and push bars clean on both sides
- Revolving door glass, wings and the floor channel free of grit and fingerprints
- Recessed entrance mats vacuumed, edges flat, grit cleaned out of the mat well
- Door thresholds and sweeps free of salt and sand buildup
- Accessible door push buttons wiped
- Exterior ashtray or receptacle by the door emptied and wiped
Floors
- Stone, tile or terrazzo floor dust mopped and damp mopped with a neutral cleaner, no film or streaks
- Grout lines clean, no dark lines in the traffic path from the door to the elevators
- No etching or dull spots from spills left to sit on marble or limestone
- Carpet or area rugs vacuumed, edges and corners included
- Baseboards and the floor edge along the walls free of dust and mop splash
Glass, Metal and Finishes
- Interior glass partitions and sidelights clean, no streaks when the sun hits them
- Stainless steel and brushed metal wiped with the grain, no smears
- Feature walls, wood panelling and stone cladding dusted at reachable height
- Artwork frames and display cases dusted, glass cleaned
- Directory boards and digital screens wiped with a dry microfibre cloth
Security or Concierge Desk
- Front face and top of the desk on the visitor side dusted and wiped
- Sign-in tablet or visitor book area wiped
- Floor behind and under the desk vacuumed or mopped where the guard allows it
- Nothing on the staff side moved, monitors and keyboards left alone unless the building asks
Seating and Furnishings
- Chairs and sofas vacuumed, cushions straightened, no crumbs or debris
- Side tables and coffee tables wiped, no rings or fingerprints
- Planters free of litter and cigarette butts, leaves of artificial plants dusted
- Lamps, shades and light switches dusted
Elevator Lobby and Mailroom
- Elevator doors, frames and call buttons wiped
- Elevator door sill tracks vacuumed, no grit
- Mailbox fronts wiped, no flyers or junk mail on the floor
- Parcel area or locker fronts clean, no packaging left behind
- Recycling bin for flyers emptied before it overflows
General checks (site-wide)
- Lobby matches the building's standard at the start of the business day
- Wet floor signs out while any area is wet, and put away once dry
- Lights working, burnt out bulbs reported
- Damage to stone, glass or furniture photographed and reported to the property manager
- Previous inspection deficiencies verified as fixed
How often to inspect
| Daily | Entry glass, mats, floors, desk front, seating, elevator doors and call buttons, mailroom |
| Weekly | Interior glass partitions, metal finishes, artwork and display cases, elevator sill tracks |
| Monthly | Mat well clean-out, baseboards, high dusting of reachable ledges and fixtures |
| Quarterly | Stone floor restoration or polishing, upholstery cleaning, deep clean of revolving door |
What inspectors actually check
The traffic path on the stone floor
Pass: an even finish from the front door to the elevators, grout lines the same colour in the traffic path as at the edges. Fail: a dull lane down the middle of the floor and dark grout in the traffic path. On marble and limestone, dull spots near the coffee shop door are often etching from spilled drinks or the wrong cleaner, and they will not come out with mopping.
The glass in the morning light
Pass: entry doors, sidelights and interior partitions clear from both sides when the sun is on them. Fail: hazy streaks from a squeegee that was not wiped between passes, or handprints on the inside of the door at child height. Check from inside looking out and from outside looking in.
Mat wells and thresholds
Pass: recessed mats vacuumed and lifted now and then to clean the well below. Fail: a mat lifted during the inspection with a layer of sand and salt underneath. Grit that collects in the mat well gets tracked onto the stone, and in winter that is how lobby floors get scratched.
The security desk
Pass: visitor side wiped, floor around it clean, staff side untouched. Fail: a dusty front panel and a ring of crumbs on the floor under the guard's chair. Guards notice the cleaner more than anyone, and they are the ones who mention it to the property manager.
Finishes need their own care
A building lobby can combine marble, wood panelling, brass, brushed steel and fabric seating in one space, and each takes a different product and method. List the finishes during setup and write the approved product next to each on the work order. One wrong product on one night, like an acid washroom cleaner on a marble floor, can cost more to repair than a year of the cleaning contract.
Related checklists
For condo and strata buildings, the condo common area cleaning checklist follows the rest of the resident path. Use the commercial cleaning inspection checklist for the floors above the lobby in an office building, and the janitorial inspection scoring system to weight the lobby higher than a back corridor in the overall score. See cleaning software with photo proof for how a photo of the failed line goes to the cleaner who needs to fix it.
Common questions
What should a lobby cleaning checklist include?
The entrance and vestibule, the lobby floor, all the glass and metal, the security or concierge desk, the seating area, the elevator lobby and the mailroom if there is one. A good list also covers the finishes particular to the building, like stone floors that need a neutral cleaner or brushed steel that has to be wiped with the grain.
How often should a building lobby be cleaned?
Every night, so it is ready when the building opens, and again through the day in a busy building. Office towers often put a day porter on the lobby for exactly that reason. Glass partitions and metal finishes can drop to weekly in a quiet building, and stone floors need periodic polishing or restoration every few months depending on traffic.
How do you clean a marble lobby floor?
Dust mop daily to get grit off before it scratches, then damp mop with a pH neutral cleaner made for stone. Never use vinegar, bleach or an acidic washroom cleaner on marble or limestone, because they etch the surface and leave dull spots. Polishing and honing are specialist work done periodically, not part of the nightly clean.
Why does stainless steel in the lobby look streaky after cleaning?
Usually because it was wiped in circles or with too much product. Brushed stainless has a grain, and it should be wiped in the direction of the grain with a clean microfibre cloth. A cloth that is already dirty spreads film around instead of picking it up.
Who decides what the lobby should look like?
The building owner or property manager, usually through the cleaning specification in the contract. Tenants notice the lobby, but the person who signs off on the cleaning contract is the one who shows it to prospective tenants. Score the lobby against their standard and ask them to agree on it at the start of the contract.