A handover inspection does not judge a flat the way a quick visual walkthrough does. It checks specific spots that a surface clean skips, which is why a flat that looks spotless can still lose part of a deposit over things that were never wiped.
Kitchen
- Inside the oven and under the stovetop — grease here does not disappear with a wipe-down, it needs a degreaser and time.
- The extractor fan filter, which is usually removable and almost never cleaned during a normal tenancy.
- Behind and under the fridge, once it is safe to move.
Bathrooms
- Grout and silicone sealant around the bath or shower tray — this is where mould shows first and is checked closely.
- Descaling the showerhead and tap aerators (see our piece on hard water in Dubai for why this matters here specifically).
- The exhaust fan grille, which collects visible dust that is easy to miss.
Everywhere else
- AC grilles and vent faces — dust builds here and is one of the first things an inspection looks at.
- Scuff marks on walls and skirting boards, particularly behind doors and furniture.
- Window tracks and the balcony, both of which collect fine outdoor dust that a weekly clean rarely reaches.
- Light fixtures and ceiling fan blades.
A sensible order
Top to bottom, and room by room rather than task by task — dust and debris from a ceiling fan or a light fixture should come down before the floor gets its final clean, not after. For a flat that has not had a proper deep clean in a while, it is worth comparing this checklist against what our deep cleaning service actually covers, since a routine clean and a handover clean are scoped differently.
Timing it right
Start the deep clean after the furniture is out, not before — a flat cleaned with furniture still in place almost always needs the floor and skirting redone once it is empty, which is wasted work. Booking it for the day the keys are due back, rather than a few days earlier, also means nothing gets dusty or marked again between the clean and the inspection.
