Airbnb cleaner agreement: a free template and what it should cover

Plenty of host and cleaner arrangements start with a text message and a handshake. That works until the first late cancellation or broken lamp. A short written agreement settles those questions before they come up, and it protects your cleaner as much as it protects you.

Below we walk through what a simple agreement between a host and an independent cleaner usually covers, then give you a plain-language template you can copy and fill in. Attach our free Airbnb cleaning checklist as the scope of work and most of the hard part is done. If you are still looking for the right person, start with our guide to hiring a reliable Airbnb cleaner.

What a host and cleaner agreement usually covers

A simple agreement comes down to ten decisions. None of them needs legal language, just clear sentences that you and your cleaner would both read the same way.

1. Scope of work

Name each property and say what a standard turnover includes. Attach your checklist rather than rewriting it, so the agreement and the work never drift apart. Airbnb guests rate cleanliness as its own category when they review a stay, so this is the part of the agreement that touches your listing most directly.

List the extras separately: deep cleans, laundry taken off site, restocking runs, hot tub or pool checks. Say that extras happen only when you ask for them in writing, at a rate you both agreed in advance.

2. Pay

You can pay a flat rate per turnover for each property or an hourly rate. A flat rate is easier to check and budget. An hourly rate is fairer when the work changes a lot from stay to stay. To set a flat rate, time a few typical cleans, multiply by the hourly rate you have agreed, and add laundry and travel if they are part of the job. Our guide on how much to pay an Airbnb cleaner goes further.

Write down when and how you pay, how supply purchases are reimbursed and what receipts you need. Ask for a completed IRS Form W-9 before the first payment, because it gives you the cleaner's taxpayer identification number. The common questions below cover the Form 1099-NEC threshold.

3. Timing and how jobs are offered

The turnover window runs from checkout to the next check-in, so put your standard times in the agreement. Then describe how you will offer each clean, how quickly the cleaner should accept or decline, and how they will tell you the property is ready. Same-day turnovers are the tight ones, so agree that the cleaner sends a message as soon as they know a clean will run late.

If you use TurnMyRental, it reads your booking calendar and texts your cleaner each turnover with the date, the property, the checkout time and the pay rate if you have set one, and they reply YES or NO, so every offer and every answer is in writing. Plans are a flat monthly price by number of properties, listed on our pricing page.

4. Supplies

Decide who provides cleaning products and equipment, such as the vacuum, mop and chemicals. It matters because who provides tools and supplies is one of the things the IRS weighs when deciding whether someone is an independent contractor. Then decide who buys guest supplies such as linens, soap and coffee, who restocks them, and the most the cleaner can spend without asking first.

5. Damage, missing items and reporting

Your cleaner is usually the first person inside after a guest leaves. The agreement should ask them to walk every room and photograph anything damaged or missing before they touch anything, then send the photos to you the same day.

Timing matters here. Airbnb asks hosts to file a reimbursement request in its Resolution Center within 14 days of the guest's checkout, backed by photos or videos and repair estimates or receipts. Vrbo gives hosts 14 days after checkout to assess the property and file a damage deposit claim. A photo that sits on a phone for a week can cost you that window.

Also agree on what happens when the cleaner breaks something, because accidents happen in any home. One simple approach is that the host absorbs small breakage below an agreed amount and anything larger goes to the cleaner's insurance. Whatever you choose, write it down. Do not count on Airbnb for it. Its Host Damage Protection terms are written around damage caused by the guest or people the guest invited, and a cleaner you hired is neither.

6. Cancellations and no-shows

Bookings get cancelled and shortened, and your cleaner should not lose a morning because of it. Agree on how much notice you give and whether a late cancellation pays a fee. Then write the other side: how much notice the cleaner gives if they cannot make an accepted job, whether they may send a helper or substitute, and who finds a replacement. Our guide on what to do when your cleaner does not show up covers the backup plan itself.

7. Keys, codes and guest privacy

Your cleaner will know door codes, Wi-Fi passwords and sometimes guest names, so the agreement should say all of this stays private and is used only for the work. The template also covers bringing other people, overnight stays and posting photos online. Say that keys come back when the agreement ends, and plan to change your codes then.

8. Insurance

Ask whether your cleaner carries general liability insurance. The US Small Business Administration describes it as protection against financial loss from bodily injury, property damage and medical expenses, along with the cost of defending a lawsuit.

9. Independent contractor status

The US Department of Labor says plainly that signing an independent contractor agreement does not make someone an independent contractor. The IRS looks at the whole relationship in three groups: behavioral control (who decides how the work is done), financial control (how the worker is paid, who covers expenses and who provides tools and supplies) and the type of relationship. No single factor decides it.

States can be stricter. California, for example, presumes a worker is an employee unless the hiring business shows all three parts of its ABC test, including that the worker is free from its control and direction and is customarily engaged in an independently established business of the same kind. An agreement that describes the result you need, a finished checklist and a guest-ready home by check-in, rather than how every task is done, is closer to how the IRS describes an independent relationship. If your cleaner works only for you, on your schedule and with your equipment, talk to an accountant or employment lawyer.

10. Ending the agreement

Say how much notice either of you gives to end the agreement, that either of you can end it right away for theft or a safety problem, and when the final payment is made.

How to use the template

1. Copy the template on this page into a document and fill in every blank. Delete any line that does not apply to you.
2. Attach your cleaning checklist as Schedule A and your rates for extras as Schedule B.
3. Read it through together, especially pay, cancellations and damage, and change anything that does not match how you actually work.
4. Both of you sign and date it, and each keeps a copy.
5. Look at it again once a year, or whenever rates, properties or your checkout instructions change. Our checkout instructions template helps you match what guests do before they leave with what your cleaner expects to find.

CLEANING SERVICES AGREEMENT FOR A SHORT-TERM RENTAL

This agreement is between:
Host: ____________________ (name), phone ____________, email ____________
Cleaner: ____________________ (name or business name), phone ____________, email ____________
Start date: ____________

1. PROPERTIES
The Cleaner will clean the following properties between guest stays ("turnovers"):
Property 1: ____________________ (address)
Property 2: ____________________ (address)

2. WHAT A TURNOVER INCLUDES
A turnover means cleaning and resetting the property so it is ready for the next guest, following the checklist attached as Schedule A. Extra work that is not on the checklist (for example deep cleans, off-site laundry or restocking trips) is done only when the Host asks for it in writing, at the rates in Schedule B.

3. PAY
The Host will pay $________ per turnover for Property 1 and $________ per turnover for Property 2 (or $________ per hour). Extras are paid at the rates in Schedule B.
The Cleaner will send an invoice or summary every ____________ (week, two weeks or month). The Host will pay within ________ days by ____________ (payment method).
Supplies the Host has approved are reimbursed with a receipt, up to $________ a month unless the Host agrees to more in writing.
The Cleaner will give the Host a completed IRS Form W-9 before the first payment.

4. SCHEDULING
Standard checkout time is ________ and standard check-in time is ________.
The Host will offer each turnover by ____________ (text, app or email) as soon as the booking is known. The Cleaner will accept or decline within ________ hours.
Once the Cleaner accepts, they will finish the turnover before the next check-in and tell the Host when the property is ready. If the Cleaner expects to run late, they will tell the Host as soon as they know.

5. SUPPLIES
The Cleaner provides: ____________________ (for example cleaning products, vacuum, mop).
The Host provides: ____________________ (for example linens, towels, guest toiletries, paper goods).
The Cleaner will tell the Host when guest supplies are running low by ____________.

6. DAMAGE AND MISSING ITEMS
Before cleaning, the Cleaner will walk through the property and photograph any damage, missing items, or signs of extra guests, pets or smoking, and send the photos to the Host the same day.
If the Cleaner damages something by accident, they will tell the Host the same day. The parties agree that ____________________ (for example: the Host covers accidental breakage under $________, and the Cleaner's insurance applies above that).

7. CANCELLATIONS AND SUBSTITUTES
If the Host cancels an accepted turnover with less than ________ hours' notice, the Host will pay $________.
If the Cleaner cannot do an accepted turnover, they will tell the Host at least ________ hours ahead, or as soon as they know.
The Cleaner [may / may not] send a helper or substitute. Anyone the Cleaner sends must follow this agreement, and the Cleaner remains responsible for the work.

8. KEYS, CODES AND PRIVACY
The Cleaner will keep door codes, lockbox codes, Wi-Fi passwords and any guest information private and use them only for this work.
The Cleaner will not bring anyone who is not helping with the clean, will not stay overnight, and will not post photos or the address of the property online without the Host's written permission.
When this agreement ends, the Cleaner will return all keys, and the Host may change the codes.

9. INSURANCE
The Cleaner [does / does not] carry general liability insurance. Insurer and policy number: ____________________. If the Cleaner has a policy, they will give the Host a copy of the certificate.
The Host will keep their own property insurance in place.

10. INDEPENDENT BUSINESS
The Cleaner runs their own cleaning business, decides how to do the work so that it meets the checklist, may work for other clients, and is responsible for their own taxes. This agreement does not make the Cleaner the Host's employee.
(Note: worker status depends on how the work is actually done, not on this sentence. Check your state's rules.)

11. ENDING THIS AGREEMENT
Either party may end this agreement with ________ days' notice in writing. A text or email counts as writing.
Either party may end it right away for theft, a safety problem or a serious breach of this agreement.
The Host will pay for every turnover completed before the end date within ________ days.

12. CHANGES
Any change to this agreement, including a change in rates, must be in writing and confirmed by both parties. A text or email counts as writing.

SIGNED
Host: ____________________   Date: ____________
Cleaner: ____________________   Date: ____________

SCHEDULE A: TURNOVER CHECKLIST
(Attach your checklist here.)

SCHEDULE B: RATES FOR EXTRAS
Deep clean: $________
Laundry (per load or per stay): $________
Restocking trip: $________
Other: ____________________ $________

This template is a plain-language starting point, not legal advice. Check your state and local rules, and ask a local attorney or accountant if anything is unclear.

This is not legal advice

We are not lawyers, and this template is a plain-language starting point, not legal advice. Rules on worker classification, taxes, insurance and business licenses differ by state and sometimes by city, and they change. Before you rely on it, check your local rules, and if anything is unclear, ask a local attorney or accountant to review it.