Post-construction and renovation handover cleaning in Tokyo

Who we work with

• General contractors and site managers who need a clean, inspection-ready handover at the end of a build or renovation.
• Architects and project managers who run the handover inspection and the punch list.
• Property developers delivering new units and buildings to buyers.
• Building owners and landlords taking back a renovated property, and owners or buyers receiving a finished home.
• Restaurant, retail and office fit-outs that must open or hand over on a fixed date.

We work to your contractor's schedule and your site rules.

What we clean

• Fine dust and drywall powder: top-to-bottom HEPA vacuuming and damp-wiping of ceilings, light fixtures, downlight recesses, walls, curtain tracks, door heads, switch plates and the inside of cabinets.
• Protective film and masking (養生剥がし): careful removal of blue protective tape, cardboard floor boards (養生ボード) and corner guards without scratching new flooring or paint.
• Adhesive and tape gum: solvent lifting of glue lines, sticker residue, mastic and silicone smears from glass, sills, tiles and cabinet laminates.
• Paint, grout and plaster splatter: gentle scraping and solvent softening of paint drops, stucco specks and cement or grout haze, using non-scratch tools.
• Windows: manufacturer protective film peeled off, sash tracks (サッシレール) vacuumed, and interior and accessible exterior glass squeegeed streak-free.
• Floors and handover waxing (床ワックス): construction grit vacuumed and damp-stripped, floors washed with a manufacturer-approved neutral wash, and protective commercial resin wax applied on compatible flooring if you ask for it.
• Debris: small sweepings, packaging film and dust-bag waste are collected on site. Bulk demolition debris and heavy offcuts of timber or drywall go through the general contractor's industrial waste skip (産業廃棄物), because a cleaning company cannot legally mix building debris into household waste streams.

Separate work, and what we do not do

• Repairs, painting and finishing: available on request as separate work, quoted separately from the cleaning. If we find a defect that was there before we arrived, we photograph and report it first, so the record stays clear, and the repair is then handled as its own job.
• Bulk demolition debris and heavy offcuts of timber or drywall go through the general contractor's industrial waste skip (産業廃棄物). We do not haul industrial waste.
• Asbestos and other hazardous materials are not part of cleaning. If we suspect them on site, we stop work in that area and tell the site manager.
• Mobile scaffold towers are not used on standard residential handover cleans. They are used only on contracted commercial high-ceiling lobbies.

Crew size and duration

• Small renovation (studio to 1LDK refresh under 50 m², retail booth, small office room): 2 cleaners, 1 full day of 6 to 8 hours.
• Medium project (2LDK to 3LDK apartment or detached home of 50 to 120 m², restaurant fit-out, boutique office floor): 3 to 4 cleaners over 1 to 2 days, or one compressed day with a 5-person crew.
• Large new build or commercial (standalone residence over 150 m², a whole multi-unit building, or a corporate floor of 300 to 800+ m²): 4 to 8+ cleaners led by an on-site supervisor, over 2 to 5 days, often split into rough, detail and final-inspection passes.

Duration depends on floor area, how much drywall and sawdust is in the air, and whether protective floor film has to come off.

When we start

• Standard rule: we begin only after construction crews have finished and left. Cleaning while carpenters, painters or electricians are cutting or drilling lets dust settle back onto wet-cleaned floors within minutes.
• Phased exception for large new builds: a rough clean after heavy framing and drywalling to clear coarse debris before flooring goes in, then the final handover clean (本清掃) only after all trades have packed up, water and power are active, and nobody enters without shoe covers.

Site requirements and access

• Information: floor plans or drawings, the floor area, the site address and your handover or inspection date.
• Access: keys, a lockbox or other entry arrangements, and any new-entrant safety orientation (新規入場者教育) the site requires.
• Utilities: running water and power connected before the final clean.
• Safety: helmets and other PPE whenever trades are still on site, and the site's own safety rules.
• Logistics: please tell us about parking, loading routes and lift access so the crew and equipment can reach the work.

Light renovation or full new build

• Dust: a renovation has localized sawdust, paint fumes and existing household grime or aged grease. A new build has fine gypsum powder inside every outlet, HVAC louver and drawer slide.
• Protective coverings (養生): minimal drop cloths in a renovation. Extensive floorboard masking, tape on sills and plastic wrap over stainless steel appliances in a new build.
• Windows: existing glass in a renovation needs deep descaling, rail scrubbing and seal restoration. New glass has manufacturer labels, barcode stickers, transit tape and cement splash on the outside.
• Fixtures: a renovation means deep cleaning existing baths, toilets and kitchens alongside new items. A new build has factory-new sanitaryware that needs wrap removal, adhesive lifting and zero-scratch polishing.
• Inspection: tenant turnover or landlord handover (原状回復検査) for a renovation, and a rigorous pre-delivery architectural inspection (建築検査) by the general contractor, architect and buyer for a new build.

Equipment and products

• HEPA vacuums (required): commercial HEPA canister vacuums (Makita, Nilfisk, Kärcher) that capture 99.97% of particles down to 0.3 microns. We do not use household vacuums, because gypsum powder passes through their filters, burns out the motors and puts white dust back into the air.
• Backpack HEPA vacuums (Makita 18V/36V) for stairways, high moldings, duct perimeters and ladder work, and wet/dry industrial vacuums for sash tracks and concrete slurry.
• Floors: flat-mop system with lint-free microfiber pads and a strict two-bucket wash and rinse method, so gypsum dust goes into the waste water instead of being smeared across new flooring. We use a diluted neutral builders' wash (Kao Professional, Rinrei) that lifts grit without stripping the factory floor seal.
• Scrapers: retractable razor scrapers (Unger, Ettore) with new burr-free blades, used only with a wet lubricant spray on glass. Hard carbon scrapers (Inoue, Koyo) for tape gum and plaster on vinyl flooring, wood trim, powder-coated sashes and bathtubs, and angled brass sash brushes for sash tracks.
• Adhesive and silicone removers: 3M Cleaner 30 (citrus D-limonene) for masking-tape gum and barcode labels, a petroleum or alcohol naphtha solvent cleaner for stubborn mastic, and silicone-remover gel for caulking haze on mirrors and backsplashes.
• Glass: Kao Professional Glass Magiclean with pure-water rinses and professional squeegees, and a mild diluted acidic cleaner for cement and grout haze on exterior glass and balcony tiles, chosen so it does not etch glass coatings.
• Floor wax: Rinrei commercial resin wax in 1 to 2 thin, even coats with 30 to 45 minutes of drying between coats. Floors that must not be waxed are cleaned with a neutral non-wax protector.
• Cloths: the same 5-zone colour-coded microfiber system as our hotel and office work. Cloths for new sanitaryware (acrylic baths, designer fixtures, polished marble) are brand new, so embedded grit can never scratch them. White lint-free cloths are used only for windows and mirrors.
• Reach and air: telescopic poles of 4.5 to 6 m for double-height windows and stairwell voids, JIS-certified aluminum stepladders (脚立) with non-marking feet, and portable HEPA air scrubbers on demand for large, dusty commercial fit-outs. Rolling mobile scaffold towers are used only on contracted commercial high-ceiling lobbies, by licensed staff, and never on standard residential handover cleans.

Safety equipment

• Helmets whenever final punch-list trades or scaffolding are on site.
• N95 or DS2 respirators for all staff during dust extraction, floor sweeping and solvent use.
• Sealed anti-fog goggles, cut- and puncture-resistant gloves, and non-marking indoor safety shoes with puncture-resistant soles to guard against stray drywall screws and nails.

Our team

• Every post-construction job has an on-site field lead or supervisor who signs the work off.
• Larger sites run with 4 to 8+ cleaners led by that supervisor.
• Legal residency and work permission are verified, identity is audited and an NDA is signed for every cleaner, the same standard as our hotel and office teams.

Before we clean: defect survey

• Before removing any protective covering, wiping a surface or applying a chemical, our cleaners survey the space for existing defects.
• Chipped floorboards under cardboard masking, scratched sills, dented drywall, torn wallpaper seams or leaks are photographed up close and wide, with a measuring tape or reference pointer in frame.
• The photos go to the general contractor's site superintendent (現場監督) by LINE or email within 60 to 90 minutes of the crew's arrival and before we clean the affected zone, so our crew is not blamed for a subcontractor's damage at the final inspection.

The 42-point architectural handover checklist

• Ceilings, recesses and fixtures: downlight recesses free of white plaster dust, ventilation grilles wiped inside and out, ceiling air-conditioning vents vacuumed, curtain boxes and high moldings clear of sawdust.
• Walls, joinery and cabinetry: walls dry-wiped with micro-dusters, door heads and architrave tops free of dust, outlet and switch plates wiped, drawers and shelving wiped edge to edge and drawer tracks vacuumed.
• Windows and sashes: glass streak-free with every manufacturer sticker, barcode and transit tape residue removed, exterior cement splatter lifted, sash rails vacuumed and wiped.
• Sanitaryware and wet areas (unit bath, toilet, kitchen): protective film fully stripped, factory adhesive removed, no scratches on acrylic tubs, stainless sinks or ceramic bowls, and drain hair traps and access panels clear of drywall debris.
• Floors and baseboards (巾木): baseboard ledges free of drywall powder, floors clear of drywall specks, tape gum and paint drops, and an even, streak-free coat of resin wax (if contracted) with no trapped hair or dust under it.

How we check our own work

• Zone self-check: every cleaner runs a gloved hand across sills, drawer interiors and baseboards in their zone before calling the site lead.
• Supervisor sign-off on every job: unlike routine cleaning, 100% of post-construction jobs need an on-site field lead to sign off. The supervisor checks floors, countertops and glass with a high-lumen LED torch at an angle, which shows micro-dust, solvent haze and wax ridges before the crew is released.

Photos and handover dossier

• 25 to 50+ high-resolution photos, depending on size: 40+ for a standard 2LDK to 3LDK and 60 to 100+ for commercial floors.
• Angles: wide room overviews from the doorway, close-ups of sash tracks, kitchen drawers, downlights, drain traps, baseboard corners and polished fixtures, and a timestamped archive of defects that existed before we arrived.
• Digital Handover Dossier (PDF) within 2 to 4 hours of completion, or by 18:00 on the last cleaning day, by email or shared drive, with a LINE message to the site manager. It contains the signed 42-point checklist, the before-and-after photos, the existing-defect log and a certificate of cleaning completion (清掃完了確認書).

At the handover inspection

• Our site supervisor attends the formal joint inspection (竣工検査) with the general contractor, project architect or developer, as standard practice.
• The supervisor carries a touch-up kit (fresh microfibers, 3M Cleaner 30, plastic scrapers, glass cloths), explains what was cleaned and fixes minor findings on the spot in 5 to 10 minutes.
• If the inspection is the next morning and flags items for the crew, a technician or supervisor returns within 24 hours, or before the keys are handed over, to re-clean them free of charge.
• If a scratch or paint chip is raised under a removed piece of tape, our defect photo log shows whether it was there before we cleaned.

What counts as finished

• The 42-point checklist is complete and signed off by our supervisor, and you receive the photo dossier and the certificate of cleaning completion (清掃完了確認書).
• Minor findings at the joint inspection are fixed on the spot, within 5 to 10 minutes.
• Items flagged the next morning are re-cleaned free of charge within 24 hours, or before the keys are handed over.
• Damage caused by our cleaners is covered by our liability insurance and repaired at our cost.

Licences and insurance

• Liability insurance (賠償責任保険) for damage caused during cleaning.
• Workers' accident compensation insurance (労災保険) for our staff.
• We do not haul or dispose of industrial waste. That stays with the contractor's licensed waste channel.

If something goes wrong

• Damage caused by a cleaner: work stops in that area at once and the supervisor tells the general contractor's site manager in person within 30 minutes. Global Access accepts 100% financial responsibility under our liability insurance (賠償責任保険) and arranges the repair with the contractor's licensed finish carpenter, glazier or repair specialist at our cost before the final owner walkthrough.
• Complaints: our field lead or project manager answers, and individual cleaners never argue punch-list items with the site superintendent. During a job the field lead is on the flagged floor within 10 to 15 minutes. After cleaning and before handover we acknowledge in writing within 30 minutes and send a touch-up crew the same day, within 2 to 4 hours. A Corrective Action and Remediation Report (改善報告書) goes to the contractor's office within 24 hours.
• A cleaner does not arrive: if a technician is missing at the morning briefing (朝礼), dispatch sends a replacement from our standby pool. If the site needs a new-entrant safety orientation that moves the start time, we tell the site manager by 08:15 with the replacement's verified profile. If a shortage threatens the day's target, the remaining crew works extra hours at no extra labor charge.
• Safety incidents: minor cuts are treated with the contractor's first-aid kit and logged. For serious injuries and near-misses the crew lead secures the scene, gives first aid, calls 119 if needed and phones the site manager and our Operations Director at once. Documents go in under workers' accident compensation insurance (労災保険) and an incident report is completed within 24 hours. After a property-damage near-miss such as a dropped tool on a staircase, the area is cordoned off, the site manager is told within 15 minutes and an incident log is made before work resumes.

Quote, timing and contract

We quote each post-construction project in writing, in yen, before work starts. We do not publish a flat rate, because the work depends on the building.

• What the quote depends on: floor area and project scale, new build or renovation, the number of days and passes, and any extras you need, such as repairs or painting, handover floor waxing, air scrubbers on a dusty fit-out, or mobile scaffolding in a commercial high-ceiling lobby.
• To quote quickly, send the floor plan or area, photos if you have them, the address, your handover or inspection date, and whether it is a new build or a renovation.
• Timing: we agree the schedule per project around your handover date and start after the trades have left. Please tell us the inspection date as early as you can.
• Terms: payment terms and invoicing are set out in the written quote and work order, and we confirm them before the job begins.

Frequently asked questions