Service terms

About these terms

These terms apply when you accept a written proposal from Gentle Touch Cleaning, sign a service agreement with us, or have us clean a space you manage. Gentle Touch Cleaning is [legal entity name and type, e.g. Gentle Touch Cleaning LLC, a Virginia limited liability company], based in Roanoke, Virginia. "We" and "us" mean Gentle Touch Cleaning. "You" means the business, practice, church, association or other organization we clean for, and the person who signs for it.

Your signed proposal and these terms work together. If your proposal says something different from these terms, the proposal wins. Our service policies (scheduling, keys and alarm codes, damage, safety, photos and supplies) are part of these terms too.

Asking for a walkthrough or a quote doesn't commit you to anything. Walkthroughs are free, with no obligation.

Proposals and your price

What a proposal includes

• A written scope. What we clean, by frequency (each visit, weekly, monthly, quarterly), plus your cleaning window, the supplies plan and the lock-up routine.
• One price for that scope. Every space is different, so every quote is custom. Your price is in writing before any work starts.
• How long the proposal is open. A proposal is good for [how many days a proposal stays open, e.g. 30] days, unless it says otherwise.

Your written scope and quote follow within 2 business days of the walkthrough. A proposal becomes an agreement when you accept it in writing: a signature, an e-signature or a reply email saying you accept.

Changes to the work

• Extras are quoted in writing first. Anything outside your written scope, such as a one-time floor project, an extra visit or post-event cleaning, is quoted before we do it, and we start only after you approve. Email is fine.
• Scope and frequency changes are agreed in writing before they take effect, by either of us. If your space changes (a new suite, another floor, a second shift), we'll walk it again and send a revised proposal.
• If the space isn't what we planned for. If we arrive and find conditions meaningfully different from the walkthrough, such as construction dust in a suite quoted for routine cleaning, we'll tell you before we start. You choose: approve a revised scope in writing, have us do only what the original scope covers, or reschedule.

Churches and religious organizations

Virginia's consumer protection law covers services sold to churches and other religious bodies. Your proposal shows the total cost, including every required charge, before you sign (Va. Code § 59.1-200). We do the same for every client.

Ongoing service and how to end it

Recurring cleaning continues until either of us ends it. Virginia's automatic renewal and continuous service law (Va. Code §§ 59.1-207.45 to 59.1-207.47) protects small businesses as well as households. We follow it for every client, whatever your size.

Before you sign

Your proposal shows the items in the box above directly above the signature line, so you see them before you agree. Ending service is at least as easy as starting it: you can always use the same channel you signed through, and nobody will make you talk to a salesperson to cancel.

Changes during service

We give you at least 30 days' written notice, by email, before any change to your price or to how often we clean, along with a reminder of how to end service if you'd rather not continue. Changes you ask for take effect when we confirm them in writing.

Pausing

Closing for renovations or a seasonal break? Ask to pause instead of ending service, and we'll confirm the pause and restart dates in writing.

If your organization needs a fixed term

Some organizations budget by the year and ask for a fixed-term agreement. If we agree to one, its length and how it ends are written into your proposal. If a fixed term of 12 months or more were ever set to renew automatically, we'd remind you in writing 30 to 60 days before the deadline to cancel, as Virginia law requires.

If we end service

We can end ongoing service with the same 30 days' written notice. We may end it sooner, in writing, if invoices stay unpaid after a written reminder, or if our team is threatened or can't work safely at your site.

Post-construction and extra work

Post-construction cleans, extra visits, post-event cleans, make-readies and floor projects are quoted as a fixed scope for that job. They don't renew.

Post-construction cleanup

• Scope by phase. Rough, final and touch-up cleans are each quoted and scheduled as a separate phase against your milestones.
• For a final clean, the site is released to us. Trades are finished in the areas we're cleaning, no dust-producing work is under way, and power, water and lighting are on. If trades return and add dust after our final clean, a touch-up is quoted separately.
• Debris. Cleaning-stage debris is bagged and carried to your dumpster on site. We don't haul off-site, demolish, or remove fixtures or construction materials.
• Dust. HEPA vacuums and damp methods. No dry sweeping of fine dust, and no compressed-air blow-downs. [confirm HEPA equipment owned]
• Site rules. We follow your sign-in, orientation, badging and PPE requirements, and work with your superintendent's schedule.
• Buildings built before 1978. After renovation that disturbed painted surfaces, the cleaning verification required by the EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule is done by your certified renovator. We clean to their direction. We don't perform lead cleanup, lead-safe verification or any abatement.

Floor projects

Before we scrub, recoat, strip or refinish a floor, we test a small spot and we both sign a short note on the floor's condition. Older or worn finishes can look uneven after work, and the note records what we agreed to expect.

Access and security

• Keys, fobs and badges are picked up in person, tagged with a code rather than your name or address, recorded in a key log for your site, and stored locked.
• Alarm and door codes are shared in person or by phone, never in a web form. Where your system allows, each cleaner gets an individual alarm user code, so you can see who armed and disarmed it and delete any code yourself.
• Lock-up. We follow a lock-up checklist every visit: doors, lights, alarm. We don't let anyone into your space unless you've told us to in advance.
• You stay in control. You can change a code, ask for keys back or limit where we go at any time. Just tell us.
• When service ends, we return every key, fob and badge, and confirm in writing that our codes have been deleted, within 7 days.

The details, including what happens if a key is lost, are in our keys, alarm codes and lock-up policy.

Your part

To do good work and keep everyone safe, we ask you to:

• Name a contact. One person (and a backup) who can answer questions, approve changes and hear about anything we find.
• Give us a safe site and a way in. Working lights, power and running water, clear walkways, and keys, fobs or codes for the areas in the scope, shared as our access policy describes.
• Secure valuables and confidential material. Lock away cash, checks, medications, personal items and anything irreplaceable. Keep confidential records, patient information and sensitive documents in locked drawers or rooms, or out of the areas we clean. We don't move papers, open drawers or touch screens and keyboards.
• Tell us about hazards and delicate surfaces. Wet or damaged floors, broken fixtures, chemicals or equipment left out, natural stone, specialty finishes and anything that needs special care.
• Tell us your site rules, such as sign-in, badging, restricted rooms, quiet hours and alarm schedules, and any change to them.
• Tell us about closures as our scheduling policy asks, so we don't arrive to a locked or occupied space.
• Keep supplies stocked if you supply them, per the option in your proposal. See our supplies policy.
• Medical and dental offices: your waste vendor handles sharps containers and regulated medical waste, and your staff handle clinical surfaces and any blood or body-fluid spills under your practice's own procedures.
• Treat our team with respect, and give them a safe place to work.

Our part

• We follow your written scope, within your cleaning window, every visit.
• Re-clean Promise. Missed something on your checklist? Tell us within 24 hours and we'll come back and fix it within 1 business day, at no charge. See our promise.
• We tell you first. If something breaks, we tell you the same day, with photos. If we have to miss a visit, we tell you the same day and offer a make-up visit [confirm same-day notice and a make-up visit], as our scheduling policy describes.
• We follow your site rules, use products according to their labels, and keep safety data sheets for the products we bring available to you. [confirm an SDS binder for each client site]
• We keep your keys and codes the way our access policy describes.
• We answer. We reply within 2 business hours. Messages after hours get a reply by 9am the next business day.
• Paperwork on request. Insurance: [Insurance: general-liability carrier; limits go on the COI only]. Certificates of insurance and W-9s are available on request, usually the same business day, through our vendor information page.

Invoices and payment

• Payment terms: Net 15, unless your proposal says otherwise.
• How invoices are sent. By email to the billing contact in your proposal. Recurring service is invoiced [invoicing cadence, e.g. monthly]. One-time work is invoiced when it's done, and post-construction work when each phase is done.
• Purchase orders and vendor portals. If your organization needs a PO number on invoices or uses a vendor portal, tell us at setup and we'll invoice that way. A purchase order's preprinted terms don't change these terms unless we both sign them.
• How to pay. Bank transfer (ACH), check, or online, as listed on your invoice. See pay an invoice.
• Sales tax. Virginia doesn't charge sales tax on cleaning services (23VAC10-210-4040), so none is added for the cleaning itself. If we supply restroom or breakroom consumables under our supplies policy, your proposal and invoice show how those are handled. [confirm with a CPA before launch, including sales tax on any supplies we provide]
• Questions about an invoice? Tell us before the due date and we'll sort it out. We fix any mistake right away.
• Unpaid invoices. We'll remind you in writing first. If an invoice is still unpaid after that, we may pause service, with written notice, until it's settled. We never add a charge that isn't in your signed proposal. [attorney: any late charge or interest belongs in the signed proposal only, never on this page]
• Net terms for organizations that need them: see vendor information.

Damage and liability

We're careful, and when we get something wrong, we make it right.

• Damage claims follow our damage policy. We tell you the same day, with photos. Please report damage you find within 24 hours of the visit. We may inspect before any repair. If we're responsible, we repair it, replace it with something of like kind and quality, or reimburse you at actual cash value.
• What isn't covered: damage that was already there and noted at the walkthrough, items that weren't secured or that you didn't flag as delicate, normal wear, and loose or defective fixtures. The full list is in the damage policy.
• Limits. Any limit on our responsibility for property damage, and whether indirect losses such as lost business income are excluded, is stated in your signed agreement. [attorney: liability cap for property damage (in the signed agreement only) and any exclusion of indirect losses]
• Things outside our control. We aren't responsible for delays or missed visits caused by severe weather, road closures, power outages, building emergencies or similar events. We tell you as early as we can and reschedule with you.
• Injuries are never waived. Nothing in these terms limits our responsibility for injuries caused by our negligence, or for gross negligence or willful misconduct. We will never ask you to sign a waiver of those.

When we'll stop work

We may pause or stop a visit if it isn't safe for our team to keep working. That includes threats or harassment, blood, sharps or red-bag waste, suspected asbestos or mold, an unsafe structure or floor, live electrical hazards, a chemical spill, or construction work that is still putting dust in the air. We leave hazards untouched, tell you right away and explain why, and agree with you on how and when to finish the work.

What we don't do at all, and why, is listed in our safety policy.

Confidentiality

We clean around your work, not through it. What our team sees or hears in your space stays there. We don't read, move, copy or photograph documents, screens, whiteboards, mail or patient information, and our job photos follow our photo policy.

If your organization needs a signed confidentiality agreement, ask and we'll sign one before service starts. [confirm the confidentiality agreement template]

We keep your information, including your proposal and your site details, confidential too. How we handle it is in our privacy policy.

Hiring our team

[attorney: include this clause? If yes, keep it narrow: only people who worked on your account, during service and up to 12 months after; the arrangement goes in the proposal only]

The people who clean your space are the service. If you'd like to hire someone who has worked on your account, during service or within [12] months after it ends, please talk to us first. Your proposal explains the placement arrangement.

This applies to clients only. Our team members are always free to work wherever they choose. We never ask them to sign a non-compete, and nothing here limits their right to work for anyone.

Honest reviews

You're free to review us anywhere, honestly, good or bad. We never restrict or penalize an honest review or ask you to take one down, and nothing in these terms, your proposal or any agreement with us limits that right (Consumer Review Fairness Act).

We ask every client for feedback, not just the happy ones, and we never offer anything in exchange for a review. We use your organization's name, logo or a quote from you only with your written permission. Read or leave a review.

If we clean your home

We also clean some homes. If we clean yours, these terms apply with your written quote, with a few differences:

• Your quote shows the total price, including every required charge, before you agree.
• Virginia's consumer protection laws apply to your service in full.
• If you ever sign an agreement with us at your home, you may cancel it within three business days, and we'll give you a written notice explaining how. [attorney: confirm the cooling-off wording for agreements signed at the home]
• Recurring home cleaning follows ongoing service and how to end it, above.

If we disagree

If something goes wrong, please tell us first. [Owner's first name], our owner, reviews every complaint personally, and we'll work with you to resolve it within 10 business days.

If we still can't agree, Virginia law applies, and either of us can bring a claim in the General District Court for the city or county where the work was done, including its small claims division where one is available. There's no arbitration clause and no class-action waiver in these terms. [attorney: confirm governing law and venue]

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. When we do, we'll post the new version here with a new date and version number. If you have ongoing service, we'll email you at least 30 days before a material change takes effect, with a reminder of how to end service if you'd rather not continue. Until then, the version you accepted applies. Earlier versions are available on request.

The fine print

• Your signed proposal, these terms and our service policies are the whole agreement for your service. If a signed proposal or agreement says something different, it controls.
• We're an independent contractor. Our team works under our direction and supervision.
• Written notices go by email: from us, to the contact in your proposal; from you, to hello@gentletouchcleaningva.com.
• If a court finds part of these terms unenforceable, the rest still applies.
• If either of us doesn't enforce a term right away, we haven't given it up.