TL;DR
A turnover brief is a one to three page document covering property quirks, a written guest-ready definition, supply locations, and who to call. Most first-turnover problems trace back to something the host knew and never wrote down. Writing it once removes the same five questions from every future cleaner.
What Is a Turnover Brief?
It is the property's operating manual for whoever cleans it. Not a scope of work and not a contract -- a reference document that answers the questions a cleaner will otherwise have to ask, guess at, or discover the hard way.
Hosts who have run a property for years hold an enormous amount of undocumented knowledge. Which key sticks, which window will not latch, where the water shutoff is, which cabinet holds the spare linens. All of that is invisible to a new cleaner.
The brief is also what makes a replacement cleaner viable. If everything lives in one host's head, losing a cleaner means starting from zero. The broader work of vetting is covered in choosing a turnover cleaner.
Access: The Part That Fails First
Start here, because a cleaner who cannot get in has already lost the turnover.
Write down the exact entry method, the code or key location, and what to do if it does not work. Include the door that actually opens, since properties routinely have a front door nobody uses.
Cover parking. Where to park, whether a permit is needed, and how long a vehicle can sit there. Parking is the most common cause of a late start in dense areas.
Cover alarms. The disarm sequence, the delay, and the number to call if it trips. An alarm that trips on a first visit is memorable for all the wrong reasons.
Cover pets and neighbors where relevant, along with any building rules about service hours or elevator use.
How Do You Define Guest Ready Without Defining a Service?
Describe the finished state, not the method. A guest-ready definition lists what the property looks like when the turnover is done -- beds made with fresh linen, trash removed, dishes put away, consumables restocked to par -- and leaves the cleaner to decide how to get there. Label it a starting point and adjust it together.
That distinction matters. A list of finished conditions is something two people can inspect and agree on. A list of techniques turns into an argument about whether a particular product or order of operations was used.
Photographs help more than words here. A photo of a correctly made bed, a correctly staged bathroom, and a correctly set kitchen counter removes more ambiguity than three paragraphs.
Keep the list short enough to actually be read. A twelve-item finished-state list gets used; a sixty-item checklist gets skimmed.
The general picture of what turnover work involves is in the guide to move out and turnover cleaning.
Property Quirks and Known Problems
Every property has them, and every one of them costs a new cleaner time.
- Fixtures and surfaces that need particular care, such as natural stone counters that are damaged permanently by vinegar or any acidic cleaner, or a coated cooktop that scratches.
- Appliances with tricks: the dishwasher that needs the door held, the dryer that runs long, the disposal switch in an unexpected place.
- Things that look like damage and are not, so nobody reports the same scuff every month.
- Things that are actual damage and should be reported, with an example of what the report should look like.
- Water quirks: a slow drain, a hot water lag, a toilet that runs if the handle is not settled.
Write these as a list rather than prose. A cleaner scans this section; nobody reads a story about a dishwasher.
Supplies, Linens, and Par Levels
State where every supply lives, in one place if possible.
State the par level for each consumable so a shortage is a defined condition rather than a judgment call, and state how it gets reported. Common restocking allowances across the industry run $10 to $35 per turnover depending on unit size, though who pays for what is a term to settle in advance rather than assume.
State the linen system: how many sets, where clean sets live, where dirty linen goes, and whether laundry happens on site or off. Laundry is the single biggest driver of turnover time, so ambiguity here is expensive.
State what is not the cleaner's responsibility. Leaving that unsaid produces either resentful unpaid work or gaps nobody covers. The remote version of all of this is covered in managing a cleaner from a distance.
Contacts and What to Do When Something Breaks
Name one contact for property problems and one for scheduling. If they are the same person, say so.
Give a spending limit for urgent fixes so the cleaner is not stuck waiting on approval for a $40 to $90 part while a guest arrives in three hours.
Say what counts as urgent. A leak, a failed lock, no hot water, and a broken appliance are usually urgent. A loose cabinet handle is not.
Say what to do about items guests leave behind, since a policy written after the first lost passport is a policy written too late.
Timing and the Turnover Window
Put the standard checkout and check-in times in the brief, along with how much working time that actually leaves.
Say what happens on a same-day turnover, and say clearly whether the cleaner is expected to accept them. That expectation is where the buffer question becomes real, and the tradeoffs are worked through in how much buffer time to leave between bookings.
Say how a schedule change reaches the cleaner. Calendar access beats messages, and either beats assuming.
Keeping the Brief Alive
A brief written once and never touched becomes wrong within a year. Appliances get replaced, codes get changed, and the linen count drifts.
Review it when anything material changes and at least once a season. Date it, so anyone reading knows whether they are looking at current information.
Ask the cleaner to flag anything in the brief that turned out to be wrong. They discover errors before you do, and a document nobody is allowed to correct stops being trusted.
FAQ
What should a turnover brief include?
Access details, parking, alarm instructions, a written guest-ready definition, property quirks, supply and linen locations with par levels, contacts with a spending limit for urgent fixes, and the turnover window. One to three pages is typical. Longer documents stop being read.
How is a turnover brief different from a cleaning checklist?
A brief describes the property and how it works; a checklist describes tasks. The brief is what a new cleaner needs to function at all, and it stays useful across cleaners. A task list belongs inside the agreement you reach with a specific provider.
Should I tell a cleaner how to clean or what result I want?
Describe the finished state and leave the method to the cleaner. Finished conditions can be inspected and agreed on. Prescribed techniques turn into arguments about process and make you responsible for outcomes you did not perform.
How long should a turnover brief be?
One to three pages for most properties. Short enough to read before a first visit and scan before a later one. Photos of a correctly staged bed, bathroom, and kitchen counter do more work than extra paragraphs of description.
Who should the cleaner contact about a broken appliance?
One named person for property problems, with a stated spending limit for urgent repairs. Define what counts as urgent, such as a leak, a failed lock, or no hot water, so the cleaner is not weighing whether a call is justified while a guest is arriving.
How often should I update the brief?
Whenever something material changes and at least once a season. Codes change, appliances get replaced, and linen counts drift. Date the document so anyone reading it knows how current it is, and invite the cleaner to flag errors they find.
Write It Once
An afternoon spent writing the brief saves the same afternoon repeated with every cleaner you ever hire, and it removes most of the friction from a first turnover.
Every property is different, so what a turnover actually takes depends on size, linen load, access, and the length of the window. We are local, we price up front with no hidden fees, our crews are background checked, and booking happens online. Look at house cleaning services, then get a quote and we will walk you through it.