The Queensland standard for bond cleaning
Queensland asks tenants to leave the home and its inclusions, as far as possible, in the condition they were in at the start, fair wear and tear excepted (Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 s 188(4)). Nothing in that section says who must hold the mop.
The RTA draws a handy line. Carpet worn by everyday use, or pile flattened by furniture, is fair wear and tear. Dirt, grime and grease are not. So a bond clean is about removing what built up while you lived there, not making old fittings look new.
The RTA puts the choice plainly: hire a professional company or do the cleaning yourself.
Bond cleaning spots the RTA says tenants miss
- Windows and the window tracks, where dust and dead insects settle.
- Skirting boards, including behind the bed.
- Light fittings and the covers over them.
- Ceiling fan blades, on both sides.
- Air conditioning vents and filters.
- Inside every cupboard, not just the doors.
- The oven, with its racks and trays.
An agent can't choose your bond cleaner
A Queensland lessor or agent must not require you to buy goods or services from them, or from a person they nominate (s 171(2)). If an agent hands over a list of bond cleaners, you can still pick anyone, or do the clean yourself.
Even a pet condition about the carpets can't name the business (s 171(3)(b)(iii)). The RTA adds that a property manager or owner can't make you use a specific carpet cleaning service, or pay a set fee for one.
Bond cleaning with pets: carpets and fumigation
If a pet was allowed inside, a condition asking for the carpets to be professionally cleaned at the end is taken to be reasonable (s 184F(2)(c)). Professionally means the standard ordinarily achieved by businesses selling that service (s 184F(4)). Tick carpet steam cleaning in the form if your agreement has that condition.
The RTA adds that a special term about professional carpet cleaning depends on the case and circumstances. It cites a 2019 QCAT appeal that enforced one where the home had been fumigated and the carpets professionally cleaned at the start.
A pet that could carry parasites can bring a fumigation condition (s 184F(2)(b)). Fumigation is pest control, a job for a licensed pest controller, so book it separately from the clean.
Bond cleaning in Darwin and the Territory
Darwin uses the same word. The Territory's test, in s 51(2) of the Residential Tenancies Act 1999, is a home handed back reasonably clean and in reasonable repair, allowing for reasonable wear and tear. The NT Act doesn't address lease terms about professional cleaning, so don't let anyone tell you it bans them or demands them.
There's no government bond authority in the Territory. The landlord or agent holds your bond in trust (s 29) and must repay it, less anything they're entitled to keep, within seven business days of you giving up vacant possession (s 112(2)).
A landlord can keep part of the bond to clean a home left unreasonably dirty, but only if you accepted an entry condition report and were given an exit report (s 112(4)). They also need a written notice with a statutory declaration and copies of receipts or invoices (s 112(5)).
The build up brings rising heat and humidity, and the wet season generally runs from December to March. Mould grows in damp spots with poor airflow, so keep bathrooms and wardrobes aired in your last weeks. A small patch can come off with mild detergent or watered-down vinegar, but large or returning mould is one for a mould remediation professional.
Queensland moving out steps, bond clean included
Find your entry condition report
Dig out your signed copy, with its photos or video, and check it room by room before you clean.
Clean once the place is empty
Do it yourself or book a business, starting with the RTA's missed list.
Hand in the exit report with the keys
Fill in the Exit condition report (Form 14a) and give it to the property manager or owner when you return the keys. Expect a completed copy at your new address within three business days of the vacate inspection.
Lodge the refund after your vacate date
Apply with the Refund of rental bond form (Form 4), online or on paper, and not before the vacate or handover date. If someone disagrees, they have 14 days to ask for RTA dispute resolution, and QCAT comes after that.
Warning signs in a bond clean quote
- A line saying your agent requires that particular business. In Queensland, they can't.
- A promise that your bond will come back in full. Only the parties, the RTA or a tribunal settle that.
- Fumigation folded into the clean as if it were cleaning.
- No ABN, or an ABN that ABN Lookup shows as cancelled.
How we'd brief bond cleaners in Queensland
We'd print the RTA's missed list, walk it against the entry condition report room by room, and hand both to whoever cleans. Then we'd get the clean and the re-clean terms in writing, and photograph every room before the keys go back. In Darwin, we'd make sure the signed entry report is somewhere we can find it before the clean starts.