The deposit is decided in the rooms the agent photographs
An end-of-tenancy clean in Singapore is the difference between a returned deposit and a list of deductions. A 2-room to executive HDB clean is S$180 to S$480. A condo handover with appliances and the aircon filter is S$280 to S$750. The diplomatic clause and the minor-repair clause decide who pays for damage. The clean decides what the photos look like. Twelve traps cause most of the deductions.
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Executive summary and why it fails
An end-of-tenancy clean in Singapore is the difference between a returned deposit and a list of deductions. A 2-room to executive HDB clean is S$180 to S$480. A condo handover with appliances and the aircon filter is S$280 to S$750. The diplomatic clause and the minor-repair clause decide who pays for damage. The clean decides what the photos look like. Twelve traps cause most of the deductions.
A standard CEA, PropNex or ERA tenancy agreement splits money in two places. The diplomatic clause lets a tenant leave early if they are posted away, usually after a minimum stay and with notice and a fee. It does not waive the handover condition. The minor-repair clause caps the tenant’s bill for small repairs, often at S$150, S$200 or S$250 per item, and it does not cap cleaning or damage beyond fair wear. A yellowed cistern valve can be wear. A hob that has never been degreased is not. The clean is how you stop a wear item being photographed as neglect.
The inspection order is the order agents actually use. Entrance door and shoe cabinet. Living room skirtings, switches and the aircon. Kitchen hood, oven, fridge seals, sink and cabinet kick. Bathrooms, glass, grout, and the toilet rim. Bedrooms, wardrobes, and mattress stains if the mattress was in the inventory. Windows, tracks and the balcony scupper. Aircon filters are opened. A filter full of dust is one of the fastest deductions because the photo is obvious. Keys, access cards and the inventory are the last table, not an afterthought in the lift.
The twelve traps we see on deposit lists are: greasy hood filters, a black fridge seal, mould on the bathroom ceiling, limescale on the glass, a stained mattress that was inventoried as clean, marks on the wall from adhesive hooks, a balcony full of dust, inside the oven, the washing-machine detergent drawer, yellowed silicone that the tenant never reported, pet hair in the tracks, and bins left full. Paint touch-up and nail holes are repairs, not a mop. Book them as handyman lines before the agent arrives, or accept them as a deduction with your eyes open. The cleaning calculator prices the clean. It does not price a repaint.
Homey Furnishing Pte. Ltd. (ACRA UEN 202018148K), 27 Mandai Estate, #06-10 Innovation Place, Singapore 729931, carries the permit-exempt portion of this work. V On Construction Pte. Ltd. (ACRA UEN 201611708H), listed on the HDB Directory of Renovation Contractors, carries any scope that needs an HDB renovation permit. Those two invoices are not interchangeable. The tenancy agreement is a private contract. The minor-repair cap and the diplomatic clause do what the signed pages say, not what a forum remembers. Cleaning chemicals have to be used as labelled. A handover clean does not need an HDB permit.
Ten-minute diagnostic: safe check versus stop
Spend ten minutes with a torch, your phone camera, and a tape before you buy a product or book a hack. Write down what you see. The safe checks below do not ask you to open a live wire, cut a pressurised pipe, or lean out of a window. Walk with the inventory. Note rooms, appliance count, balcony, and whether mattresses and curtains are yours or the landlord’s. Count nail holes. That count is a repair quote, not a cleaning hour.
Stop at the red-flag column. Stop if the flat is still full of packed boxes, if mould is black across a wall and you only booked a mop, or if you expect the clean to include painting and silicone. The reason DIY fails is almost never a lack of effort. It is that the tool or chemical makes the next professional repair harder, or it hides a leak, a live conductor, or a deposit line until the damage is larger than S$180 to S$750 for the clean. Deductions for damage are separate..
| Symptom or measurement | Safe DIY check | Red flag: stop | Why DIY fails |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agent visit is tomorrow | Empty the rooms and photograph every wall | You plan to hide damage with furniture | The inventory photos show the empty room |
| Mattress was supplied by the landlord | Check the inventory photo against today | You flip a stained mattress and hope | Urine and mould show under a UV torch and in the smell |
| Aircon has not been serviced | Open the filter. If it is grey, book a service | You wipe the fascia and leave the filter | The open filter is the photo |
| Holes from your shelves | List them for a filler visit | You leave them as fair wear | Fixings you installed are not wear. They are reinstatement |
Professional on-site sequence
This is the sequence a careful technician uses so you can tell a shortcut from a finished job. Tools stay in the van. Readings and photos go on the same worksheet as the price. The crew uses degreaser for the hood, limescale treatment that is safe for the stone, a track brush, filter cleaning, and HEPA for hair. They do not use a bleach slurry on marble. Photos are taken at the end.
- Step 1. Make the area safe and confirm the symptom still matches the photos. For The deposit is decided in the rooms the agent photographs, that means Stop if the flat is still full of packed boxes, if mould is black across a wall and you only booked a mop, or if you expect the clean to include painting and silicone.
- Step 2. Measure before touching the finished surface. Walk with the inventory. Note rooms, appliance count, balcony, and whether mattresses and curtains are yours or the landlord’s. Count nail holes. That count is a repair quote, not a cleaning hour.
- Step 3. Set protection and lay out the tools that belong to this material. The crew uses degreaser for the hood, limescale treatment that is safe for the stone, a track brush, filter cleaning, and HEPA for hair. They do not use a bleach slurry on marble. Photos are taken at the end.
- Step 4. Carry out the repair in the order the material allows. the clean is booked while the tenant is still moving out, or a repair is described as fair wear and then photographed is the failure this order is written to avoid.
- Step 5. Test in place. Rooms are empty, appliances are opened and clean, filters are photographed, bins are empty, and the repair list is either done or declared. Keys are a separate line on the agent’s form.
- Step 6. Clean, label the photographs against the invoice lines, and leave the statutory openings, weep holes, access panels and labels visible.
The order matters because the clean is booked while the tenant is still moving out, or a repair is described as fair wear and then photographed is what happens when a step is rushed. Handover is a measurement, not a handshake. Rooms are empty, appliances are opened and clean, filters are photographed, bins are empty, and the repair list is either done or declared. Keys are a separate line on the agent’s form. If the reading or the water test fails, the visit is not closed and a second line is priced before anyone leaves. Permit work, if the diagnosis has moved into hacking, waterproofing, or a new layout, stops here and is repriced through V On Construction Pte. Ltd. UEN 201611708H.
2026 price, brand and lifespan
The clean is priced by rooms and add-ons. Repairs, curtain laundry and mattress extraction sit outside the band and should be booked before the inspection, not argued after it. Prices below are 2026 Singapore bands for the described scope. They are not a coupon and they are not a guess after an unopened door. A second trade, such as a PUB licensed plumber or an EMA licensed electrician, is named when the law requires it rather than buried inside the labour line. Compare rows by what they include. The planning-life column belongs to that row only.
2026 SGD scope bands
| Scope | What you are paying for | 2026 SGD band | Planning life |
|---|---|---|---|
| HDB room clean | Kitchen, baths, floors, tracks. No repaint | S$180 to S$480 | The inspection week |
| Condo or landed handover | More glass, appliances, filters | S$280 to S$750 | The inspection week |
| Hood, oven and fridge add-on | The three photos that cost deposits | S$80 to S$180 | Add it if they were never deep-cleaned |
| Mattress or wall repairs | Not part of the mop | S$80 to S$350 | Book the right trade |
Brand, material and lifespan
| Option | Where it is used in Singapore | Failure mode in humidity | Planning life |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agent photo standard | What the deposit follows | A dark filter beats a scented floor | Clean what the camera opens |
| Minor-repair cap | S$150 to S$250 per item in many contracts | Does not cover a filthy oven | Read your number |
| Diplomatic clause | Early exit for a posting | Does not waive handover condition | The clean still happens |
| Fair wear | Aged seals and faded paint | Not hooks, pets or grease | Do not argue grease as wear |
Price the clean on the end-of-tenancy page and the cleaning calculator. Read the minor-repair guide if the argument is about who pays a repair.
Three Singapore property case studies
Three worked jobs show how the same symptom is priced differently in a new BTO, an older resale flat, and a private condo or landed house. The totals are the lines a household actually paid, not a national average. Permit-exempt invoices are issued by Homey Furnishing Pte. Ltd. UEN 202018148K.
Case 1: 4-room BTO in Sengkang
The tenant booked a standard clean at S$320 two days after the boxes left. Hood filters and tracks were included. The agent deducted nothing for cleaning. One nail-hole visit at S$90 was done the same week and stayed under the S$150 minor-repair cap.
Case 2: 28-year resale room in Geylang
A common-room handover. The mattress was the landlord’s and had a urine ring. Extraction was S$160 on top of a S$220 room clean. Arguing fair wear would have lost the whole deposit photo set. The clean alone would not have removed the salt.
Case 3: 2-bed condo in River Valley
Diplomatic clause exit. The clause was honoured. The condition report still listed a grey aircon filter and a mouldy silicone joint. Filter service and a bathroom deep clean were S$640. The silicone was quoted as a repair, not hidden inside the clean. The deposit returned except for the silicone the tenant chose not to do.
The rooms, the photos, and the lines that get deducted
Mattresses and glass the agent will photograph
Frequently Asked Questions
What do agents actually photograph?
Open cupboards, hood filters, fridge seals, the toilet rim, aircon filters, window tracks, the balcony and any wall marks. A mopped floor with a dirty filter still loses money. Walk that list before you book, and book the hours to match it.
Does the diplomatic clause cancel the clean?
No. It is an early-exit clause with its own notice and fee. The handover condition in the same contract still applies. Leave the flat as the inventory requires.
What does the minor-repair cap cover?
Small repair items up to the figure in your contract, often S$150, S$200 or S$250 each. It is not a cleaning allowance. Grease, mould from poor ventilation you ignored, and hooks you drilled are outside fair wear.
What are the usual deduction traps?
Hood filters, fridge seals, bathroom ceiling mould, glass scale, inventoried mattresses, adhesive hooks, balcony dust, the oven, the detergent drawer, unreported silicone, pet hair in tracks, and full bins. Twelve lines, most of them preventable.
Can the cleaner paint and fill holes?
No. That is a handyman visit with a separate price. Book it before the inspection if you want it done, or expect the photo to become a deduction. Homey Furnishing Pte. Ltd. UEN 202018148K can schedule both, on two lines.
When should the clean happen?
After you have moved out and before the agent walks. A clean around stacked boxes misses the skirtings. Allow 4 to 9 hours. The band is S$180 to S$750.