HOW TO HIRE · CLEANING · CHECKED OCTOBER 2026
How to hire a cleaner in Ireland
The checks, the questions and the paperwork.
There is no register for cleaners, so every check that matters is one you make yourself. Here is how to check that in a minute, what to ask before you book, and what you must be handed when the job is done.
- Search and compare — no account needed
- Nearest to you first
- One score from Google, Trustpilot and Locufy reviews
TWO WAYS TO BUY THIS
Which do you need?
An individual, by the hour
You book a person for a set number of hours and they do what you ask. There is no scope and no quote: you are buying time. Best where the work is routine, you can say what you want done, and you would rather pay for two hours than for a job.
A company, for the job
You describe the job and they price it. There is a scope, a written quote, a team and somebody supervising it. Best where the work is one big push, where it needs equipment, or where you want one party answerable for the result.
What changes between them
The rate per hour against a price for the job; one person against a team; your own instructions against a written scope; and VAT, which an individual under the registration threshold does not charge at all.
THE 60-SECOND VERSION
Hiring a cleaner in five steps
- Are you a trader, and do you invoice?A business name and an invoice. If the answer is no, this is a favour with money attached, and none of the protections below apply.
- Who insures you?Public liability, and the insurer's name. It is what covers the broken thing.
- Will it be you every week?The person who quotes is not always the person who comes. Ask, and ask who comes when they are ill.
- What is in scope, in writing?“A clean” means different things. Ovens, insides of windows, bed changes and ironing are the usual arguments.
- Do you bring products and a vacuum?Changes the price and the time, and matters if anyone in the house has an allergy.
BEFORE YOU BOOK
Check before you book
By the hour
No register applies
No licence or register applies to cleaners in Ireland. Anyone may trade as one, so the checks that matter are trader status, insurance, references and what is written down.
Look for the trader badge and the ID-checked badge on the Locufy profile — both are checked by us, not claimed by the provider.
What to check instead
That they are a trader, not a favour — a business name, an invoice, a VAT or tax reference if registered; Public liability insurance, and who the insurer is; Whether the person who quoted is the person who comes; References from two current customers, not testimonials on a page; What is in scope in writing, because 'a clean' means different things.
Ask for each of these before you agree a price, and get the answers in the same message as the quote.
Trader or private seller
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2022 a trader must tell you they are a trader, and your consumer rights — work carried out with reasonable skill and care, and a cooling-off period on a contract agreed in your home or online — apply to traders and not to private sellers. On Locufy the trader status is shown on the profile.
Look for the trader badge on the Locufy profile, and ask anyone else for it in writing before you agree a price.
VAT
VAT at 13.5%, the reduced rate Revenue publishes for this service. Ask whether the price you were given includes it. A trader under the €42,500 registration threshold does not charge it; one over it must, and must show it separately.
Ask whether the figure you were given includes it, and for the VAT number if they are registered — Revenue publishes the rate for this service. revenue.ie →
Insurance
Expect public liability; an agency also carries employer's liability and covers sickness. You are booking an individual for a set number of hours, so ask whether the ID has been checked and what the rating is from people who booked the same way — there is no company behind them to carry either.
A company
No register applies
No licence or register applies to cleaners in Ireland. Anyone may trade as one, so the checks that matter are trader status, insurance, references and what is written down.
Look for the trader badge and the ID-checked badge on the Locufy profile — both are checked by us, not claimed by the provider.
What to check instead
That they are a trader, not a favour — a business name, an invoice, a VAT or tax reference if registered; Public liability insurance, and who the insurer is; Whether the person who quoted is the person who comes; References from two current customers, not testimonials on a page; What is in scope in writing, because 'a clean' means different things.
Ask for each of these before you agree a price, and get the answers in the same message as the quote.
Trader or private seller
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2022 a trader must tell you they are a trader, and your consumer rights — work carried out with reasonable skill and care, and a cooling-off period on a contract agreed in your home or online — apply to traders and not to private sellers. On Locufy the trader status is shown on the profile.
Look for the trader badge on the Locufy profile, and ask anyone else for it in writing before you agree a price.
VAT
VAT at 13.5%, the reduced rate Revenue publishes for this service. Ask whether the price you were given includes it. A trader under the €42,500 registration threshold does not charge it; one over it must, and must show it separately.
Ask whether the figure you were given includes it, and for the VAT number if they are registered — Revenue publishes the rate for this service. revenue.ie →
Insurance
Expect public liability; an agency also carries employer's liability and covers sickness. From a company, ask for the insurer, the limit and the VAT number, and ask who actually attends: the team that turns up may be employed, subcontracted or both, and only one of those is supervised by the firm you are paying.
By the hour
A good answer: Public liability, and the insurer's name. It is what covers the broken thing.
A good answer: The person who quotes is not always the person who comes. Ask, and ask who comes when they are ill.
A good answer: Changes the price and the time, and matters if anyone in the house has an allergy.
A good answer: A small trader may be under the threshold and not charge it; one over it must.
A good answer: VAT at 13.5%, the reduced rate Revenue publishes for this service. Ask whether the price you were given includes it. A trader under the €42,500 registration threshold does not charge it; one over it must, and must show it separately — basic Cleaning Tasks — house cleaning typically includes dusting, vacuuming, mopping floors, and wiping surfaces.
A company
A good answer: A business name and an invoice. If the answer is no, this is a favour with money attached, and none of the protections below apply.
A good answer: Public liability, and the insurer's name. It is what covers the broken thing.
A good answer: “A clean” means different things. Ovens, insides of windows, bed changes and ironing are the usual arguments.
A good answer: Changes the price and the time, and matters if anyone in the house has an allergy.
A good answer: Bathroom Sanitisation — bathroom cleaning includes disinfecting toilets, sinks, and showers, as well as polishing mirrors — get the exclusions named in the quote, because a cleaner job is priced on what was agreed and not on what was assumed.
A good answer: A small trader may be under the threshold and not charge it; one over it must.
A good answer: VAT at 13.5%, the reduced rate Revenue publishes for this service. Ask whether the price you were given includes it. A trader under the €42,500 registration threshold does not charge it; one over it must, and must show it separately — basic Cleaning Tasks — house cleaning typically includes dusting, vacuuming, mopping floors, and wiping surfaces.
Getting the quote right, or booking by the hour
By the hour
- The rate per hour, and whether it changes in the evening or at a weekend
- The minimum booking, and what happens if the job finishes early
- What they bring and what you supply
- Whether the ID has been checked, and the rating from people who booked the same way
- Insurance, where the work can damage something or somebody
- The hours and the list of what is to be done, agreed before the first one
- Per hour or per visit — and if per visit, how many hours that assumes
- Who provides products and equipment
- VAT at 13.5% shown as its own line, not folded into the price
- What happens if the house takes longer than expected
- Cancellation on both sides
A company
- Per hour or per visit — and if per visit, how many hours that assumes
- The scope, room by room, with the extras named
- Who provides products and equipment
- VAT at 13.5% shown as its own line, not folded into the price
- What happens if the house takes longer than expected
- Cancellation on both sides
- Who actually attends, and whether they are employed or subcontracted
- The VAT number, and whether it checks out on the Revenue register
Walk away if
By the hour
- A different person each week with no notice
- Keys requested with nothing written about them
- References that are all friends, or none at all
A company
- No invoice, no business name, no insurance
- A rate quoted before anyone has asked the size of the house
- Cash only, and a reluctance to put the scope in writing
- References that are all friends, or none at all
What a cleaner costs: €18–€35 per hour
Locufy guide prices for 2026–2027. Updated 2026. House Cleaning price guide →
Guide prices compiled by the Locufy team from published Irish and UK provider price lists and 2026/27 cost guides. Updated 2026.
KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR? NOW FIND ONE
Cleaners near you, with the badges that matter shown
ID checked, trader status and one score from every review — on the card, before you message anyone. Nearest first. No account needed to look.
Or post the job free and let them come to you, or book by the hour.
- Look firstSize of your home — the area covered is what the day rate is set against — that is what the cleaner is judging on the first visit, and a price given without it is a guess.
- Agree what is being doneOne-off vs regular booking — it affects how many people are needed on the day — put in writing before anyone starts, because it is the document you both read back at the end.
- The work itselfCondition since the last clean — years of use leave more to put right than a recent job — and anything found on the day that was not in that is priced before it is started.
- Check it togetherWho supplies products and equipment — materials are usually charged on top of the labour — walked against the written scope rather than against the feeling of it, while the cleaner is still there.
- What you are handedThe itemised invoice and any guarantee on the workmanship and the parts, location — a provider coming to you charges for the journey as well as the work.
- Deep Cleaning
- A more intensive cleaning service that focuses on areas often neglected, such as behind appliances and inside cabinets.
- Deep clean
- A one-off, longer and dearer, usually including the oven and inside windows.
- End of tenancy
- A clean to a letting standard, often with its own checklist.
- Public liability
- The insurance that covers damage to your home.
- Key holding
- An arrangement for the cleaner to hold a key and let themselves in; it should be written down and insured.
- Sole trader
- One person working for themselves, not a company — it changes who you are contracting with and who carries the insurance.
AFTER
When the job is done
By the hour
A company
Hiring a cleaner: questions people ask
No. No register applies, which is exactly why trader status, insurance, references and a written scope do the work instead.
The work, what is not included, the materials where they matter, the dates, and the total with VAT shown as its own line. A figure with none of that around it is a price and not a quote, and it is the reason two cleaner quotes for what sounds like the same job are not comparable.
An agency costs more and covers sickness and holidays; a self-employed cleaner is cheaper and is one person. Both are legitimate.
Expect public liability; an agency also carries employer's liability and covers sickness. Ask who the insurer is and what the limit is, not simply whether they have it — the cover matters most on the job nobody expected to go wrong, and a cleaner who cannot name the insurer may not be carrying any.
Tell them the same day and in writing. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2022 a service must be carried out with reasonable care and skill.
Somebody should be, at the start and at the end: at the start to agree what is being done and where, and at the end to walk it against the written scope before anyone leaves. A correction made on the day is a correction; the same fault found a week later is an appointment.
MORE GUIDES
More hiring guides in cleaning
Cleaners near you
Sources — checked October 2026
- CCPC — your rights when you buy a service
- Consumer Rights Act 2022
- Revenue — VAT rates
- Courts Service — small claims
- Revenue — CLEANING - CONTRACT (Non-residential immovable goods) — Reduced rate
- Revenue — current VAT rates (effective 1 January 2026)
- Revenue — VAT thresholds: €42,500 for a person supplying services only