What you are actually buying
A housekeeping or hourly cleaning company sends people. Everything else, the products, the schedule, the reliability, follows from who those people are and who employs them. This is MUMTAZ's checklist for choosing a housekeeping company in the UAE; we run the service, so it is our own standard, and it applies to us.
1. Employed or agency
Ask whether the cleaner who arrives is employed by the company, on its visa, with its insurance, and trained by it, or supplied by an agency for the day. This decides whether the same person comes back, whether they know the house, and who is responsible if something goes wrong. Everyone MUMTAZ sends is a MUMTAZ employee.
2. Insured, and what that means
Ask to see the insurance. Ask what it covers: injury to the cleaner, damage in the home, or both. A company that offers an insured rate and a cheaper uninsured rate should tell you plainly which you are buying.
3. Minimums and scheduling
Most companies set a minimum booking, by hours or by number of cleaners. Ask what it is, whether the same cleaner can be requested for a regular slot, and how cancellations are handled.
4. Products and equipment
Do materials and equipment come with the cleaner, or do you supply them? Both arrangements exist; the point is to know before the first visit.
5. What is not included
Deep cleaning, sofa and carpet cleaning, AC duct work and post-renovation cleaning are separate jobs. A cleaner booked by the hour does hourly work; ask what happens when the house needs more than that.
6. Pricing you can read
An hourly rate should be published, with VAT stated, and with the minimum booking alongside it. Anything beyond the hourly work should be quoted, not guessed. Card and bank transfer should both be accepted.
7. Gated communities
If you live in a gated community, ask how the company handles the gate pass and whether its cleaners carry company ID for registration at security. Ours do, and we send the names ahead of the visit.
8. Reviews
Read the Google listing and look for repeated themes about reliability and the same cleaner returning. Ours are on the Sharjah listing.