The Charleston Lowcountry and York County on the South Carolina side of the Charlotte metro, across Berkeley, Charleston, Dorchester, Lancaster and York counties. Each town below has its own permit authority and its own housing stock, and both change what the work involves.
Regular cleaning, deep cleans, move-outs and the clear-out after a job.
Charleston County · City of Charleston
Charleston County · Town of Mount Pleasant
Charleston County · City of North Charleston
Dorchester County · Town of Summerville
Berkeley County · City of Goose Creek
Charleston County · Charleston County
Charleston County · City of Charleston
Berkeley County · Town of Moncks Corner
Berkeley County · Charleston / Berkeley / Dorchester
Charleston County · Charleston County
York County · City of Rock Hill
York County · Town of Fort Mill
York County · York County
York County · Town of Clover
York County · City of York
Lancaster County · Lancaster County
Cleaning quotes are hard to compare because the exclusions vary more than the inclusions. Oven interiors, fridge interiors, interior windows, skirtings and anything needing a ladder are the usual dividing lines, and a quote that does not mention them cannot be compared with one that does.
A deep clean and a regular clean are different jobs, not different durations. Anyone charging the same rate for both has mispriced one of them.
Cleaning is not permitted or licensed work anywhere on this page, so the usual town-by-town differences — which building department, which inspector — do not apply. What does change is more practical. On the Charleston peninsula and in the older downtown streets, parking and access are a genuine time cost, and a team waiting for entry is being paid to wait. On the islands and in the newer York County subdivisions, gate and association access has to be arranged in advance.
The other real variable is what kind of clean the property needs. A recurring domestic clean, a move-out clean measured against somebody else's inspection, and the clear-out after building work are three different jobs with different methods and different definitions of finished — and the third of those is the one where it matters that the firm doing it is a contractor.
There is no permit and no state licence to check for cleaning in any of these towns — it is not one of South Carolina's residential specialty classifications.
Between them, the towns above fall under 14 separate permit authorities.
In the Lowcountry, permits come from the City of Charleston for Charleston and West Ashley, the Town of Mount Pleasant for Mount Pleasant, the City of North Charleston for North Charleston, the Town of Summerville for Summerville, the City of Goose Creek for Goose Creek, Charleston County for James Island and Johns Island, the Town of Moncks Corner for Moncks Corner and Ladson falling to Charleston, Berkeley or Dorchester County depending on the address.
In York and Lancaster counties, from the City of Rock Hill for Rock Hill, the Town of Fort Mill for Fort Mill, York County for Lake Wylie, the Town of Clover for Clover, the City of York for York and Lancaster County for Indian Land.
None of this affects a clean. It is here because the same address determines who you would be dealing with if the clear-out turned into remediation work.
So the checks are different ones: liability and workers' compensation cover for everyone entering the property, a named person responsible for keys and alarm codes, and a written scope that says what is included rather than an hourly rate with no boundary.
The rate is; the time is not. Access, parking and how long since the last thorough clean move the hours more than the postcode does.
Yes, and it is handled as construction work rather than as cleaning. Debris leaves under the builder’s disposal arrangements rather than your bins.
Anything that might contain asbestos does not get moved, bagged or swept until it has been tested.
Yes, where access is arranged in advance and there is a named person responsible for keys and codes.
On the islands and in gated York County neighbourhoods that arrangement needs a few days’ notice rather than a phone call on the morning.