A cleaning cancellation policy tells clients how much notice to give, how to cancel or move a visit, and what late cancellations, no-shows and lockouts cost. Fill in your rules below to get a numbered, plain-English policy clients can read and accept, plus a two or three sentence version for booking confirmations and texts.
Free, no sign-up
Runs in your browser
Works on your phone
How it works
1Fill in the formYour details are remembered for next time
2Check the live previewIt updates as you type
3Print or save as PDFReady to send or sign
This is a template, not legal advice. Rules on cancellation fees and deposits differ by state, province and country, so check the consumer rules where you work before you use it. No sign-up, and nothing you type leaves your browser.
Short version for confirmations and texts
To cancel or reschedule, please give us at least 48 hours' notice by text, phone or email. Later cancellations are charged 50% of the visit price; same-day cancellations, no-shows and lockouts are charged the full visit price. We waive your first late fee.
256 characters
14 sections, in plain English
Your business name
Cancellation and Rescheduling Policy
1. Why we have this policy
When you book with [Your business name], we hold that time for you and plan our cleaners' day around it. A visit cancelled at the last minute is time we usually cannot fill, and our cleaners lose pay for it. This policy explains how to cancel or move a visit, what notice we need, and what happens on both sides when plans change.
2. How to cancel or reschedule
To cancel, skip or move a visit, text or call us or email us.
We go by the time your message is sent, even if it arrives outside our business hours. A cancellation is only final once we confirm it, so if you do not hear back, please follow up.
3. How much notice we need
Please give us at least 48 hours' notice before the scheduled start time of your visit.
For example, for a visit at 10 am on Thursday, let us know by 10 am on Tuesday.
4. Moving a visit
You can move a visit at no charge if you ask at least 24 hours before it starts. We will offer the nearest open times, and you keep your regular schedule after that.
Moving a visit with less notice than that is treated as a late cancellation, unless we can fit you in on another day that week.
5. Late cancellations
If you cancel with less than 48 hours' notice, we charge a late cancellation fee of 50% of the visit price.
We know life happens, so we waive the first late cancellation fee for every client, once.
6. Same-day cancellations and no-shows
If you cancel on the day of your visit, or the visit is missed without any notice, we charge the full visit price. By then our cleaners are already scheduled for your home.
7. If we cannot get in
A lockout is when our crew arrives at the scheduled time and cannot start the clean: no one is home to let us in, the key or door code does not work, the alarm cannot be turned off, or someone at home asks us not to clean that day.
Our crew will call or text you and wait up to 15 minutes. If we still cannot get in, it counts as a same-day cancellation (the full visit price).
8. Pets
Please keep any pet that is nervous with strangers, could get out, or might bite in a closed room, crate or yard during our visit, and tell us which rooms to skip. We will not let pets outside unless you ask us to.
If a loose pet makes it unsafe for us to work and we cannot reach you to sort it out within 15 minutes, we will leave and the visit is treated as a lockout.
9. Skipping a recurring visit
If you have a recurring schedule, you can skip a visit at no charge with at least 48 hours' notice. Your next visit stays on the calendar as usual.
A skip with less notice than that counts as a late cancellation.
10. Illness, emergencies and bad weather
We do not charge a cancellation fee for a real emergency or for sudden illness in your home. Tell us as soon as you can, and we will help you rebook.
If anyone at home has a fever or something contagious, please let us know before the visit so we can protect our crew and our other clients. We would rather move the visit than send someone in.
In the same way, we will not send a cleaner who is sick. If roads are unsafe because of snow, ice or a storm, or there is an emergency on our side, we may need to move your visit. When that happens, no fee applies to either of us, and we will contact you as early as we can to find a new time.
11. If we have to cancel
If we cancel or move your visit with less than 48 hours' notice for a reason on our side, you get first pick of our open times to rebook. We will never charge you a fee for a change we made.
12. Repeated late cancellations
If visits are cancelled late, missed or locked out 3 times within 6 months, we may take your recurring visit off our schedule and offer cleans when we have an opening instead. We will always talk to you before we do this.
13. How fees are paid
Fees are charged to the card we keep on file for your visits, and we send you a receipt.
If you think a fee was charged by mistake, tell us and we will look at it with you.
14. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. We will tell you before any change applies to your visits. By booking a visit with us, you agree to the policy in place at the time.
What should a cleaning cancellation policy include?
A cleaning cancellation policy should answer every question a client has when plans change, in the order they would ask them. The generator above writes each of these as its own numbered section:
How to cancel or reschedule. Text, call, email or a link in the confirmation, and that you go by when the message was sent.
The notice you need, in hours. “48 hours before the visit” is clearer than “two days” or “as soon as possible”.
Rescheduling. Moving a visit can be free with less notice than cancelling, since you keep the work.
Late cancellation, same-day and no-show fees, each as a dollar amount or a share of the visit price.
Lockouts. What counts (no one home, a key or code that does not work, a client who sends the crew away), how long the crew waits, and what it costs.
Pets. Nervous or loose pets kept in a closed room, so the crew can work safely.
Skips for recurring clients, and whether there is a limit.
Deposits: when you take one, that it counts toward the visit, and when it is refunded.
Exceptions on both sides: illness, emergencies and unsafe weather, with no fee for either of you.
What happens when you cancel: first pick of new times, a credit, or both.
Repeated late cancellations, and that a recurring spot may be given up after several.
How fees are paid, such as the card on file, and how to question one.
If you also use a written service agreement, keep the two in step. The cleaning contract template has a short cancellation clause; this policy is the longer, standalone version clients can read on their own, and the page you point to when someone asks for an exception.
How much notice should cleaning clients give?
Pick the shortest notice that still lets you fill the time or rearrange your day. Three windows are common choices, each for a reason:
Notice
Why owners pick it
24 hours
Easy for clients to accept. Works when you can fill a gap quickly, for example from a waitlist, or move a crew to another job.
48 hours
Gives you time to offer the slot to another client and rework routes. A fair middle ground for most recurring house cleaning.
72 hours
For long jobs such as deep cleans, move-out cleans or large homes, where a cancellation empties a whole day for a crew.
Whatever you pick, count it back from the start time, and give an example: “for a 10 am Thursday visit, let us know by 10 am Tuesday.” Many owners also make moving a visit free with less notice than cancelling, because the work stays on the calendar.
What should you charge for late cancellations, no-shows and lockouts?
Charge enough to cover what you lose, and no more. When a visit is cancelled late, you usually still owe your cleaner for the time, the drive is often already done, and the slot is hard to fill. These are common choices, with the thinking behind each:
Situation
Common choice
Why
Late cancellation
About half the visit price, or a flat fee
Covers part of the lost pay while staying gentle for a real conflict.
Same-day cancellation or no-show
Up to the full visit price
The crew is already scheduled, and the time can rarely be filled that day.
Lockout
Same as a same-day cancellation
The crew drove there and waited; to your business it is the same loss.
Deposit
Optional, often for first visits and big jobs
Counts toward the visit, refunded in full when the client cancels in time.
A share of the visit price grows with the size of the home, so it stays fair for a small condo and a large house alike. A flat fee is simpler to remember and to put in a text. If you are still setting your prices, the house cleaning pricing guide and the price calculator help you get the visit price right first, since most fees are based on it.
How do you enforce a cancellation policy kindly?
Most late cancellations come from good clients having a bad week. The aim is to protect your crew’s pay without losing the client. These habits do most of the work:
Get it accepted before the first visit. Show the short version on your booking page and confirmation, and have new clients sign the full policy or tick a box to accept it. A fee nobody agreed to is a fee you will not want to charge.
Send a reminder the day before. One text with the time and a line about your notice window prevents more cancellations than any fee.
Waive the first one. A first-time courtesy, said out loud (“we’ve waived it this time”), shows the policy is fair and makes the second fee easier to charge.
Be consistent. Apply the same rule to every client after the first waiver, and keep a note of who had one.
Hold yourself to it. If you cancel late, give the client first pick of new times or a credit, as your policy says.
Talk before you drop anyone. If a recurring client keeps cancelling late, call them first. A different day or frequency often fixes it.
A clear policy also helps you keep the clients you worked to win. Our guide on how to get cleaning clients covers the other side: filling the calendar in the first place.
Sample cancellation policy wording for texts and confirmations
Your short version should fit in a booking confirmation or a text: the notice, how to cancel and what late costs. Here are three, made by the generator above:
The defaults in the generator (48 hours, half price late, full price same day)
To cancel or reschedule, please give us at least 48 hours' notice by text, phone or email. Later cancellations are charged 50% of the visit price; same-day cancellations, no-shows and lockouts are charged the full visit price. We waive your first late fee.
A flat $40 fee, 24 hours, with a deposit
To cancel or reschedule, please give us at least 24 hours' notice by text, or through your booking link. Later cancellations, no-shows and lockouts are charged $40. Your deposit is refunded in full when you cancel in time.
No fees yet, just a clear ask
To cancel or reschedule, please give us at least 48 hours' notice by text or phone. We do not charge cancellation fees, but late notice makes it hard to offer the time to someone else.
Keep the full policy one tap away: on your website, attached to your first email, or behind a link in each confirmation.
How BroomBook applies your cancellation policy
A written policy is the first step; applying it the same way every time is the hard part. We make BroomBook, a scheduling and booking app for residential cleaning businesses, so take this section with that in mind. Here is exactly what it does with cancellations:
Deposits and fees, all optional. In Settings you can set a deposit, a late-cancellation fee and a no-show fee, each as a dollar amount or a share of the visit. The late fee starts 12, 24, 48 or 72 hours before a visit (24 unless you change it). In BroomBook, the no-show fee also covers lockouts: nobody home or the crew could not get in.
Clients see the terms before they book, and the late fee again before they cancel from their link.
A self-service link in every confirmation and reminder. Clients can move a visit to a time the crew is free, skip a recurring visit or cancel a one-off, up to 12 hours before it starts. After that, they contact you.
The money follows the rule. A deposit is charged to the card when you confirm a booking and counts toward the visit. When you cancel a visit as “No-show” or “The client asked” inside the window, the fee is offered and you can untick it to waive it. A deposit counts toward the fee, or goes back when no fee applies.
Policies clients sign from their own link. Write your policies once, for example by pasting the text from this generator. Clients sign with their full name, and the exact text, date, name and IP address are kept on their record. Change the policy and everyone is asked to sign the new one.
Freed time goes to the waitlist. When a visit is cancelled, skipped or moved, clients waiting for that day get a text and email, and the first to tap books it.
Plans are $29 a month for up to 2 cleaners or $59 a month for any number, with a 14-day free trial and no credit card. Card payments go through Stripe; you pay Stripe’s fee and BroomBook takes no cut. See it with sample data in the live demo, or read about online booking for cleaning businesses.
Pick something else if you only need the policy itself: this free generator and a text message are enough. Look elsewhere too if you need invoices with net terms, QuickBooks sync or an app-store app, or if you run a commercial janitorial or multi-trade business. BroomBook is built for residential cleaning.
What is a good cancellation policy for a cleaning business?
A good policy is short, specific and fair to both sides. It names the notice you need in hours (24 or 48 are common choices), how to cancel, the fee for late cancellations, no-shows and lockouts in dollars or as a share of the visit price, how deposits are refunded, which exceptions apply (illness, emergencies, bad weather) and what the client gets when you are the one who cancels.
How much should a cleaning company charge for a late cancellation?
There is no standard amount; it is your policy. A common approach is about half the visit price for a late cancellation and the full price for a same-day cancellation, no-show or lockout, since by then your cleaner’s day is already set. A flat fee works too, and is easier for clients to remember. Pick the amount that covers the pay and drive time you lose.
What is a lockout fee for cleaning?
A lockout fee is what you charge when your crew arrives on time but cannot start the clean: no one is home, the key or door code does not work, the alarm cannot be turned off, or someone at home asks them to leave. Say how long the crew waits and tries to reach the client before leaving, often 15 minutes, so the rule is clear.
Is it legal to charge a cancellation fee for house cleaning?
In many places a business can charge a cancellation fee the client agreed to in advance, but the rules on fees, deposits and refunds differ by state, province and country. A fee is easier to stand behind when the client accepted the policy before booking and the amount reflects what you actually lose. This generator is not legal advice, so check your local consumer rules before you use it.
Should a cleaning business take a deposit?
A deposit is optional. Many owners use one for first-time clients and large jobs such as deep and move-out cleans, where a cancellation costs a whole day. Keep it fair: count it toward the visit price, refund it in full when the client cancels in time, and refund it whenever you are the one who cancels.
How do I get clients to accept my cancellation policy?
Show it before they book, not after. Put the short version on your booking page and in the confirmation, send the full policy with your first estimate or service agreement, and ask new clients to sign it or tick a box to accept it. Then remind them the day before each visit, so a late cancellation is never a surprise.
Is this cancellation policy template free?
Yes. Fill it in, copy the text or print it and save it as a PDF, as often as you like. There is no sign-up. What you type stays in your browser, and your policy is remembered on your device for next time.