Condo move-out checklist for Toronto: elevator, fob, inspection
Moving out of a condo is two jobs at once. The lease says what the unit should look like, and the building says when you may use the elevator to get out of it. A checklist that puts both in the right order.
A condo move-out runs on the building's rules as well as the lease. Book the service elevator early, ask management for the move-out rules and any deposit, return every fob and key, and leave time for cleaning after the movers and before the inspection. Keep dated photos of the unit, and of the elevator and hallway you used.
This is general information, not legal advice. Your building's rules and your lease are what apply to you, and the Landlord and Tenant Board decides tenancy disputes.
What do you book with the building, and when?
Book the service elevator as soon as you have a moving date, then fit everything else around that slot. In most Toronto towers it is the scarcest thing you need.
The building sets these rules, not a provincial checklist. The Condominium Authority of Ontario's condo owners' guide lists an elevator booking procedure as an example of a board policy, and describes rules as governing day-to-day matters such as quiet hours, parking, storage and garbage. The same guide tells owners to book the elevator or other access points in advance when bringing in equipment. If you rent, the CAO's page on leasing a condo says tenants must follow the corporation's declaration, by-laws and rules, along with the Condominium Act and the Residential Tenancies Act.
Ask management, in writing, for these five things:
- The elevator booking. How far ahead, how long a slot, which days and hours, and whether weekends are allowed.
- The deposit or fee. Whether there is one, who pays it, and how and when it comes back. We do not quote amounts here. They vary by building, and the building's own document is the authority.
- Protection rules. Pads on the elevator walls, floor runners, which doors and loading area to use.
- Contractors in the building. Whether cleaners need to be registered, need a certificate of insurance, or can use your move slot.
- The handover. Where fobs, keys, parking remotes and mailbox keys go, and to whom.
Then work back from the slot. Movers take the elevator first. Cleaners come in once the last box has gone down. The landlord or owner's walkthrough comes after the clean, never during it.
What has to be clean before the handover?
If you rent, the standard is ordinary cleanliness, not a professional clean. If you are selling, the standard is whatever your agreement of purchase and sale says about the unit's condition.
The Landlord and Tenant Board's guide to the Residential Tenancies Act says a tenant must keep the unit clean, up to the standard that most people would consider ordinary or normal cleanliness. The same guide says a tenant must repair or pay for damage caused by the tenant, a guest or another occupant, and that this includes damage in any common area such as a hallway, elevator or stairway. That second line matters on moving day. A gouged elevator panel is not the landlord's problem.
The full tenant side of this, including deposits and wear and tear, is in do you have to clean when you move out in Ontario. What a condo adds is the parts of a unit that a house does not have, or that are easy to forget:
| Area | What gets looked at | What a clean involves |
|---|---|---|
| Kitchen | Oven, range hood filter, fridge, dishwasher, cupboards | Degreased inside and out, filter washed, fridge emptied and wiped |
| Bathroom | Glass shower screen, tile, fan grille | Scale off the glass and taps, fan cover dusted |
| Balcony | Glass, railing, floor, door track | Swept and rinsed where the rules allow water, track vacuumed |
| Floors | Engineered wood or laminate, any carpeted bedroom | Hard floors vacuumed and washed, carpet vacuumed or extracted |
| In-suite laundry | Lint trap, washer seal and drum | Lint cleared, seal wiped |
| Storage locker | Anything left behind | Emptied and swept |
| Windows | Inside glass and sills | Wiped, sills and tracks cleared |
Check the building's rules before you rinse a balcony. Water running off one balcony lands on the one below, and buildings often say what you may and may not do out there.
The room by room scope is in what a move-out clean actually covers. If you are deciding between a general cleaner and a carpet specialist for the bedroom, see maid service vs carpet cleaner for a move-out.
The one-afternoon problem
This is where most condo move-outs go wrong. The elevator slot ends at four, the keys are due at six, and the clean has not started. One crew that does the whole clean, plus the carpeted bedroom or the landlord's rug, inside the same window avoids booking a second elevator slot. AllCleaner can do that: tell us the slot times and the key deadline when you call, and we will tell you whether it fits.
What do you hand back, and what do you keep a record of?
Hand back everything the building or landlord gave you, and keep a dated record of the unit and the route you used. Do it in that order.
Hand back:
- Every fob, key, parking remote and mailbox key, to the person named in the rules or the lease. Get a written note of what was returned.
- Any elevator pads or equipment the building lent you.
- If you paid a key deposit to your landlord, ask for it back. Ontario's guide to the standard lease says the law limits the amount of a key deposit and how it is to be treated.
Keep a record of:
- Every room after the clean, with the date, including inside the oven and fridge.
- The elevator and hallway after your move, with the date and time.
- The meter readings if utilities are in your name.
- The building's confirmation that the move and any deposit inspection are closed.
Photographs of an empty, clean unit cost nothing and settle most arguments before they start. The rest of this is careful scheduling.
The checklist, in order
- Read the lease and the building's move-out rules.
- Book the service elevator. Ask about deposit, protection and contractors.
- Book movers into that slot.
- Book the clean for straight after the movers, and tell the cleaners the slot times.
- Confirm the walkthrough time with the landlord or the buyer's side.
- Move out. Photograph the elevator and hallway when you are done.
- Clean. Photograph every room afterwards.
- Walk through. Hand back fobs and keys and get it in writing.
AllCleaner does move-in and move-out cleaning across Toronto, North York and Vaughan, including condo towers. Call 647-697-7435 with the unit size, the elevator slot and the key deadline, and request a free quote. The price is confirmed before work starts.
Short answers.
- Do tenants or owners pay the condo's move-out fee?
- It depends on the building's rules and the lease. Fees, deposits and booking terms are set by each condo corporation, and between a landlord and tenant the lease and the Residential Tenancies Act apply. Ask management for the move-out rules in writing, and ask your landlord before you pay anything to the building.
- Can cleaners use the service elevator on the same booking as the movers?
- Often, if the building allows it and the booking is long enough. Ask management whether trades and cleaners can use your move slot or need a separate one. Cleaners usually need the elevator only twice, in and out, with equipment, so a tight slot can work if the movers finish on time.
- Should the carpet be cleaned in a condo with hard floors and one rug?
- Usually only the rug, if it belongs to the landlord, plus any carpeted bedroom. Hard floors are washed as part of the move-out clean. Check the lease and the move-in photos for what was there when you arrived, and clean what you were handed, not what you brought.
Filed under Moving and renovation. More in the blog.
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