Career profile · SOC ESC-B261C38A

building cleaner

Building cleaners maintain the cleanliness and overall functionality of various types of buildings such as offices, hospitals and public institutions. They perform cleaning duties like sweeping, vacuuming and mopping floors, empty trash and check security systems, locks and windows. Building cleaners check air conditioning systems and notify the appropriate persons in case of malfunctions or problems.

building cleaner building cleaners maintain the cleanliness and overall functionality of various types of buildings such as offices, hospitals and public institutions. The role shows low AI exposure (0.30 on a 0-1 scale) — the role's core work resists automation. The most in-demand skills for the role include cleaning industry health and safety measures, maintain inventory of cleaning supplies, maintain personal hygiene standards when cleaning, clean building facade, sort waste.

AI exposure
3.0/10
automation risk

Pay in the UK

UK: median £24,130 a year for Cleaners and domestics (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)

Middle half of full-time jobs: £20,942 to £27,960 a year

UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 9223). ONS rates this estimate precise. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)

Pay in India (occupation group)

Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Elementary occupations” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only building cleaner, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.

Urban India
₹12,809 a month
Rural India
₹11,571 a month
All India
₹12,270 a month

Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 9. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report

Top skills

cleaning industry health and safety measures maintain inventory of cleaning supplies maintain personal hygiene standards when cleaning clean building facade sort waste clean particular areas manually operate janitorial tools operate floor cleaning equipment remove dust inform on toilet facilities malfunctions

Knowledge you'll build

  • Public Safety and Security
  • Administration and Management
  • English Language
  • Customer and Personal Service
  • Transportation
  • Law and Government
  • Telecommunications
  • Personnel and Human Resources

What you'd actually do

  • Service, clean, or supply restrooms.
  • Gather and empty trash.
  • Clean building floors by sweeping, mopping, scrubbing, or vacuuming.
  • Monitor building security and safety by performing tasks such as locking doors after operating hours or checking electrical appliance use to ensure that hazards are not created.
  • Notify managers concerning the need for major repairs or additions to building operating systems.
  • Follow procedures for the use of chemical cleaners and power equipment to prevent damage to floors and fixtures.

Tools & technology you'd use

Microsoft Excel hot Microsoft Office software hot Microsoft Outlook hot Microsoft Word hot Eko Operating system software Squeegee

Frequently asked questions

What does building cleaner do?

Building cleaners maintain the cleanliness and overall functionality of various types of buildings such as offices, hospitals and public institutions. They perform cleaning duties like sweeping, vacuuming and mopping floors, empty trash and check security systems, locks and windows. Building cleaners check air conditioning systems and notify the appropriate persons in case of malfunctions or problems.

What skills does building cleaner need?

The most in-demand skills for this role include cleaning industry health and safety measures, maintain inventory of cleaning supplies, maintain personal hygiene standards when cleaning, clean building facade, sort waste, clean particular areas manually. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.

Will AI replace building cleaner?

Our AI-durability model gives building cleaner a score of 0.30 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at low AI exposure — the role's core work resists current-generation automation. It's a comparatively AI-durable choice within its field.

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