Eco Strata & Common Area Cleaning in Geelong

The problem with conventional cleaning in shared spaces

Strata common areas concentrate people and confined air. Lobbies, lift cars and enclosed stairwells trap whatever gets sprayed in them, and residents pass through those spaces every day — including children, older residents and people with asthma or chemical sensitivities. Conventional quaternary ammonium sprays and solvent-heavy floor products carry that smell for hours, and the volatile organic compounds behind it don't just disappear because the cleaner has left.

That matters for the people who live there, and it matters for the people who clean. The evidence is now hard to ignore: a large European respiratory study (Svanes et al., 2018) found lung-function decline in regular cleaners comparable to around 20 pack-years of smoking. The AIHW attributes 9 to 15 per cent of adult-onset asthma to occupational exposure and names cleaning as a high-risk occupation. For an owners' corporation, that is a duty-of-care question about the contractors working on your property, not an abstract one.

How the low-tox methods actually work

We don't rely on a single product. Common area cleaning uses the right method for each surface:

• Electrolysed water (HOCl) — made on site from water and a trace of salt, it sanitises high-touch points and hard surfaces, then reverts to salt water. It is GECA-certified and TGA-listed, so it does real disinfection work without leaving a hazardous residue on lift buttons, handrails or intercom panels.
• Stabilised aqueous ozone — for general surface and floor cleaning, reverting to oxygen and water with no fragrance load left behind.
• Dry steam — low-moisture thermal decontamination for grout, lift tracks, bin rooms and other grime-prone detail work, with minimal water use in enclosed spaces.
• Colour-coded microfibre with disciplined dwell times — so a cloth used in a bin room never touches a lobby handrail, and disinfectants get the contact time they need to work.

Where a task is disinfection-critical, we keep TGA-listed disinfectants in the kit. This is about using low-tox methods as the default, not making claims we can't stand behind. We say no added synthetic chemicals and no hazardous residue — never chemical-free.

Why this stacks up for owners' corporations

Elimination sits at the top of the WHS hierarchy of controls — removing a hazard beats managing it. From 1 December 2026, enforceable Workplace Exposure Limits replace the current WES across roughly 700 reviewed chemicals, tightening what is acceptable for airborne exposure. Choosing methods that don't introduce those substances in the first place is the cleanest way to get ahead of that change on a property you're responsible for.

For mixed-use buildings or those chasing ratings, the same approach supports formal credits. GECA-certified products are deemed-to-satisfy for the Green Star Green Cleaning credit, the WELL Cleaning Products and Protocol feature targets hazardous-chemical reduction, and NABERS Indoor Environment tests VOCs and formaldehyde. If your building is reporting against any of these, our documented product list and protocols give you evidence rather than assurances.

What a Geelong strata program looks like

Geelong's coastal humidity puts real pressure on enclosed common areas — stairwells, basement car parks and bin rooms are prone to mould and musty odour when moisture has nowhere to go. Low-moisture dry steam and good ventilation discipline help keep that in check without loading the air with masking fragrances.

A typical program is built around your building's traffic, not a template. High-frequency scopes cover lobbies, lift cars, entry glass and high-touch points; medium-frequency work covers stairwells, corridors and shared amenities; and periodic detail work handles bin rooms, car park sweeping, grout and glass. Frequencies range from daily in high-traffic apartment buildings to weekly or fortnightly in smaller complexes. We set colour-coded zones, dwell times and a reporting schedule your committee can put in front of residents at the AGM.

We work across Geelong apartment buildings, mixed-use developments and body corporate common areas, and coordinate with facility managers on access, after-hours scheduling and lift bookings. You can see our broader Geelong service coverage or read more about how our strata and common area cleaning approach works nationally.

Pricing

We price at parity with conventional cleaning on standard common area scopes — the low-tox method is the default, not a premium line item. A modest uplift of 10 to 15 per cent applies only on health or rating-critical sites where documentation, testing support or specialised protocols are required. The walkthrough and quote are free, so you can compare directly against your current contract before committing.

Book a free site walkthrough

The fastest way to know whether this fits your building is to walk it with us. We'll assess your lobbies, lifts, stairwells and amenities, flag the moisture and odour risks specific to your site, and give you a scoped quote you can take to your committee. Book a free walkthrough in Geelong and we'll come to you.