What is a Broom Sweep?
‘Broom Sweep’ is a phrase your landlord probably included in your lease.
After 15+ years conducting office furniture liquidations and office decommissions in New York City and other locations, here are a few things we’ve found most landlords require from a 'broom sweep' service.
1) All office furniture, contents and garbage removed (that includes those 3-year-old soy sauce packets and paper straws no one wanted in the kitchen drawers).
2) Built-in furniture usually needs to be removed. (Think of furniture like a wall-mounted overhead shelf next to a desk)
3) Built-in custom woodwork usually does not need to be removed. (Think of a counter attached to the walls in a pantry or nook area.)
4) That refrigerator in the kitchen is always a toss up. Half of the time, it must be removed and the rest of the time, they want it left behind. You can never figure out what they want until you do your walk-through with the landlord,
5) 'Sweep' depends on that building manager or landlord. Most of the time, sweeping up the big stuff is more than enough. Every once in a while, you find a building manager who asks for everything vacuumed and walls wiped down. However, in NYC commercial spaces, this is pretty unusual.
Broom Sweep means that anything you could not pick up with a vacuum cleaner has been removed.
(We are not lawyers! You should probably hire one if you have a legal questions. Many of our friends are lawyers in the real estate business, I am sure we can make a good introduction in NYC or North Jersey)
Why do I need a broom sweep?
This is an example of a space after the furniture has been disassembled. There is always a lot of junk that falls out of the desks and cubicles.
The next photos are good examples of a broom swept space. 99% of the time, this is the condition that your landlord will accept. Notice what broom sweep is not.
Broom sweep is not steam cleaning carpets. It is not vacuuming or removal of every speck of dust. It is generally clean, with all furniture and office supplies removed.
If your landlord needs the carpets vacuumed, shampooed or deep cleaned, we can do that service as well, that will look like this.
this section of floor was decommissioned, broom swept and vacuumed. Some landlords also ask you to shampoo and deep clean the floor. Check with your lawyers, you probably do not need to do anything beyond “Broom Sweep”. That said, we will help you out with whatever you need to do to get done with your lease obligations.
Let us take a look at your office liquidation project. Contact us to get started!