Getting a cleaner or aircon tech into your Manila condo

The thing that usually goes wrong when you book a cleaner or an aircon technician in Manila is not the price. It is whether the person can get to your unit at all.

Rules differ building to building, and they mostly follow the kind of building rather than the district. So this is organised by type. Work out which one you live in and you will know what to arrange.

1. The big MOA towers — paperwork goes in a day early

Sea Residences, Shell Residences, Shore Residences, Shore 2, Shore 3 and S Residences, inside the Mall of Asia complex.

These are large, and a good share of the units run as short stays, so the management office handles outside workers on paper.

• A work permit or gate pass is usually filed a day ahead, in the resident's name — not the company's.
• The service lift is booked. It is shared with movers and deliveries, so a technician who arrives without a slot waits in the lobby.
• Some buildings restrict the hours work may happen.

The classic failure here is a cleaner arriving at nine and being turned away at the desk. Handled the day before, none of it is a problem.

2. Newport City — the airport sets the clock

One Palm Tree Villas, Two Palm Tree Villas, 101 Newport Boulevard, Eighty One Newport Boulevard, Parkside Villas, Sarasota and Montecito.

The airport is close and a lot of residents are cabin crew or short-stay business travellers, so turnover cleaning is common here and the window is fixed.

Turnover is a different job from routine cleaning. Checkout to check-in is the whole slot, and a crew that runs long costs you a guest. Say up front that it is a turnover.

3. Serviced residences — talk to the front desk, not the admin office

Ascott Makati, Somerset Millennium, Somerset Central Salcedo, Citadines Salcedo, Citadines Bay City, Lanson Place MOA, Seda Residences, Makati Diamond Residences, Ascott BGC and Shangri-La Residences at The Fort.

These work differently. They run like hotels and have their own housekeeping.

• Basic cleaning is often already included.
• Bringing in an outside company may need the front desk or the residence manager to approve it.
• Equipment like aircon is usually the building's responsibility. Ask the front desk before calling anyone — they may handle it at no charge.

Where an outside provider genuinely helps in this type is the work that falls outside what is included: a deep clean, a move-in or move-out clean, or laundry collection.

4. The Tambo bayside — newer buildings, no common rule

Bayshore Residential Resort 1 and 2, Imperial Plaza Residences, Pixel Residences, MidPark Towers, Coastal Luxury Residences and Sunnyplace Residences, across Entertainment City, Aseana City and Westside City.

Most of this is recently built and run differently building by building. Some operate partly as condotels — Imperial Plaza also trades as L Condotel — so there is no safe generalisation.

Ask your admin two things first: does an outside cleaning company need advance registration, and are there hours they cannot work?

5. Shaw and Highway Hills — plenty of options nearby

Tivoli Garden Residences, Acqua Private Residences, Flair Towers, Fame Residences, Light Residences, Shaw Residenza Suites, Lancaster Hotel Manila and Frederick's Apartelle.

Small laundry shops and cleaners are dense here, so dropping something off or calling someone local is more practical than it is elsewhere. Apartelles and condotels are mixed in, which is why a lot of long-stay residents end up here.

6. BGC — advance registration is common

A high share of buildings want residents registered and visitors pre-registered. Some, like Avant at The Fort and F1 Hotel Manila, sit between serviced residence and condotel.

BGC also goes by Bonifacio Global City, The Fort and Fort Bonifacio. Any of those will be understood when you tell a provider where you are.

True of every type

Ask your admin two questions before arranging anything. Does an outside company need advance registration, and are there hours they cannot work? Those two answers change which providers can realistically take the job.

Give the provider the building name. It is more precise than "a condo in Makati", and a provider who has worked there already knows the rules.

Give the size the way they use it. Studio, one bedroom, two bedrooms. "Small condo" means different things to different companies.

What WooriCares does here

Tell us the building and what needs doing. We take it to providers who cover that area and bring back what they say — including whether they can actually get in, which is the answer that usually decides it.

You choose who to use. You pay them directly; we do not handle money and we currently add nothing to their quote. A person reads every request.

Cleaning · aircon · laundry / Manila · Makati · BGC · Pasay · Parañaque · Mandaluyong