A crew arrives to clear a garage. Three quarters of it is straightforward. The rest is two gas bottles, a tub of unidentified chemicals, an old fridge and something in a bag nobody wants to open.
The job was quoted as a garage clearance. It is now most of a garage clearance and a conversation the customer did not expect.
The checklist
Publish these and the surprises stop.
1. What you cannot take at all
Named, in plain language, with examples. Not a licence category, but the actual things people have in sheds.
2. What needs a different route
Items you cannot take but can point somewhere for. Being useful about the alternative turns a refusal into a service.
3. Asbestos, specifically and prominently
Where it might be found, that it must not be disturbed and that it needs a licensed specialist. This is the most serious item on any list and deserves its own section.
4. Gas cylinders and pressurised containers
Common in garages, refused by almost everyone and needing a specific route. Customers genuinely do not know.
5. Chemicals, paint and fuels
What is acceptable, what is not and what to do with the rest. Old paint is in almost every clearance.
6. Appliances with refrigerant
Fridges and freezers need specific handling and often a separate charge. Publishing it prevents an argument at the van.
7. Electrical items generally
What you take, whether there is a charge and what happens to them. Customers assume anything electrical is fine.
8. Tyres, batteries and vehicle parts
Frequently refused, frequently present and rarely mentioned until the crew arrives.
9. Anything that might be clinical or contaminated
Needs a specialist route and should never be handled casually. Saying so plainly protects a crew.
10. What happens if restricted items are found
Whether the rest is taken, whether the price changes and what the customer should do. A stated position turns an awkward moment into a procedure.
10b. Anything that needs the contents identifying
Probate clearances, garages inherited from a relative and workshops from a business that closed all contain things nobody present can identify. Explaining that unlabelled containers, old stock and anything unknown must be identified before the crew arrives prevents a clearance stopping halfway with a van half loaded and a customer expecting it finished.
11. Ask before quoting
Photographs and a question about anything hazardous, which is the quoting approach in garden and green waste collection questions.
11b. What happens to anything worth reusing
Customers clearing a house often care more about where things go than about the price. Explaining what is donated, what is recycled, what goes to landfill and whether you can set particular items aside for a charity turns a disposal job into something people feel better about, and it is increasingly the reason one firm is chosen over another.
12. Explain your licence and duty of care
What you are licensed for, what documentation the customer receives and why it matters for them. Householders and businesses have obligations about where waste ends up.
13. Restriction lists exist everywhere
The same publishing discipline appears in listing rules and prohibited item questions, and knowing where an assistant must route to a person is covered in how financial advisors use chatbots to answer client questions.
Getting started
Publish what you cannot take, what needs another route and what happens if restricted items are found, then capture photographs at any hour. SpideyChat for home services businesses answers from your published pages, extending what can and cannot be taken, questions for junk removal. Try SpideyChat on your own site, or read about capture on the features page.