Guide · Template · Cleaning

Cleaning schedule for restaurants and cafés – Template & requirements

6 October 2026Updated 18 October 20268 min read

A cleaning schedule makes sure every area is cleaned regularly, and that you can prove it. This guide explains what the law requires, what belongs in the schedule, and gives you a template for daily, weekly and monthly cleaning to adopt. It is written for businesses in Austria and Germany.

What the law requires

What is required is cleanliness: EU Regulation 852/2004 requires premises, equipment and appliances to be kept clean and in good repair, and every food business to run its own checks based on the HACCP principles. No law asks for the schedule as a document word for word; the European Commission's guidance and the Austrian Economic Chamber (WKO) recommend it. It is how the requirement works in practice: it sets out what is cleaned, when and by whom — and signing off proves that it actually happened. That is exactly what an inspection asks about. A schedule on the wall is not enough on its own; what convinces is proof that the cleaning was done. The records behind it are explained in the records glossary.

What belongs in a cleaning schedule

Area, task, product

What is cleaned, which task, and which product at which dilution.

Frequency & responsibility

Daily, weekly or monthly — and which person or role does it.

Signed off

Date and initials turn the schedule into a record — without them it is only an intention.

Cleaning schedule template to adopt

A starting point for a typical restaurant or café, split by interval. Adapt the areas and frequencies to your business — the "Signed off" column is filled in with date and initials each time the task is done. With your own tasks, as a wall notice and as a monthly sign-off record, the cleaning schedule tool builds it in the browser, without an account (in German for now).

To put on the wall: this page has a print version — only the template is printed, without header or advertising. On a computer press Ctrl/Cmd + P; the print dialogue can also save it as a PDF.

Daily

Area / item	Task	Product / dilution	Responsible	Signed off
Work surfaces & chopping boards	Clean and disinfect	per manufacturer	Shift	Date / initials
Kitchen & dining room floors	Sweep and mop	per manufacturer	Shift	Date / initials
Hand-wash basins	Clean, refill soap and paper towels	per manufacturer	Shift	Date / initials
Waste bins	Empty, change the bag, wipe the lid	per manufacturer	Shift	Date / initials
Coffee machine / beer tap	Rinse and clean as per the instructions	per manufacturer	Bar	Date / initials
Toilets & washrooms	Clean and check supplies	per manufacturer	Shift	Date / initials

Weekly

Area / item	Task	Product / dilution	Responsible	Signed off
Fridges inside	Empty, wipe out, disinfect	per manufacturer	Manager/team	Date / initials
Shelves & storeroom	Wipe down, check best-before dates	per manufacturer	Team	Date / initials
Deep-fat fryer	Change the oil, clean the tank	per manufacturer	Kitchen	Date / initials
Walls & tiles in the splash zone	Wet-clean	per manufacturer	Team	Date / initials

Monthly

Area / item	Task	Product / dilution	Responsible	Signed off
Extractor hood & grease filters	Clean or replace the filters	per manufacturer	Manager	Date / initials
Freezers	Defrost and clean	per manufacturer	Manager	Date / initials
Hard-to-reach surfaces	Clean behind and under equipment	per manufacturer	Team	Date / initials
Ice machine	Descale and disinfect	per manufacturer	Manager	Date / initials

Keep it digital with Venheim

A paper template on the wall soon goes out of date, and the signed-off sheets get lost. In Venheim the cleaning schedule lives in the app: each shift gets a list of the tasks due, which the team ticks off on their own phones — with person and time on every entry. The monthly cleaning record is an Excel file at the press of a button. Start free, no payment details.

Sa, 12.09.2026Aufgaben

Schicht heute: 9 von 17 erledigt53 %

Temperatur 5/5Reinigung 4/12

ÜbergabeprotokollBei jedem Schichtwechsel gemeinsam durchgehen & abhaken.›

MHD-Kontrolle1 abgelaufen · 8 bald fällig›

Temperatur-CheckMessung nachtragen

KühlhausSoll 0…7 °C · zuletzt Marek P. 19:40

+ Plus3OK

Falsch erfasst? Die Leitung kann die Messung stornieren.

HeuteWocheAufgabenChatMehr

The cleaning schedule on the phone: what the shift still has open is at the top; every tick carries a name and a time.Demo data from the sample business Cafe Sunshine, app shown in German

Start free

Try Premium for 30 days, no payment details. After that your business carries on free on the Start plan; records stay readable and exportable.

The sign-up form is in German for now. Inside the app, everyone picks their own language — nine languages, English included.

Digital cleaning recordsTick off shift lists instead of sheets on the wall — the record as Excel at the press of a button.Cleaning and disinfection planWhat the plan must cover, and what an inspection checks — in the records glossary.

Frequently asked questions

Is a cleaning schedule a legal requirement for restaurants?

No law asks for the document word for word — but it does require cleanliness. EU Regulation 852/2004 requires clean, well-maintained premises and equipment, cleaned and where necessary disinfected often enough that there is no risk of contamination. The European Commission's guidance and, in Austria, the Economic Chamber (WKO) recommend the schedule; very small businesses must at least be able to explain their routines. Without a schedule it is hard to show that cleaning happens regularly and covers the right areas.

What should a cleaning schedule include?

Five details per row: the area or item (what), the task including product and dilution (how), the frequency (when), the person or role responsible (who) and a field to sign off (date and initials as proof that it happened). Signing off is what turns the schedule into a record.

How often does each area need cleaning?

That depends on the area. Work surfaces, floors and washrooms are cleaned daily, the inside of fridges and the fryer more like weekly, extractor hoods, freezers and hard-to-reach surfaces monthly. The template in this guide is a starting point — the exact intervals depend on your own business and how it is used.

Do I have to keep the cleaning records?

The signed-off schedule is the record and should be kept. The law gives no number, only an "appropriate period" (Art. 5(4) Regulation 852/2004); we recommend at least one year, the period the Austrian hygiene guideline gives for cold-storage records. Kept digitally, holding on to them for longer costs nothing and no sheet goes missing.

Sources

About Venheim

Venheim is operations software for hospitality, studios and retail — built inside a real business and used there every day. Every feature and every guide comes from that daily work and is tested against it. More about Venheim. Not legal advice — where in doubt, the authority, the chamber or a law firm has the final word.