Barbican Estate cleaning and refuse collection

Paint should not be placed in bulky collection points, general waste or recycling bins. Residents are entitled to three free collections of paints and chemicals per year via the Hazardous Waste Collection and Disposal Service.

Further paint disposal information and advice is on the Recycling A-Z webpage.

If you have any questions regarding the recycling service please contact the Recycling Team.

Please place your rubbish bags in the refuse cupboard at the side of your front door, for collection every Monday to Friday before 8.15am as there is only one rubbish collection per day. In some blocks resident representatives have agreed a variation to the standard service. Contact your House Group representative or House Officer for details.

If you do not use the refuse cupboard at the side of your front door for rubbish removal, please do not leave rubbish outside your front door at the weekend, and/or overnight as it will not be collected until Monday and it is a fire hazard, will look unsightly and may generate odours.

If you need to dispose of rubbish at the weekends or Bank Holidays, please take it to your bin compound or see your Car Park Attendant or Lobby Porter for directions.

Please wrap any broken glass up securely before placing in rubbish and label the bag for cleaners to beware of broken glass.

Clear plastic bags are provided for recycling only. Free food liners are also provided for residents to recycle their food waste. Black plastic bags are for wet waste if you do not have a Garchey. At weekends or out of office hours, contact your Car Park Attendant or Lobby Porter for extra rubbish or recycling bags, which are delivered daily during the week by your cleaner.

Green waste (leaves, flowers, twigs etc.) should be disposed of in black refuse sacks in the general waste bins. Please do not place garden waste in recycling bins, or over balconies.

Do not leave rubbish in baggage stores such as, wood, cardboard boxes, broken furniture or bags of old clothes.

City of London residents (living in the Square Mile) can make use of the City of London Corporation's Bulky Waste Collection services for large household items. 

Refer to the Bulky Waste webpage for information on collections. 

From time to time residents may have pest related problems such as moths or ants. These can be reported to the Environmental Services department for action.

Squirrels must not be fed. They can cause damage to window box contents if enticed onto balconies in search of food.

The Barbican Estate has a plumbing system equipped with cast iron pipes. These pies are particularly susceptible to snagging on anything other than toilet paper due to the rough texture of these materials. As these materials do not break down in the same way as toilet paper, these snags can easily lead to blockages in the pipes and cause issues with flooding and sewage entering properties. The consequences of these blockages extend beyond inconvenience, causing significant distress to lower floor neighbours and necessitating extensive and costly clean-up efforts by our contractors and staff.

Residents are reminded to not flush any items that could cause a blockage down their toilets. Regardless of any claims on packaging, wipes should never be flushed down the toilet as they are not compatible with our plumbing system. We kindly request that you, your guests, subtenants, or private cleaners refrain from flushing them down the toilet.

To prevent the risk of future incidents, we urge all residents to ensure wipes are disposed of in bins rather than flushing them down the toilet. This simple action will greatly contribute to maintaining a pleasant living environment and drive down avoidable sewerage repair recharge costs for all residents.

Window cleaning is carried out for each block every six weeks or thirty working days. All window cleaning contractors carry identification with them at all times.

See the Barbican window cleaning schedule below.

The window cleaning schedule is placed on the notice boards for the complete year starting 1 January. This schedule is checked by the Cleaning Manager and the window cleaning contractors.

The window cleaning contractors will clean the following:

• External glazing for flats for windows and doors
• Both faces of glazing for privacy screens
• Balcony screens and both faces of glazing in communal areas

Abseiling is carried out on Ben Jonson House, Breton House, Frobisher Crescent, Bryer, Bunyan and John Trundle Courts on a 12-weekly basis (four cleans per year).

Abseiling to the tower blocks, Cromwell, Lauderdale and Shakespeare is completed every six months to the port hole windows only.

Additional abseiling is now provided to Thomas More, Brandon Mews and Defoe House to reach inaccessible windows also on a 12-weekly schedule.

Eyebolt testing is carried ​out twice a year, for abseiling to comply with Health and Safety legislation. A biannual test certificate is sent to the Cleaning Manager for retention.

See the eye bolt testing schedule below.

Please leave your balcony glass and privacy screens accessible for the window cleaners to enable them to clean your windows without moving your personal property. If this is not done, we cannot guarantee that your windows will be cleaned.

Communal glazing is checked by the Cleaning Manager and the House Officers during the daily spot check block inspections. Any deficiencies in standards are given to the contractors at the weekly window cleaning monitoring meetings.

The Barbican Estate Office monitors standards in order to improve this service.

Please leave your balcony glass balustrade and privacy screens accessible for the Window Cleaners to enable them to clean your glazing without moving your personal property. If this is not done, we cannot guarantee that your windows will be cleaned.

The schedule is laid out on a weekly basis and the order of the blocks cleaned within the scheduled week may vary due to certain conditions (i.e. weather/wildlife etc.)

If any issues arise with your window cleaning, then please report them to your House Officer within five working days of your scheduled clean.

The Schedule for 2024 is available below:

Check back for schedules when available.