Office cleaning quotes are easier to compare than industrial ones, but only if you compare inclusions rather than totals. The differences between a good quote and a cheap one are almost always in what is left out.
Price follows headcount, not floor area
This is the most common misconception. A 200m² office with thirty staff and a shared kitchen generates far more cleaning than a 400m² office with eight people. Bins, kitchens and washrooms scale with people; vacuuming scales with area, and it is the smaller part of the job.
When you request a quote, give headcount, the number of washrooms and whether there is a kitchen in use. Those three numbers get you a more accurate estimate than the floor plan does.
What drives the number
- Frequency. Daily, three times a week, weekly. The single biggest factor, and the one most worth matching honestly to your needs rather than over-buying.
- Washrooms. The most time-intensive area per square metre in any office, and the one that generates complaints fastest when it slips.
- Kitchen use. A kitchen where staff cook and eat daily is a different proposition to a bench with a kettle.
- Consumables. Whether the contractor supplies and monitors paper, soap and bin liners, or you manage it. Having them monitor it costs more and is usually worth it.
- Access. Whether the cleaner can work uninterrupted, and whether there is a key, code or a person to let them in.
- Periodic work. Carpet extraction, hard floor treatment and window cleaning — either built into a monthly figure or billed separately.
The inclusions that separate quotes
When two quotes differ significantly, it is almost always one of these. Check each explicitly:
- Internal glass and partitions — very commonly excluded.
- Meeting room bins, as distinct from desk bins.
- Kitchen appliance fronts and inside the microwave.
- Consumables supply and restocking, or supply only.
- Periodic carpet extraction — included in the monthly figure or extra?
- What happens when a cleaner is sick, and who covers.
That last one is worth pressing on. A single-operator contractor at a good price is fine until they are unwell, at which point your office simply does not get cleaned.
Signals a quote is too low
A quote well under the others usually means one of three things, and it is worth identifying which before you sign.
- The hours do not match the scope, and the standard will slip within a month.
- The scope quietly excludes glass, kitchens or consumables that the others included.
- The contractor is not carrying proper insurance or paying award rates, which becomes your problem when something goes wrong on your premises.
Asking for certificates of currency and confirmation of police checks filters out most of the third category immediately.
What we do
We quote after a walk-through, scope the work around what your staff actually complain about rather than a standard inclusions list, and do not use lock-in contracts. Certificates of currency and police check confirmation are provided before the first visit.