By Most janitorial bids go wrong in the same place: the owner starts from a price per square foot they heard somewhere, then hopes the hours fit. A bid built the other way round, from hours up to price, tells you exactly what you are selling and where the profit comes from. This guide shows how to bid a janitorial job step by step, then runs a full example so you can see every number.
What goes into a janitorial bid?
A janitorial bid is made of six parts: labor hours, loaded labor cost, supplies, equipment, supervision and overhead, then profit on top. Labor is by far the largest. CleanLink puts labor at 75 to 80 percent of most janitorial budgets, rising toward 90 percent once taxes, benefits and uniforms are included. Get the hours right and most of the bid is right.
| Bid component | What it covers | How to calculate |
|---|---|---|
| Labor hours | Time to complete the scope | Area or units ÷ production rate |
| Loaded labor cost | Wages plus burden | Hours × (wage + taxes, insurance, benefits) |
| Supplies | Chemicals, liners, pads, consumables you provide | From your usage history, or a percentage of labor |
| Equipment | Vacuums, machines, carts, their wear and repair | Monthly allowance per site |
| Supervision | Inspections, quality checks, fill-in cover | Supervisor hours × rate |
| Overhead | Office, insurance, vehicles, software, sales | Your overhead as a share of direct cost |
| Profit | What the business keeps | A margin on the selling price |
How do you measure a building for a bid?
You measure a building by recording cleanable square footage by floor type and counting the fixtures and units that take time, such as restroom fixtures, break rooms and trash points. Floor plans help, but walk every area anyway. Plans do not show clutter, furniture density, or the storage room nobody mentioned.
Record at least:
- Total cleanable square feet, split into carpet, hard floor and specialty surfaces
- Number of restrooms and fixtures in each (toilets, urinals, sinks)
- Break rooms and kitchens, with appliances to be wiped
- Entrances, glass doors and interior glass
- Number of desks or workstations and trash and recycling points
- Stairs, elevators and common corridors
- Any areas with restricted access or special handling
Our commercial cleaning walkthrough checklist turns this into a printable form.
How do production rates work?
Production rates work by converting space into time: cleaning time equals the area divided by the production rate per hour. ISSA gives the formula as square footage divided by the production rate per hour, multiplied by 60 for minutes. Its own example is mopping 1,000 square feet with a flat mop at 5,355 square feet per hour, which comes to 11.2 minutes.
There are two ways to apply rates, and CleanLink describes both:
- The micro approach uses separate rates for each task and floor type. CleanLink's floor care example divides 3,000 square feet by 600 square feet an hour to get 5 labor hours.
- The macro approach uses one overall rate for the building type, based on your experience in similar buildings.
Start with the micro approach on your first bids, because it forces you to see every task. As you collect timed data from your own jobs, a macro rate for each building type becomes faster and often more accurate. Published rates, such as the ISSA cleaning times, are averages. ISSA itself describes them as guides for setting labor budgets rather than a time-motion study of your crew.
What changes the production rate on a real job?
The production rate slows down with clutter, many small offices, high restroom counts, carpeted areas with lots of furniture, and security procedures at the door. It speeds up with open plan floors, good equipment and a trained, stable crew. Adjust the rate for each building you walk, and write down why.
How do you work out labor cost?
You work out labor cost by multiplying the monthly hours by a loaded hourly rate: the wage plus payroll taxes, workers' compensation, unemployment insurance, paid leave and benefits. For reference, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median wage of $17.71 an hour for janitors and building cleaners in 2025. Your local wage and minimum wage laws decide your actual number, and Canadian provinces set their own minimums.
Monthly visits matter as much as hours. A building cleaned five nights a week gets about 21.7 visits a month (5 × 52 ÷ 12), not 20. Using 20 underprices a nightly contract by roughly 8 percent.
How do you add supplies, overhead and profit?
Add supplies and equipment as direct costs, add overhead as a share of direct costs, then set profit as a margin on the final price. The order matters because overhead and profit are often confused.
Margin and markup are different. A 15 percent markup on cost is not a 15 percent margin. If your cost is $1,000 and you add 15 percent, the price is $1,150 and your margin is only about 13 percent. To get a true margin, divide cost by (1 minus the margin). For a 15 percent margin: $1,000 ÷ 0.85 = $1,176.
| Target margin | Divide total cost by | Price on $1,000 of cost |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | 0.90 | $1,111 |
| 12% | 0.88 | $1,136 |
| 15% | 0.85 | $1,176 |
| 20% | 0.80 | $1,250 |
Confirm who supplies paper towels, toilet tissue, soap and liners. Some clients buy their own. If you supply them, price them separately or build them into a usage-based line, because consumption changes with headcount.
Worked example: bidding a nightly office job (hypothetical)
The numbers below are a made-up example to show the method. They are not benchmarks, and your rates, wages and overhead will differ.
The building (example): a 12,000 square foot single-tenant office, mostly carpet with a hard-floor lobby and break room, two restrooms with eight fixtures in total, cleaned five nights a week.
Step 1. Hours per visit
| Area | Measure | Example rate | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| General office, trash, dusting, vacuuming | 10,500 sq ft | 3,000 sq ft per hour | 3.50 |
| Lobby and break room hard floor, mopped | 1,500 sq ft | 3,000 sq ft per hour | 0.50 |
| Restrooms | 8 fixtures | About 7.5 minutes per fixture | 1.00 |
| Total per visit | 5.00 |
Step 2. Monthly labor
- Visits per month: 5 × 52 ÷ 12 = 21.67
- Hours per month: 5.00 × 21.67 = 108.3
- Loaded rate: $18.00 wage + 20% burden = $21.60 an hour
- Labor cost: 108.3 × $21.60 = $2,340
Step 3. Other direct costs
- Supplies and chemicals (client supplies paper): $120
- Equipment wear and repair allowance: $40
- Supervision, four inspection hours at $30: $120
- Total direct cost: $2,340 + $120 + $40 + $120 = $2,620
Step 4. Overhead
- Overhead at 15% of direct cost: $393
- Total cost: $3,013
Step 5. Profit and price
- Target margin 12%: $3,013 ÷ 0.88 = $3,424
- Monthly bid, rounded: $3,425
- Price per visit: about $158
Step 6. Sanity checks
- Labor share of price: $2,340 ÷ $3,425 = 68%, or 72% with supervision, in line with the labor-heavy split CleanLink describes.
- Price per square foot per month: $3,425 ÷ 12,000 = about $0.29. Compare it with similar buildings you already clean, not with a national average. Per square foot figures vary widely: Jani-King's guide quotes $0.05 to $0.25 for each square foot cleaned for regular service. Before you rely on any published figure, check whether it is per visit or per month, because the two differ by a factor of twenty or more on a nightly job.
- The floor price: if the buyer pushes back, your total cost of $3,013 is the point below which you lose money. Know it before the conversation.
What should be in the written bid?
The written bid should include the scope by area and frequency, the monthly price, what is excluded or priced as extra, the start date and the terms. A clear document is part of why you win. Buyers compare what they get, not just the number.
Janitorial bid checklist
- Building name, address and contact who requested the bid
- Service days and time window
- Task list by area, with frequency (nightly, weekly, monthly)
- Who supplies paper, soap and liners
- Monthly price, and price per visit if useful to the buyer
- Extras with separate prices: floor stripping and waxing, carpet extraction, window cleaning, day porter hours
- Insurance and bonding details
- Inspection and complaint process
- Term, notice period and start date
- How long the quote stays valid
Our commercial cleaning proposal template gives you a layout, and janitorial bidding mistakes covers the errors that quietly eat margin.
How do you check a bid after you win it?
You check a bid by tracking actual hours against bid hours for the first four to eight weeks. If the crew needs 5.5 hours instead of 5, you have lost roughly 10 percent of your labor budget. Either adjust the process, re-scope with the client, or use the new rate on your next bid for a similar building. This feedback loop is how your production rates become your own, and how your bids get sharper every quarter.
Where do more bidding opportunities come from?
More bidding opportunities come from reaching more decision-makers who want regular cleaning, then following up after every quote. A good bid only pays if it is in front of the right person. Read how to follow up on a cleaning bid for a cadence that keeps quotes alive.
If you want more walk-throughs to bid on, LeadWharf sends exclusive janitorial leads that clear three checks: in your area, wanting recurring work at your frequency and size, and a named decision-maker with a direct line. You book the walk-through and write the bid yourself. Check the numbers for your market with the cost per lead calculator, then book a call to see if your area is open.