How to Compare Commercial Cleaning Bids Without Picking the Cheapest

The hard part of comparing cleaning bids is not the math. It is that the three proposals on your desk are quoting three different jobs, and the lowest number is usually the one that quoted the least work. Here is how to line them up so you are comparing the same thing.

Step 1: Build the scope before you request bids

If you let each vendor define the scope, you will get three definitions. Write your own first: every area, every task, every frequency. Use a checklist like the one we publish as a starting point and edit it to your building. Send the same document to every bidder and ask them to price it as written, with exceptions noted.

Step 2: Normalize the frequency

A bid at three nights a week and a bid at five are not comparable on monthly price. Convert each to a per-visit cost, and separately list anything periodic — carpet extraction, floor buffing, window cleaning — with its interval. A vendor who buries quarterly floor work inside the monthly number and one who lists it as an add-on may cost the same over a year and look very different on paper.

Step 3: Find what the low bid left out

Consistently low bids in Indianapolis leave out one of five things. Ask each bidder directly:

• Insurance. Request the Certificate of Insurance with General Liability and Workers' Compensation. A bid that cannot produce one is not a bid.
• Labor model. Employees or subcontractors? Who trains them, who supervises them, and who replaces a no-show tonight?
• Supplies and consumables. Are restroom paper, soap, and liners included, billed at cost, or your responsibility?
• Supervision. Does anyone inspect the work between visits, or does the crew report on itself?
• Documentation. What do you receive after a visit — nothing, an invoice, or a record with area-level evidence?

Our Indianapolis cost guide covers what typical ranges look like by facility type; a bid well under the range is almost always missing one of the five.

Step 4: Price the things that are not on the bid

Some costs never appear on a proposal and still land on your budget:

• Your inspection time. If the vendor does not verify their own work, you will — weekly, for the life of the contract.
• Complaint handling. Tenant emails, follow-up calls, re-cleans. A vendor with a 24-hour correction commitment and a named contact costs you less here than one without.
• Turnover. Every crew change is a re-training period on your building at your expense in quality.
• Re-bidding. If the cheap vendor lasts nine months, you are doing this exercise again next year.

Step 5: Read the contract terms as part of the price

• Term length and auto-renewal notice window
• How scope changes are approved and priced — written approval before invoicing is the standard to require
• Price adjustment clauses and their triggers
• Termination for cause: what counts, and how long the cure period is

A simple comparison sheet

One row per bidder, columns for: monthly price · visits per month · per-visit cost · periodic work included (Y/N, interval) · supplies included (Y/N) · COI received (Y/N) · employees vs. subs · supervision method · documentation provided · correction commitment · contract term. Most of the decision becomes obvious once it is filled in, and it is the document you hand your owner or CFO when they ask why you did not pick the lowest number.

What we put in a bid

For transparency: our quotes are a fixed monthly price against a written scope built from the walkthrough, supplies specified, COI attached, employee crews with supervisor sign-off, a documented service report after every visit, and same-day acknowledgement with 24-hour correction. Any bid you receive — including ours — should be able to fill every column on that sheet.