Hi. We have a cleaning business that does homes and apartments and would like to branch out to new construction cleaning and perhaps small commercial buildings of one or two floors.
I'd like to know if anyone has any advice on bidding these jobs (per square foot?) and if a contract is needed.

Any answer will be appreciated.

Thanks

Fr_Chuck

A contact should be used for any home, apartment or any cleaning job.

Clough

Hi, pkaze!

Yes, contracts are important because they serve to protect both you and the customer because everything is spelled out in the contract for the work that is to be done, how it is to be done, times involved, costs, materials, supplies, insurance, liability and your responsibilities as well as those of the customer.

Before we help you with the bidding process, prices, contracts, etc., would you please let us know how you plan to go about obtaining the jobs cleaning in new construction and the commercial establishments? Also, do you have a business plan in place?

Thanks!

pkaze

Thanks Clough.

We've been in business since 2003 and may have had a business plan at that time, but things have changed over time. So, no, no business plan at this time.
Right now we advertise our business on our own website, Google, Craigslist, flyers, business cards and word of mouth. For the new construction cleaning we plan to go to the builders main offices and to job sites, to submit our information package containing our insurance and bond information along with our DBA and W-9. We carry heavy insurance so that sould not be a problem there. We can also add to our website when we are ready.

Our concern now is the pricing per sq foot. We have subscribed to The Blue Book cost guide for residential and light commercial cleaning, but it is no help. That book seems to only cover interior cleaning broken down by item and cleaning depth. (Lt, Med, Heavy) So it tells us the going price per each for cleaning, say a stove top, or ceiling fan, etc.
What we're looking for is a way to bid by price per square foot for doing debris removal, interior and exterior windows, cleaning walls and floors, woodwork etc.

We're in the Houston area and would like to know if there is a way to find the going rate per sq ft in our area. We'd appreciate any and all comments and advice we receive.

Thanks

Clough

Hi again, pkaze!

I'm going to let Stringer know about your thread. He owns a very large cleaning/janitorial company in the Chicago, IL area. He's extremely knowledgeable and helpful and his advice is as good as gold and second to none!

Thanks!