[seldaw]

Hi Can anyone give me a little advice.

I have been in the cleaning industry for just over 18mths and mainly doing domestic and estate agency work. and things are going well. But here is where I need your help. Can anyone tell me how I go about calculating a quote I am trying to get into the builders cleans and small schools but have no idea on how to work out what I should be quoting. some say its per sq ft others say its an hourly rate . can anyone give me any percentages to work by.

many thanks
steve

[Katy Radcliffe]

I think what you do is try and estimate how long it takes you to clean per square foot, and then do the maths on that. So, it could be expressed as hourly or square foot, but it still comes down to the same thing. I would expect that the client isn't interested in how long you're working - they only want the job done well and cheaply. So, they're only going to see the final price. You're the one thinking feet and hours.

I think the challenge is knowing how long it will take you to clean a given area. This will vary with the sorts sof surfaces you're cleaning, I would think. If you're hoovering lots of carpeted office space and then buffing a big lobby, or if there are a lot of loos to clean or a lot of stairs.

I really don't know how you go about getting this experience without a bit of trial-and-error in the beginning, to be honest.

I clean domestic. I have a rough idea of how long it takes to clean kitchens, baths, and etc., and I take things like number of children or pets into account. But, at the end of the day, it's still a guess to me.

I wish I could give you more help! I look forward to seeing what replies you get from commercial cleaners.

[pristineclean]

I think it is trial and error although I have a time 'spec' sheet which looks something like this (http://www.fergusoncleaningsupplies.com/cltimeest.pdf) for clients who are 'drilling' costs but I'd be misleading my peers if I pretended that we ever use it.

Builders cleans, in my experience, should always be done on a clear 'area by area' basis since each area will be signed off when a clean is complete and payment will be made on that basis so on the assumption that you're going into an unfurnished environment I'd be minded to provide quotes on that basis - this sheet offers approximate guidance on how you'd do it. I'm not sure the figures are accurate but it gives you a general idea.

http://www.janitorialstore.com/docs/prod-cleaning-rates.pdf

I don't do builders cleans any more - the CIS thing used to drive me crazy at the end of the year and, to be honest, I'm not enthusiastic about public sector work either although I have a couple of schools but I know that there are companies out there who make a lot of money in these fields so I hope it goes well.

Delighted that your business is growing and best of luck for the future.

[seldaw]

Thank you both very much for your advice.

Steve