[howardcleaners]

hi just starting up and wondered what to charge people and how much for shops and offices ect.

[simonb]

You have to be more specific.
No such thing as a normal house:
terrace, semi, detached, flat, no of windows, plain glass, leaded, ground floor, first floor......
Prices vary by area depending on competition.
Look back thru old posts there was one called how much for this? with pictures

[Ian_Giles]

I have copied a posting I made on the "When I'm Cleaning Windows" board, It covers this question a little, though it is only my slant on it.

I'm copying and pasting cos its much easier that typing it out fresh

You don't say if you are going to be using WFP or traditional methods.
But you should price work the same way as you would for traditional cleaning if you are going to be using WFP.
 
There are a great many ways of pricing up the work that you do, and on the forums you will certainly find many window cleaners give differing pricing methods.
 
If you are an inexperienced window cleaner, or very much a Newbie, it will be very hard for you to estimate how long any particular job will take you.
 
As a general guide, a standard casement window, one opening light, one opening pane and one slightly larger pane underneath the opening light, will take 90 seconds or so for an experienced window cleaner to clean. Yes, of course it can be cleaned faster, but that would be a standard time.
 
A standard 3 bed semi can be cleaned easily in 20-25 minutes.
 
A standard georgian window, with 12 panes of glass will take you around 3 minutes (WFP about 30 seconds!)
 
Depending on the area in which you live, and the location of the houses that you are cleaning, if you are charging £1.00 per window you will be not far off the mark.
Increase that for georgian windows.
 
If you are going up 3 floors, double the price per window for those windows. The higher you go, the harder and more dangerous it becomes.
 
When you are a self employed window cleaner, when working out how to get the income you want, you must also take into account time lost for bad weather, sickness, holidays. (you may not take any, but you have to assume you will for the purpose of working out your hourly rate) the time taken to travel between accounts, the running costs of your business. Don't assume that you will work all the hours god gave you, work out your requirements on a monday to friday basis.
 
Realistically you will only work about 6 or 7 yours a day actually cleaning windows, customers talk to you, the phone rings, travelling between accounts and so on, all take up your productivity time.
 
Join the other forums if you already haven't done so, (cleanitup and another forum.co.uk) there will be loads of info you can pick up on the various means of pricing up work.
 
Oh, one thing before I go; Price every account seperately, don't give a price over the phone! See the house first!!
 
Ian