[Tussin]

Hi all, I am new to this site. I've been a windowcleaner for 12 years, and now looking for some offices to clean for some cash when weather is bad. Sent out some letters thru new offices built near me(Derbyshire). Got e-mail yesterday from accountency firm wanting a quote for offices + windows. Anyone got any experience in quoteing foe offices cos I've never done it? Do I set an hourly rate for me and my wife, who's cleaning it with me? I've said we will supply cleaning stuff, where can I get it the cheapest? How do I come up with a quote? How is payment made normally by cheque/ direct debit to my a/c ? As you can see I need some pointers. I could really do with this but don't want to sell myself short. Your help would be appreiciated!
Regards Tussin

[martin19842]

hi there,

big question.  what would be useful would be the offcie size, number of staff in office, regularity of clean required, number of toilet units, and kitchens.

then a price can be formulated

regards

martin

[Tussin]

Hi Martin,
Going to have a look at it tomorrow, think they want 5 cleans a week. Is there anything you can tell me that you do when going to look round a place to give a quote. Do I need to have a contract drawn up?

[The Great One]

Hi

You need to factor in 'Man hours' + materials + paper work  and a % for profit. don't forget to factor in sick pay and bank holidays and a % for unforseen circumstances.

Regards

Martin

[Len Gribble]

Tussin

As Martin & Martin but you also need to know what the customer wants done, daily, weekly, monthly base etc and the price reflect this, also don’t get court out on there consumables i.e. toilet paper etc these should be extra, and other one not to fall for strip & seal and carpet cleaning do theses as an add on other wise profits suffer!

If not sure what I’m talking about see blow-cleaning schedule granted this is only for a tree day clean.

Also check you insurance being a WC you may not be covered for the general cleaning?

CLEANING SCHEDULE

2.    HO OFFICE & 112 BRANCHES

2.1  Daily Cleaning

           All wastepaper and rubbish bins to be emptied and

           rubbish removed to a collection point.  (Bin liners to

           be furnished by xxxxx to be invoiced separately).

           Empty ashtrays, wet wipe and dry polish.

           Vacuum traffic patterns. xxxx will  not  be

           responsible for removal of staples from carpets.

           Thoroughly dust all horizontal surfaces including desk

           tops,  files, window sills, chairs, tables, pictures

           and all manner of furnishings.

           Damp wipe all horizontal surfaces to remove coffee

           rings and spillage as needed -

     -    Dust telephones.

          Dust mop hard surface floors.

          Damp mop hard surface floors to remove any spillage

          from soiled areas.

          Damp mop entrance metal and finger prints on entrance

          glass.

          Spot clean partition glass.

          Use   an   industry   standard,   high   co-efficient

          disinfectant for sanitation.

2.2  Toilets

Stock towels, tissue and hand soap.  (To be furnished by                     CUSTOMER).

          Wipe  outside  sanitary  toilet  receptacles  with  a

          disinfectant.


2.2  Toilets (Continued)

          Empty wastepaper bins and wipe if needed.

     -    Clean and polish mirrors.

          Wipe towel cabinet covers.

     -    Clean and sanitise toilet bowls and urinals inside and

          outside.  Polish all piping.

          Clean and sanitise toilet seat on both sides using a

          disinfectant.

          Scour and disinfect all basins.  Polish all taps.

          Dust partitions, tops of mirrors and frames.

          Remove splash marks from walls around basins.

          Wet mop and rinse floors with disinfectant.

2.3  Weekly Cleaning

     -     Dust all vertical surfaces of desks,file cabinets,

          chairs, tables and all other office furniture.

          Vacuum all carpeting thoroughly, taking care to get

           into corners, along edges and beneath furniture.

          Damp mop hard surface floors, taking care. to get into

          corners, along edges and beneath furniture.

          Buff hard surface floors, if needed, so as to enable

          them to present the best possible appearance at all

          times.

          Exterior windows to branch frontage to be thoroughly

          cleaned.

2.4. Monthly Cleaning

          Accomplish all high dusting not reached in the above

          mentioned cleaning (i.e., tops of doors, cupboards and

          fixtures etc).

          Clean, rinse and refinish composition floor coverings

           in those areas that show excessive wear.
                   
2.4  Monthly cleaning (Continued)

          Remove finger prints and marks from around liqht

          switches and door frames.

     -    Vacuum all upholstered furniture.

-   Damp wipe telephones using a disinfectant.

2.5  Quarterly Cleaning

-   Internal windows to be thoroughly cleaned.




Sorry for waffling but I hope this helps.

Len

[Musicman]

Hi Tussin, you could work to 2500 square feet an hour if you can get the total cleanable square footage, thereafter approx £9-£10 per hour as a chargeable rate.

I.e. 10,000 square feet = 4 hours; £36-£40 per day, or £180-£200 per week plus VAT.

If all of the above comments give you second thoughts you could pass on the office cleaning side to me and keep the windows yourself (we cover Derby and Nottingham).

Regards

Musicman

[martin19842]

hi there

musicman,

ive been in this industry for about 6 years now, and 5 of those was quoting and selling office cleaning services.

i agree with you on the 2500 sq ft per hour, and that is a variable that we we all informed about. 

But i really think that the 2500 figure was a little bit on the high side.  and usually wound it down to about 1700. 

thats only a view, and now i must admit being out of the daily office clean market, i'm not missing it really.  thats not to say if it is offered we will take the work.

regards

martin

[Musicman]

Hi Martin, for office cleaning 2500 square feet per hour will not be far off, I would only go for the type of figure you quote if the building is fairly old with lots of twists and turns and even then maybe 2200 as a minimum. Tussin has stated that this is a new build (approx 1-2 cleaners) so it should be easy to maintain a high level of cleanliness on these productivity figures.

Factors such as pot washing,  amounts of toilets/kitchens and the level of specification etc will impact upon the final figure however. As the potential client is a firm of accountants I would not expect the building to get particularly heavily soiled from one day to the next so I believe that 2500 should be easily achieved.

I think BICSc Best Value's guide is higher than 2500 (haven't got the docs to hand) and I know that the major players look for around 3000 to 4000 square feet per hour - but then again their standards tend to be fairly poor.

Coinciding with that the big boys will aim for the larger sites where higher levels of productivity can be achieved.

For the record I will 'eyeball' a site wherever possible rather than use productivity figures but do tend to use the stats for large tenders.

Whilst we do look after a handful of other sites (motor dealerships, nurseries, laboratories etc) office cleaning is our core business.

Best regards

Musicman

[Tussin]

Thanks guys, what you have said is a big help. I will have a good look tomorrow and let you know how it goes.
Musicman, you mention about a "guide", what is that? Plus 2500 ft sounds a lot, is that covered by 1 or 2 people?
Tussin.

[Musicman]

Hi Tussin, BICSc (The British Institute of Cleaning Science) produce documentation that gives their opinions of what productivity should be achieved for varying establishments - offices, schools, retail outlets etc.

It gives a break-down of differing areas within a building such as offices, toilets, kitchens and the tasks and subsequent productivity levels that should be achieved for each of those areas.

It can only be seen as a guide as most buildings, and the cleaning needs, are different.

The 2500 square feet (or 232 square metres) is an indication of what size area should be cleaned in an hour. Therefore if the cleaning area totals 10,000 square feet at a productivity level of 2500 square feet per hour it will require 4 hours of cleaning, if it is 5,000 square feet 2 hours will suffice.

A cleaning shift is around 2 hours in duration so 2 hours indicates one cleaner while 4 hours would suggest 2 cleaners.

[Tussin]

Thanks Musicman. See what happens tomorrow.
Tussin

[Musicman]

If you're struggling with it and need some help let me know and we'll go and take a look at it together next week (as long as it's Derby and not somewhere remote like Ashbourne or Buxton :)

Good luck in the meantime.

Musicman

[martin19842]

hi there,

musicman,

i agree that the big boys are working on even higher rates, and also agree on your 2 hour duration per operative, as work rate after that time just drops through the floor.

have a good day, (its a bit windt out there, lucky for me im inside doing some pricing submissions)

regards

martin