Commercial cleaning tender checklist: compare the scope before the price

Prepare one brief for every bidder

Record the building’s usable areas, occupancy, opening hours, restricted rooms, floor finishes, washrooms and waste arrangements. Separate occupied cleaning windows from periods when equipment can be used without disrupting people.

Give bidders the same walk-through opportunity and circulate material clarifications to everyone. If a supplier cannot survey the site, require it to state what has been assumed and what could change the price.

• A room or zone schedule and approximate floor areas
• Opening hours, occupancy and access arrangements
• Task-by-task frequencies, including periodic work
• Consumables and waste streams, with responsibilities
• Expected start date and the current contract’s end-date constraints

Compare the proposed delivery model

Ask for the planned cleaning hours and supervision arrangements, not only a headline hourly rate. Two offers can use the same rate and allocate very different time to the building.

Check who covers absence, who supervises the site and what happens when the workload changes. A proposal should distinguish the tasks included in the base service from additional work that needs approval.

• Scheduled visits and cleaning hours for each zone
• Supervisor time, escalation contact and absence cover
• Machinery, products and storage requirements
• Consumables included, supplied at cost or provided by you
• Periodic and specialist work included or priced separately

Ask for evidence that matches your premises

Request insurance evidence and check the insured name, period and relevant activities. Ask for site-specific risk assessments and methods for the work being proposed, rather than treating a generic document pack as a finished assessment.

Training or accreditation claims should name the scheme, holder and scope. Obtain the requirements relevant to your premises and do not assume that a corporate membership establishes every operative’s competence. If references are offered, confirm that the client has agreed to be contacted.

Make the commercial comparison explicit

Put the proposals side by side on the same frequency and inclusion assumptions. Distinguish the recurring fee from consumables, periodic work, mobilisation charges and optional call-outs. Ask whether the figures include VAT and how any annual price change will be handled.

Record exclusions and unanswered questions before award. A numerical scoring sheet is only useful if the criteria actually reflect your building’s needs; a cheap quote that omits an essential task should be clarified rather than rewarded.

• Base recurring price and pricing assumptions
• Included consumables and periodic tasks
• Additional-work approval and charging method
• Contract term, notice and renewal provisions
• Quality measures, remedy process and review meetings

Agree mobilisation before the first clean

Confirm responsibility for keys, alarm procedures, induction, equipment delivery, storage and the opening condition of the building. Where employees may transfer, establish the TUPE position early with the relevant employers and advisers.

Use a handover checklist with named owners. During the first service period, compare delivery against the signed specification and log changes so both parties are working to the same scope.