How to get a commercial cleaning contract

This guide is for the buying side — business owners and facilities managers hiring a commercial cleaner. Five steps, plus the red flags to watch for and the contract clauses that protect you. (If you're a cleaner trying to win contracts, the same five steps in reverse tell you what your prospects expect to see.)

Step 1: Write the brief

Before talking to a single cleaner, document on one page:

• Site address, total square metres, rough floor plan or floor count.
• Current frequency (or proposed frequency — daily? 3 nights? weekly?).
• Hours available (before 6am? after 6pm? weekends only?).
• Specific zones that need attention (medical exam room? gym change rooms? food prep area?).
• Special requirements (TGA-approved chemicals? WWCC for childcare? police-check sign-in?).
• Whether supplies (toilet paper, soap, paper towel) are included or you supply.
• Start date and contract term you want.

Use our commercial cleaning checklist as the scope-of-work appendix. Annotate which items are in scope for your site and which are out.

Step 2: Walk three cleaners through the site

Don't take a quote sight-unseen. Walk three companies through the building (in person, not over Zoom). Watch how they engage with the space — do they ask about plant rooms, switchboards, after-hours access procedures, who locks up? Do they raise hazards you'd missed? Do they suggest scope they'd add or strip?

At the end of the walk give them your one-pager brief and ask for a per-visit quote, a documented scope of work, and proof of public liability insurance (≥ $20M is standard in Sydney 2026).

Step 3: Compare quotes line by line

Three quotes back. The lowest is almost never the right one and the highest is almost never either. What matters: is the scope identical? If quote A includes consumables and quote B doesn't, you're not comparing the same thing.

Normalise to a per-month total with consumables included, after-hours premium baked in, and the same frequency. The cleaner whose normalised number is mid-pack and whose paperwork is tightest is usually the right pick.

Step 4: Contract terms

Get these into the contract:

• The scope of work as a numbered appendix, not a sentence.
• Frequency (and notice period if you want to change frequency).
• Termination notice — 30 days either side is the Sydney commercial standard.
• Insurance certificate copies — annual renewal.
• Police-check evidence for every operator who attends site.
• WHS undertakings — chemicals SDS-managed, signage during wet floors, spill protocol.
• Substitution clause — if your nominated cleaner is unavailable, the substitute meets the same standard.
• Confidentiality if you're a professional services firm with sensitive papers visible.
• Invoicing terms and dispute process for missed visits.

Step 5: First 90 days

The first 90 days will tell you whether you picked the right cleaner. Do a documented walkthrough at day 14, day 45 and day 90, marking the checklist against what you find. Hand the findings to the cleaner's supervisor in writing. The cleaner who responds with action items and resolution is the keeper; the cleaner who gets defensive is the one to swap out before the 90-day mark.

Red flags

• Quote provided without a site walk-through.
• Scope of work in one sentence, not a numbered list.
• No public liability insurance certificate on file.
• Police-check verification "in progress" instead of completed.
• No named supervisor — just a generic phone number.
• Termination clause that favours the cleaner (e.g. 90-day client notice but 7-day cleaner notice).
• Refusal to provide SDS for chemicals used on site.

Related: for the buyer side of pricing, see our guide to office cleaning costs in Sydney. For a definition of the category, see what is commercial cleaning.