Post-Construction Cleaning Bids: Three-Phase Pricing

For example, a cleaner finishes a retail suite on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the electrician drills new openings and the painter sands patches. The GC asks for the dust to be removed under the original “final clean.” Without a visit boundary, new construction work looks like a cleaning defect.

Price the required condition at each visit and decide who pays when later work changes it.

Define the phases in the order this job needs them

Phase names are business descriptions, not a nationally fixed sequence. Some projects need rough cleaning, final detail, then a light return before occupancy. Others need touch-up before the final inspection. Write the actual schedule in the cleaning bid.

Do not promise all three under one undefined square-foot rate. If the customer buys one visit, identify its tasks and arrival conditions. Present optional returns in the cleaning proposal.

Inspect what drives the hours

Use a site assessment to record rooms, finish types, accessible heights, glass, fixture counts, debris, residue, travel paths, water, power, lighting, and other trades’ schedules. Photograph damage and uncertain surfaces before cleaning.

Build labor from tasks and quantities, then add access, equipment, supplies, disposal, supervision, and commercial costs. Square footage is one input; it does not describe adhesive removal, high glass, detailed millwork, or repeated mobilization.

For illustration, 18 labor-hours at an internal cost of $30 per hour gives $540 labor cost. Adding $120 for supplies, equipment, and travel produces $660 before other overhead, risk, and profit. These are example inputs, not market rates or a recommended selling price. Price each return’s mobilization separately if it is not included elsewhere.

Match supplier or disposal assumptions to the actual scope. EPA’s construction-and-demolition materials guidance describes a broad material stream; ordinary trash collection does not automatically include all of it.

Agree on the debris and dust boundary

Specify what the crew collects, who owns trade materials, where waste is staged, and who supplies containers and lawful hauling. Keep unknown chemicals, sharps, suspect regulated debris, and specialist remediation outside ordinary cleanup until evaluated and properly authorized.

OSHA 1926.25 requires construction housekeeping during the work. A final-clean contract does not suspend the responsible employers’ ongoing duties.

Method matters for dust. Where OSHA’s construction silica standard applies, dry sweeping or brushing that could contribute to exposure is restricted unless wet methods, HEPA vacuuming, or other exposure-minimizing methods are infeasible. Compressed-air cleanup has its own restrictions. An exclusion in a bid does not relieve the cleaner of employer duties for work actually undertaken.

Covered pre-1978 renovation cleanup needs the EPA RRP workflow, including the required qualified personnel, practices, and records. Do not treat ordinary final cleaning as certification of lead safety.

For chemicals, OSHA 1926.59 incorporates Hazard Communication requirements. Follow applicable product and surface instructions; scope scraping, solvent use, grout-haze removal, and restoration deliberately.

Put readiness and re-cleaning in writing

The cleaning agreement should identify when the customer releases each area, required utilities and access, active-work restrictions, and who can authorize additions.

An illustrative scope note is: “Final detail covers the listed areas after dust-producing trades finish. New contamination from later construction or move-in is outside this visit and requires an approved return.” Tailor the complete terms to the actual project and applicable law.

Issue a cleaning work order for each phase. The general work-order guide helps identify today’s authorized tasks and limits. Correcting missed agreed work is different from charging for new contamination; document the condition before deciding.

For extras, follow the change-order approval guide. Keep acceptance practical: a cleaning inspection report should show completed areas, access exceptions, remaining cleaning items, and separate construction defects.