How to Price Commercial Cleaning Services in 2026: Office, Medical, and Retail

Why Commercial Cleaning Pricing Is Different

Residential cleaning pricing is simple: hourly rate or flat fee per home size. Commercial cleaning requires calculating productivity rates, scope-specific labor time, and compliance costs that vary by facility type.

Underpricing commercial contracts is common among new commercial cleaners, and the consequences are severe: you are locked into a below-cost contract for 12-24 months with limited ability to exit. Price every commercial bid with the same discipline you would bring to a permanent employment decision — because for the duration of the contract, that is effectively what it is.

Productivity Rates by Building Type

Your pricing starts with your labor productivity rate — how many square feet can a trained cleaner clean per hour for a given building type:

Standard office (open plan, hard floors): 3,000-4,500 sq ft/hour for daily maintenance cleaning.

Office with private rooms (cubicle farms, conference rooms): 2,000-3,000 sq ft/hour.

Medical/dental office: 1,000-1,800 sq ft/hour. More frequent disinfection, more surfaces to address, compliance documentation.

Retail store: 2,500-3,500 sq ft/hour.

Warehouse/industrial (sweeping and basic cleaning): 5,000-8,000 sq ft/hour.

Price Calculation Process

For a 5,000 sq ft standard office building cleaned 5 nights per week:

1. Cleaning time: 5,000 sq ft ÷ 3,500 sq ft/hour = 1.43 hours per night
2. Weekly hours: 1.43 hours × 5 nights = 7.15 hours
3. Monthly hours: 7.15 × 4.33 = 30.95 hours
4. Labor cost at $18/hour: 30.95 × $18 = $557/month
5. Supplies (2-3% of labor): $17/month
6. Overhead and profit (35%): $200/month
7. **Monthly price to client: $774-850/month**

Cross-check against market rates: standard commercial office cleaning in most markets runs $0.08-0.14/sq ft/month. At $800/month for 5,000 sq ft: $0.16/sq ft/month — slightly above market for a standard office, which provides margin buffer. For a competitive bid, price at $0.12-0.14/sq ft.

Medical Facility Premium

Medical and dental offices command 30-50% premium over standard office rates due to: - Higher-grade disinfectants required (EPA registered for healthcare settings) - Documented cleaning logs and verification required by OSHA/state health departments - Training requirements (bloodborne pathogens, HIPAA awareness, chemical safety) - More frequent touch-point disinfection

Price medical facilities at $0.14-0.22/sq ft/month.

Day Porter Services

Day porter (staff present during business hours for light cleaning, restocking, and spill response) is priced as straight labor: $18-28/hour fully loaded cost, charged at $30-45/hour to the client. Day porter contracts run $2,000-5,000/month for a single full-time porter.

Contract Terms for Commercial Cleaning

Commercial contracts should be 12-month minimum terms with a 30-60 day cancellation clause after the initial term. This protects your investment in onboarding, training, and supplies. Include annual pricing adjustment clauses (typically CPI-linked or a fixed 3-5% annual increase) to protect against labor cost increases.

[Manage commercial cleaning client contracts and crew scheduling in Fixlify AI — start free → hub.fixlify.app/auth?ref=blog-how-to-price-commercial-cleaning-services]