The Cleaning Registry · Guides
Most businesses shop for a cleaning company the way they'd order lunch: call three, ask "what do you charge," and pick the lowest number. Then month three arrives, the missed nights start, and the quote that looked cheapest turns out to have priced a different job than the one you needed done. The fix is a Request for Proposal — a single document that tells every bidder exactly what you want, so the quotes you get back are actually comparable. This guide explains how to run that process and gives you the full template to copy, free.
The problem with phone quotes is that no two vendors are pricing the same scope. One assumes nightly service, another three nights a week. One includes restroom consumables, another bills them separately. One quotes per visit, another per month — the trap covered in our cost-per-square-foot guide, where a "$0.12 per square foot" number can mean a 12x difference depending on which convention it uses. An RFP eliminates the ambiguity by forcing every bidder to price against your defined scope, in your defined format. You stop comparing apples to oranges and start comparing companies.
It does one more thing: it surfaces the vendors who can't meet your compliance bar before you're in a contract with them. When the RFP requires a certificate of insurance, a bond, and — for regulated facilities — the OSHA and HIPAA documentation from our medical-vetting guide, the companies that can't produce those simply don't respond. That's the RFP doing your first round of screening for you.
A complete RFP has ten sections. Two of them do most of the work — the scope of work and the pricing format — because those are what make bids comparable. The rest protect you: they define the compliance floor, establish how you'll evaluate, and set the timeline. Here's what each section is for:
Everything in brackets is a fill-in. Delete the sections that don't apply to your facility, and keep the pricing and compliance language verbatim — those are the parts that protect you. Use the copy button, paste into a document, and you have a working RFP in about fifteen minutes.
REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL — JANITORIAL SERVICES
Issued by: [Company / Organization Name]
Date issued: [Date]
Proposals due: [Date, time, time zone]
1. INVITATION
[Company Name] invites qualified commercial cleaning contractors to submit
a proposal to provide recurring janitorial services at the facility described
below. Please review all requirements and submit your proposal per Section 9.
2. ORGANIZATION & FACILITY OVERVIEW
- Organization: [Name]
- Facility type: [office / medical / dental / retail / warehouse / mixed]
- Location(s): [Full address(es)]
- Total cleanable square footage: [X sq ft]
- Number of floors / suites: [X]
- Typical occupancy: [# staff] / [daily foot traffic if applicable]
- Current arrangement: [in-house / contracted / none]
- Desired service start date: [Date]
3. FACILITY DETAILS
- Restrooms: [# rooms / # fixtures]
- Break rooms / kitchens: [#]
- Flooring: [carpet ~X sq ft; hard floor ~X sq ft; other]
- Special areas: [exam rooms / labs / server room / production / none]
- Access hours: [after 6 PM / business hours / 24-7]
- Building access & security: [badge / lockbox / alarm code / escort required]
4. SCOPE OF WORK (price to THIS scope)
DAILY:
[ ] Empty all trash & replace liners; remove to dumpster
[ ] Clean & disinfect all restrooms; restock consumables
[ ] Disinfect high-touch surfaces (door handles, switches, shared desks)
[ ] Vacuum all carpeted traffic areas
[ ] Sweep & mop all hard-floor areas
[ ] Wipe break room surfaces; load/run dishwasher if present
[ ] Spot-clean entrance glass & interior windows
WEEKLY:
[ ] Dust all horizontal surfaces & fixtures
[ ] Detail-clean restrooms (fixtures, partitions, grout)
[ ] Clean interior glass & partitions
MONTHLY:
[ ] High dusting (vents, ledges, light fixtures)
[ ] Edge-vacuum carpet perimeters
[ ] Detail baseboards & door frames
QUARTERLY (price SEPARATELY, do not fold into monthly):
[ ] Hard-floor strip & wax / burnish [specify]
[ ] Carpet hot-water extraction
[ ] Exterior/high window cleaning [specify]
AS-NEEDED:
[ ] Post-event / weather / construction cleanup [describe]
5. COMPLIANCE & INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS (non-negotiable)
- Certificate of Insurance: commercial general liability of at least
$[1,000,000] per occurrence, naming [Company Name] as ADDITIONAL INSURED.
- Active workers' compensation coverage for every worker on site.
- Janitorial services bond of $[amount].
- Written 30-day termination-for-cause clause.
FOR MEDICAL / REGULATED FACILITIES, also required:
- Written OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens Exposure Control Plan (29 CFR 1910.1030).
- Documented annual bloodborne-pathogens training for the assigned crew.
- Signed HIPAA Business Associate Agreement.
- EPA-registered hospital-grade disinfectants; Safety Data Sheets kept on site.
- Background checks completed for all assigned staff before building access.
6. PRICING — REQUIRED FORMAT
Submit your recurring price BOTH ways so bids are comparable:
(a) Flat monthly amount: $[______] / month
(b) Implied rate: $[______] per square foot, per visit,
at the frequency specified in Section 4.
Itemize SEPARATELY, and do not include in the monthly figure:
- Quarterly floor & carpet care (per event): $[______]
- Consumables/paper products (if not included): $[______]
- Any minimum term, price-escalation, or fuel/supply surcharge: [describe]
State clearly what IS and IS NOT included in the monthly price.
7. STAFFING & SUPERVISION
- Labor hours assumed per visit: [state]
- Supervisor / QA structure and inspection frequency: [describe]
- How crew continuity and staff turnover are handled: [describe]
- Primary point of contact & response time for issues: [state]
8. VENDOR QUALIFICATIONS
- Years in business & local service area: [state]
- Three references from facilities of similar type/size (prefer local): [attach]
- Relevant certifications (ISSA/CIMS, IICRC, etc.): [list]
- Sample QA / cleaning-frequency log with signatures: [attach]
- Confirmation of on-site walkthrough completed (see Section 9).
9. SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS
- Proposals due: [Date, time]
- Submit to: [Name, email / portal]
- Questions due by: [Date]; answers shared with all bidders by [Date]
- MANDATORY walkthrough: schedule with [Name, contact] between [dates].
Bids submitted without a completed walkthrough will not be considered.
10. EVALUATION CRITERIA (weighted)
- Price & overall value ............................. [30%]
- Scope completeness & compliance to Section 4 ...... [20%]
- Insurance, bonding & regulatory compliance ........ [20%]
- References & relevant experience .................. [20%]
- Local presence & responsiveness .................. [10%]
[Company Name] reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, to request
clarification, and to award based on overall value rather than lowest price.
— End of RFP —
Publishing your evaluation weights in Section 10 isn't a formality — it's how you keep the decision honest when the lowest number starts tempting you. Build a simple scoring sheet: each criterion, each bidder, a 1–5 score, multiplied by the weight. The company with the highest weighted total wins, not the cheapest. Three things to watch as you score:
Ten sections: organization and facility overview, facility details, a scope of work broken down by task frequency, compliance and insurance requirements, a required pricing format, staffing and supervision expectations, vendor qualifications and references, submission instructions with a deadline, and weighted evaluation criteria. The scope of work and the pricing format are what make bids comparable — leave either vague and every quote prices a different job.
Two to three weeks, and the window should include time for a mandatory on-site walkthrough. A serious commercial cleaner needs to walk the building to price it accurately; a vendor willing to bid off square footage alone is the one whose price changes later. Build the walkthrough into the timeline rather than treating it as optional.
Yes. Requiring an on-site walkthrough is the single most effective way to get accurate, comparable bids and to screen out vendors who reverse-engineer a price from a number instead of the actual space. It also gives you an early read on professionalism and responsiveness before you sign anything.
Three to five. Fewer than three gives you no basis for comparison; more than five creates diminishing returns and a heavier evaluation burden. Send it to companies that already service facilities like yours and can meet your insurance and compliance requirements, rather than casting the widest possible net.
The Cleaning Registry lists commercial and janitorial cleaning companies across Cherokee, North Fulton, Cobb, and Forsyth counties — with owner-claimed profiles, real Google review counts, and insurance-verified badges on premium listings, so your shortlist starts with companies that can actually meet the RFP.
Browse the directory →The compliance language and benchmarks built into this template draw on the sources below. Confirm current requirements for your facility and jurisdiction with your own advisors:
This template is general procurement guidance for businesses evaluating cleaning vendors, not legal advice. Insurance limits, bonding amounts, and regulatory requirements vary by facility type and jurisdiction — confirm the specifics for your organization with your own insurer, compliance officer, and legal counsel before issuing an RFP or signing a contract. Published by The Cleaning Registry, locally operated in Cherokee County, Georgia. · thecleaningregistry.com