Four things decide what a commercial clean costs, and building size is only the first. The other three are frequency, building type and access, and any two buildings of the same size can differ by a factor of two on those alone. This page sets out each one and what the published figures in this record say about it.
Size, and why it is not proportional
Bigger buildings cost more in total and less per square foot, because mobilisation, travel and supervision spread across more area. Several companies here publish tiered monthly figures that show the effect directly.
Frequency, and the counterintuitive part
More frequent cleaning costs more per month and usually less per visit, because a building cleaned nightly is never allowed to get dirty. Comparing per-visit rates at different frequencies is the most common error in this market.
Building type
Medical highest, then office, then retail and warehouse, on every page in this record that breaks it down. The ordering is stable even where the figures are not. What moves with type is the standard rather than the area: a clinic and an office of identical size are cleaned to different specifications, and the specification is what the hours are built from. Ask any bidder to name the building type their rate assumes.
Access, the one nobody quotes
Daytime cleaning, restricted hours, escorted access and security clearance all add cost and rarely appear in a published rate. If your building has any of them, say so before the bid rather than after.
Questions people ask about commercial cleaning cost
What is the average cost of commercial cleaning?
There is no honest single average, because the published figures use four different units. The ranges by unit are on this site and they are what a buyer can actually use.
Is monthly or per visit better to quote in?
Monthly is easier to budget, per visit makes frequency changes visible. Asking for both is normal and costs the contractor nothing.
How much does building type change it?
Enough that a clinic quoted at office rates has been mis-scoped. The direction is consistent across every company here that separates them.
Do I pay more for daytime cleaning?
Usually, because it is less productive and more disruptive. It is also rarely in an advertised rate.