Cleaning service proposal: what to include before sending a quote

Understand the space and the type of cleaning

Ask whether the property is a home, office, rental or another kind of space. Identify the rooms or areas, approximate size and current condition. Then clarify whether the client needs routine cleaning, a deep clean, move-in or move-out cleaning, or cleaning after building work. Photos or a questionnaire may help with an initial discussion, but they do not always replace a site check when access or conditions could affect the work.

• Which rooms, floors and shared areas are included?
• Is this a one-off visit or a recurring service?
• Are there delicate surfaces or product requirements to confirm?
• Which details need inspection before you can confirm the scope?

Name the tasks and visit frequency

Replace “full cleaning” with a relevant task list. For an office, this could mean agreed desks and accessible surfaces, floor cleaning, washroom cleaning and emptying bins. Decide separately whether windows, appliance interiors or other specialist areas are included. For recurring work, distinguish tasks performed on every visit from occasional tasks. State the intended frequency, but do not invent a service schedule that the client has not discussed with you.

• Describe tasks in terms the client can recognize.
• Explain which surfaces or rooms are excluded.
• Separate optional extras from work included in the total.
• Specify whether a displayed price covers one visit or a defined series of visits.

Confirm supplies, access and client responsibilities

Decide who provides cleaning products, equipment and consumables, and whether you have included their cost. Confirm any product restrictions with the client instead of assuming that a preferred product is suitable for every surface. Discuss when the space will be available and what must be moved or cleared beforehand. Arrange keys, entry codes or other sensitive access details through an appropriate private channel, not in public examples or marketing screenshots. Record unresolved access questions as items to confirm.

Show the basis of your price without hiding assumptions

If you price by time, identify both the number of people and the expected hours per person. If you offer a fixed amount, make clear which defined work it covers and how additional requests will be discussed. The calculation below is a fictional arithmetic example, not a market rate or a recommendation for your business. It describes one visit, not a monthly subscription. Any applicable tax must be handled deliberately and shown consistently with your final offer.

• Do not count a team’s three-hour visit as only three labor hours when pricing each person’s time.
• Avoid charging supplies separately if they are already included in a package price.
• Label quantities or costs that still need confirmation.
• Check that the text and price table describe the same visit frequency.

Illustrative calculation for one office-cleaning visit: 2 cleaners × 3 hours each = 6 total labor hours. At an illustrative EUR 25 per labor hour, labor is EUR 150. Adding EUR 30 for agreed supplies gives a subtotal of EUR 180 before any applicable tax. The estimate assumes the listed areas are accessible and does not include optional window cleaning.

Use a compact example of a defined scope

The following fictional scope shows how task boundaries and open decisions can fit into a short proposal. It is not a complete service agreement. Choose your own payment terms and service conditions; do not copy deposits, cancellation charges or other commitments simply to make a draft appear finished.

Project: One-off routine cleaning visit for Cedar Office. Included areas: reception, one meeting room, staff kitchen and two washrooms. Included tasks: agreed accessible surfaces, floors, washroom fixtures and emptying bins. Excluded: exterior windows, appliance interiors and cleaning after construction. Supplies: provided by the cleaning contractor and included in the stated breakdown. Before confirming: inspect the condition, agree access and check whether the requested timing is available.

Turn the client brief into a reviewed proposal

ScopeMic includes a Cleaning services questionnaire as a starting point. Select it, review and adapt the questions, then copy the private client link into WhatsApp, email or another message. The client can answer without an account. Review the response before opening the proposal form from the answers. Their budget and preferred timing are input for your discussion, not an agreed price or schedule. Add your own figures, check the generated scope and exclusions, and review the client preview and PDF before sharing.