Free tool
Janitorial bid calculator for government contracts
How do I calculate a price for a government janitorial contract?
Divide the cleanable square feet by your production rate to get hours a night, multiply by service days in a year, and add supervision. Pay those hours at the wage determination's rate plus health and welfare and paid leave, then add payroll taxes, insurance, supplies, overhead and profit to get the monthly price.
Updated
Estimated price
$12,808 / month
$153,692 a year · $0.256 per square foot a month
| Cleaning hours a year | 4,333 |
|---|---|
| Supervision hours | 433 |
| Paid hours (with days off) | 5,185 |
| Full-time equivalents | 2.5 |
| Wages | $82,968 |
| Health and welfare | $25,927 |
| Payroll taxes | $8,297 |
| Insurance | $4,978 |
| Supplies and equipment | $7,200 |
| Overhead | $12,937 |
| Profit | $11,385 |
Key facts
- Hours a night = cleanable square feet ÷ production rate (square feet an hour).
- Paid hours are higher than worked hours: vacation and holidays are paid on top.
- Health and welfare is due on every hour paid, up to 40 hours a week and 2,080 hours a year per employee, unless the wage determination says otherwise.
- FICA is 7.65% of wages; federal and state unemployment come on top.
- The calculator runs in your browser and sends nothing anywhere.
How the calculator works
It follows the same order as a federal price build-up: hours first, then labor cost from the wage determination, then the costs that ride on labor, then overhead and profit.
- Cleaning hours a year = square feet ÷ production rate × service days a week × 52.
- Worked hours = cleaning hours plus supervision (a percent of cleaning hours).
- Paid hours = worked hours × 2,080 ÷ (2,080 − paid days off × 8), so vacation and holidays are paid on top of the hours worked.
- Wages = paid hours × the wage determination's hourly rate. Health and welfare = paid hours × its hourly rate.
- Payroll taxes and insurance are a percent of wages. Supplies are a monthly amount.
- Overhead is a percent of all those costs. Profit is a percent of cost plus overhead.
- Monthly price = the annual total ÷ 12. Price per square foot = monthly price ÷ square feet.
What production rate should I use?
Use your own measured rates for the same kind of space. Rates vary with the space type, the tasks in the performance work statement and the equipment, so one office rate does not fit a clinic or a warehouse.
Industry references such as the ISSA cleaning times give starting points by task and equipment. Time your own crews on a similar building, and split the square footage by space type (offices, restrooms, corridors, clinical areas) when the work statement does.
What the calculator leaves out
It is a first estimate for one building and one occupation. A real bid also prices periodic tasks, several labor categories, phase-in, and option-year escalation.
- Periodic work such as floor stripping, carpet extraction and window washing, priced by frequency.
- Other occupations on the wage determination, such as floor care or window cleaners, at their own rates.
- Phase-in costs, uniforms, background checks and badging.
- Option years: raises you give beyond the wage determination, and non-labor cost increases.
- Part-time staff, whose health and welfare and leave work differently.
Questions
Is this price what I should bid?
No. It is a sanity check on the order of magnitude. Your bid should come from the actual performance work statement, the wage determination in the solicitation and your own measured production rates and costs.
Where do I find the wage and health and welfare rates?
On the wage determination attached to the solicitation, usually in Section J. Janitor is occupation 11150. The health and welfare rate and paid holidays are listed in the fringe benefit section.
Why are paid hours higher than worked hours?
Because employees are paid for vacation and holidays they don't work. Someone still has to clean on those days, so the contract pays for both the leave and the cover.
See Falkview on your next solicitation
Send us one solicitation you bid on recently. In a 30-minute call we show you what Falkview finds in it, the compliance matrix and a first draft.