Builders clean pricing confuses a lot of people, largely because two quotes for the same site can differ by half. The reason is almost never one cleaner being greedy. It is that builders cleaning is priced on labour hours, and labour hours depend on things that are not obvious from a floor plan.
Why there is no per-square-metre rate
Cleaners are often asked for a rate per square metre. It is a reasonable question and a misleading number, because two sites of identical area can take very different amounts of time.
A 500 sqm open-plan warehouse office with polished concrete and minimal joinery is fast. A 500 sqm medical fit-out with twelve consult rooms, full-height glazed partitions, extensive joinery and eight wet areas can take three times as long. The area is the same. The work is not.
Anyone quoting a flat rate per square metre sight unseen is either padding heavily or setting up a variation later.
The five things that move the price
Detail density. How many rooms, doors, cupboards, drawers, fixtures and wet areas per square metre. Detail is where the hours go.
Glass. Glazed partitioning, shopfronts and full-height windows are slow. Glass is frequently the single largest line item on a fit-out clean.
Site condition. A site left tidy by trades versus one covered in debris, protective film, paint and adhesive can differ by 40% in labour.
Surfaces. Polished concrete, natural stone, timber and new grout each need specific methods, and some need machines. Mixed surfaces cost more than one uniform floor.
Timing and access. Night work, weekends, restricted lift access, CBD loading dock bookings and working around trades all add hours.
Number of stages is the sixth factor: a rough plus final plus defect clean is more than a single visit, though it usually costs less than a failed handover and a re-clean.
Fixed price versus hourly
Hourly pricing puts all the risk on you. If the site is worse than expected, or the crew is slow, you pay for it. It also removes any incentive to work efficiently.
A fixed price after a site walkthrough moves that risk to the cleaner, which is where it belongs. They have seen the site, scoped the work and committed to a number. Your cost is known before anyone starts.
We only quote fixed prices, and only after walking the site. You get a written scope listing every area and task, and the price attached to it, within one business day. Book a walkthrough.
How to get an accurate quote quickly
Have this ready and a cleaner can scope your job in one visit:
- Floor area and a floor plan if you have one
- Surface types, particularly floors
- How much glass and glazed partitioning there is
- Number of wet areas and the extent of joinery
- Your handover date, and whether trades will still be on site
- Access details: hours available, lift access, loading dock, parking
- Which stages you want quoted
The more of this you provide up front, the tighter the price and the fewer variations later.
Where builders overspend
Three patterns cost builders money on cleaning:
Booking one clean instead of staging. A single clean the day before handover almost always needs a re-clean.
Letting debris accumulate. Progressive rubbish removal during the build is cheap. Removing it all at the end is not.
Booking too late. Short-notice work commands premium rates because it means overtime and reallocating crews.
Fix those three and the cleaning line on your project gets cheaper without changing the standard. Call 0431 265 151 to talk through an upcoming job, or request a fixed quote.