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A checklist for comparing cleaning proposals
Janitorial proposals seldom share a format. This sheet runs each one past an identical set of checks, from scope and hours to insurance and the start-up plan, one printed copy per bid.
Printable checklist
One sheet for each proposal
By the time three janitorial proposals reach your desk, they seldom resemble each other. One comes as a two-page letter, another as a long task list, a third as a slide deck. Read them one after another and you end up weighing presentation rather than substance.
This checklist asks every proposal the same questions. Print one copy per bid, put the company’s name in the header and work down the lines with that proposal open beside you. When every sheet is filled in, spread them across a table. Blank lines and fuzzy answers jump out, and they become the follow-up questions to send before anyone decides.
Price is left off the sheet on purpose. Our Oakland cleaning cost guide unpacks what pushes a monthly figure up or down, and the calls and site visits that come before any proposal are covered in our advice on picking who cleans your building.
Scope and frequencies
Start with what each company intends to do. A proposal that names the areas and sets an interval beside each task can be checked; one that promises a spotless building in general terms gives you nothing to hold it to.
- Every area appears: restrooms, kitchens, lobbies, offices, storage rooms
- Each task carries an interval, such as every visit, weekly, monthly or periodic
- Floor work is named: scrubbing, recoating, strip and refinish, carpet extraction
- Periodic jobs have a target month or season
- Exterior work you asked about, such as pressure washing, is its own line
- Anything you requested that is missing has been marked
If the building already has a written task list, hold each proposal against it. If it doesn’t, the page on drafting a cleaning scope of work lays out the method, so every company prices an identical list.
Hours, access and supplies
- Service nights listed and matched to the hours your building is occupied
- A cleaning window with a start and finish time
- Entry covered: keys, fobs, alarm codes, a security desk sign-in
- Who provides paper products, hand soap and can liners
- Who provides cleaning chemicals and equipment
- Where supplies and equipment will be stored on site
- Daytime help offered if the lobby or restrooms need it
Fill in the supplies line on every sheet. A proposal that includes restroom consumables and one that leaves them to the building describe two different services, and the comparison only works once you know which is which.
Supervision and quality checks
- Who supervises the crew, and how often finished work is inspected
- How inspection results are shared with you
- How a missed task gets reported and corrected
- Whether every cleaner is background-checked
- How the crew learns your building before its first night
For reference, Oakland Cleaning Co supervisors run regular quality inspections against your cleaning checklist, and every cleaner we send into a building is background-checked first.
Ask each company to describe an inspection in its own words: who walks, what they carry, and what happens to the notes afterward. The answer shows how the work will be checked once the proposal is signed and filed away.
Insurance and paperwork
- Insurance coverage stated
- Workers’ compensation stated
- Bonding stated
- Certificate of insurance offered before the start date
- Any insurance requirements set by your building or property manager addressed
Ask for the certificate of insurance alongside the proposal rather than after the decision, so coverage is settled while you are still comparing. Coverage is part of how Oakland Cleaning Co works: the company is insured and bonded, workers’ compensation covers its crews, and each client is handed a certificate of insurance at the outset.
Day-to-day contact and the start-up plan
- The contact you will deal with day to day
- How you reach that contact and how requests are logged
- How changes to the task list are handled
- A start-up plan covering the last walkthrough, the handover of keys and codes, and checks in week one
- A sit-down review at the thirty-day mark
The start-up plan shapes how the first few weeks feel, so give it as much attention as the task list. Look for a clear order of events, from the handoff of keys and codes to a check after the first few visits. The building’s half of a handover, from notice terms to fobs, sits in our switching cleaning companies guide.
Reading the sheets side by side
With a finished sheet for every proposal, count the blanks. Each empty line is a question for that company, and sending every bidder the same follow-up keeps the contest even. When the answers come back, the proposal that described your building most clearly tends to make the choice for you.
If you would like ours on the table, request a quote. We begin by walking your building with you, and the written quote that follows is built from that visit.
A few useful answers
Common questions.
What is the point of one page per bid?
Each company answers the same lines on its own page, so nothing gets squeezed into a narrow column. Spread the finished pages out and the gaps are obvious within a minute.
Where does price fit on this checklist?
It doesn’t. The sheet covers the work, hours, supplies, supervision, insurance and start-up plan. Once those match across proposals, the monthly figures compare like with like, and our cost guide explains what moves them.
A proposal skipped one of the lines. What now?
Send that company the question in writing and put the same question to every other bidder. A blank is a question to ask, not a verdict.
Should the certificate of insurance come with the proposal?
Yes, ideally. Seeing it while you compare lets you confirm coverage before choosing, and every Oakland Cleaning Co client receives one.
Who on our side should fill in the sheets?
The person who will manage the cleaning day to day, with a second reader such as a facilities lead or property manager. Two people reading the same proposal catch more gaps than one.