Commercial cleaning: compare quotes and prices

Which tasks should the company take on?

Commercial cleaning can mean routine upkeep, a one-off deep clean or cleaning for a property handover. Different areas within one business need not follow the same schedule. Agree the tasks for each zone.

How much does commercial cleaning cost?

Two published examples for office and commercial cleaning quote CHF 48–55 per hour excluding VAT in the Lucerne area and CHF 62.50 per hour excluding VAT in Simmental/Saanenland, checked in October 2026. The first has a two-hour minimum booking; the second has a one-hour minimum with job and travel charges under its terms. These are individual supplier prices, not a Swiss market average or a Quoti tariff.

Region, minimum booking, materials, travel and working times vary between offers. These examples concern ordinary office and commercial cleaning; they do not cover specialist hygiene work, machinery cleaning or heavy residues. Also check whether the rate is per person: two people working for one hour provide two worker-hours.

For a fixed fee, the agreed scope matters. A square-metre rate must state whether it applies per visit, month or year. The same number with a different billing unit can produce a very different total.

From a visit price to an annual budget

Calculation example: assume two worker-hours per visit at CHF 60 each including VAT. The visit costs CHF 120 before extras. At three visits a week for 52 weeks, that is CHF 18,720 a year, averaging CHF 1,560 a month.

These assumptions illustrate the arithmetic, not the time needed for a particular area. Public holidays, closures, cancelled visits and additional work are not included. Check whether you will be billed for actual visits or a fixed fee.

• Separate setup from routine work. An initial deep clean can take more effort than later visits. Request a separate price if the starting condition differs substantially from the expected routine.
• Allow for additional tasks. Shop windows, blinds, deep carpet cleaning and periodic floor treatments may have their own schedules. Include them in the comparison rather than looking only at the basic recurring fee.

A short cleaning plan makes quotes comparable

List the tasks and frequency for each area. A broad selection is enough initially. Later, the plan should be clear enough for you and the cleaning team to understand it in the same way.

An enquiry for a shop might read: “Our sales area is about 90 m² with vinyl flooring, plus an 18 m² stockroom and 12 m² for the staff room and WC. Only the clear aisles in the stockroom need cleaning; we do not yet know the exact cleaning area. We would like floors and the WC cleaned and agreed bins emptied on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Access would be available from 7 to 8.30 am, before opening at 9 am. Stock and displays stay in place. Please price monthly cleaning of the two shop windows, inside and out, separately; dimensions are still to be confirmed. Please also show any necessary initial deep clean as a separate item.”

This describes the requested scope. The access window determines neither the number of cleaners nor the billable hours. The company should confirm which areas it will actually clean and whether the premises will be ready for use by opening time. An existing plan can help; you do not need to create a new one for the initial enquiry.

• Provide the relevant area. State the area to be cleaned, not automatically the whole rented floor space. Glass-only work needs a separate quantity. A small washroom may require more manual work than a larger open space.

Coordinate access, hygiene and opening hours

Clarify whether work can happen during opening hours, before or after them, or during a shutdown. Deliveries, customers and occupied workstations can restrict access. Agree who clears surfaces and which items should remain untouched.

Food premises, medical practices and other sensitive businesses need their existing hygiene and cleaning instructions considered. Ordinary surface cleaning does not automatically replace specialist disinfection or internal equipment cleaning. Products, equipment and responsibilities must suit the job.

Arrange keys and alarm procedures directly with the cleaning company. Access codes, personal records and confidential business information do not belong in the initial public description.

Also agree who responds between scheduled visits to spills, dirt at the entrance or depleted consumables. Three visits a week do not provide cover throughout opening hours. If the team is late or an area is inaccessible, a reachable contact is needed to agree which tasks can still be completed before opening. Changes to the arrangements or additional visits should be confirmed along with their costs.

Check quality against specific expectations

Agree observable results for the selected areas and a named contact. A review after the first visits shows whether scope, time and expectations fit. Report issues by place and task rather than simply saying that things are not clean enough.

Agree how missed tasks are corrected, who arranges cover and how changes are approved. Adding a task should not silently increase the invoice or cause another task to be dropped.

At the first joint inspection, you might check floor edges and the entrance, the WC and washbasins, and the agreed bins. Assess only tasks that were due under the plan: a shop window cleaned monthly is not part of every visit. Record missed or inaccessible spots and pre-existing damage. For corrective work, agree when it will happen and whether it is included in the agreed price. Appearance alone does not establish that a specialist hygiene service has been carried out.

What should you compare in the quotes?

Give all companies the same starting information. A short scope comparison shows whether a cheaper offer simply contains less work.

• Scope and frequency. Compare the same rooms, tasks and number of visits; specify additional work.
• Full costs. Check tax basis, minimum time, materials, travel, surcharges and billing for cancelled visits.
• Organisation and quality. Agree access, contacts, cover and how service issues will be handled.
• Changes and duration. Clarify contract length, termination and changes in price or scope before accepting.