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How to win public sector cleaning contracts

Councils, schools, NHS trusts and housing associations all buy cleaning, and many contracts are a good size for a small, local firm. Here is where to find them and what decides who wins.

The short version: find them early (many aren't marked as suitable for small firms), go to the site visit, price people properly (wages, TUPE, cover and supervision), and answer the quality questions with how you'll actually run this site, not a brochure.

1. Where cleaning contracts are advertised

Bigger contracts appear on Find a Tender and Contracts Finder. Cleaning tenders open now are listed by area, and because many buyers don't tick the "suitable for small firms" box, check the buyer pages too: schools and colleges, the NHS and housing associations. Smaller jobs, such as one school or a few offices, often go by quotes, so make sure the business managers and facilities teams near you know who you are.

2. How busy they are

Recent cleaning, waste and environment tenders on Find a Tender drew a median of five bids, and about a fifth drew two or fewer. The figures and the method. A focused bid for a site near your existing work has a real chance.

3. Taking over from another cleaner: TUPE

When a cleaning contract changes hands, the staff who work on it usually transfer to the new contractor under TUPE, on their existing terms. The tender pack usually includes anonymised information about those staff (hours, pay, holiday, length of service): ask for it if it is missing. Price from that information, not from your own standard rates, and check pensions and any enhanced terms. An example answer on taking over a school cleaning contract.

4. Price people properly

Hours first. Build the price from the hours each area needs and the frequency in the specification, then add supervision, holiday and sickness cover, materials, equipment and travel.
Wages. Many public buyers ask for the real Living Wage (the London Living Wage in London). Check the documents, and price wage rises over the whole contract.
Watch the floor. A price that only works if staff cut corners loses the contract later. Buyers often check for abnormally low prices.

How to price a tender · what buyers have paid for cleaning.

5. What buyers score

Mobilisation: how you'll take over smoothly in the first weeks, especially with transferring staff.
Quality checks: how you'll audit cleaning, fix problems and report to the client.
Specialist areas: clinical cleaning standards on NHS sites, safeguarding and term-time timing in schools, communal areas and residents in housing.
Social value: local jobs, fair pay and training count. How to answer social value questions.

6. Go to the site visit

Many cleaning tenders include a site visit, and some make it compulsory: miss it and the bid can be rejected. It's also the best chance to see what the specification doesn't tell you: access, storage for equipment, and the real state of the floors.

Watch the stages. Many school cleaning tenders use the competitive flexible procedure: a questionnaire first, the full tender later. Questions can close months before the final date, so check when stage 1 is due and read the documents, not just the notice.

Found a cleaning tender that might suit you? Send me the link. I'll tell you what it asks for, who holds the work now and whether it's worth your time. It's free. How bid help works.

Email [email protected] · Cleaning tenders open now · Go/no-go checklist

This guide is general information, not legal or employment advice. Always read the tender documents, and take advice on TUPE where it applies.