How to Get Cleaning Contracts: Bids, Portals, and Paperwork That Wins

How do you actually get cleaning contracts?

Work both lanes at once. Pitch facility managers on a target list directly. Register where janitorial work gets posted: SAM.gov if you want to bid as the prime, your state’s bidders list, and each district’s portal. Then bring insurance, a bond if the job needs one, and references to the walkthrough, before price comes up.

Build the target list first

Rank reachable facilities that already pay for janitorial: office buildings, medical suites, gyms, and churches. Local government buildings count too. Ask for whoever signs the janitorial line, not the front desk.

The walkthrough and the bid

Never price a commercial account from a floor plan alone. Walk every space you would service, note frequency and square footage by area, and write the scope as walked. Price the visit and the month separately, and attach your insurance certificate and references before the buyer asks.

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Public bids: SAM.gov and your state’s list

SAM.gov’s Contract Opportunities page is direct. It says “Contract opportunities are procurement notices from federal contracting offices”. It also says “anyone interested in doing business with the government can use this system to search opportunities”. To bid as the prime, SAM.gov’s registration page is just as direct. It says “a registration allows you to bid on government contracts and apply for federal assistance”. It also assigns “a Unique Entity ID” as part of that process.

States run the same idea under their own name. Texas calls its version the Centralized Master Bidders List. Its own page states the purpose plainly: “Manufacturers, suppliers, and other vendors wishing to furnish materials, equipment, supplies, and services to the state should register for the Centralized Master Bidders List (CMBL) to receive bidding opportunities”. Registration is not free: “the CMBL annual registration fee is $70”. Look up your own state’s version.

School districts run their own portal, not a shared board

Districts post bids on their own channels, so check each one directly. St. Johns County School District in Florida puts it on the vendor. It says “it is the vendor’s sole responsibility to monitor this site for all bidding opportunities”. “All solicitations are published exclusively on VendorLink,” it adds. Prince George’s County Public Schools in Maryland runs its own supplier portal. It tells vendors to “visit pgcps.org/isupplier and fill our Vendor registration”. Review takes “1 week, if all material provided is complete and acceptable”.

Insurance and bonding, before price

Expect to show proof of insurance, and some contracts require a surety bond. The SBA explains why bonding matters. “Surety bonds help small businesses win contracts by providing the customer with a guarantee that the work will be completed”. Its Surety Bond Guarantee Program covers small contracts, up to $9 million for non-federal work and up to $14 million for federal work. On performance and payment bonds, the SBA fee is “0.6% of the contract price”.

Getting the contract, from target list to signature

1. Build and rank the target list

   List reachable facilities that already pay for janitorial, and rank by square footage and renewal likelihood.

2. Register on the portals your targets use

   Register your business in SAM.gov, which assigns your Unique Entity ID, then join your state’s bidders list and each target district’s vendor portal.

3. Walk the site and write the bid to match it

   Walk every area, note frequency and square footage by area, and price the visit and the month as separate line items.

4. Attach the paperwork before the buyer asks

   Send your certificate of insurance, a bond if required, and references with the bid itself.

SimplyWise Cost Estimator for cleaning contract bids

Keep reading

• How to Start a Cleaning Business.
• Best Cleaning Business Software.