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Checking janitorial proposals line by line: a sheet to fill in for every bid
No two cleaning bids are laid out alike. This printable gives each bid the same set of questions, so an Oakland building can compare scope, hours, supplies, oversight and start-up on equal terms.
Printable checklist
Fill in one copy for each proposal
One proposal leads with a task grid, the next with a paragraph of promises, and a third with a monthly figure and little else. Reading them in turn makes it hard to tell whether the gap between them is real or only a gap in how they were written.
The fix is to put every bid through the same questions. Each bid gets its own printed copy with the company named up top; then go through the sections below with the proposal open beside you. When a line has no answer in the document, leave the box empty rather than guessing. Blank boxes are useful: they become the follow-up questions for that bidder.
The groundwork, from deciding what you need to judging a bidder on the walkthrough, sits in our guide to choosing a janitorial company. Use this page later, with the stack of proposals open in front of you.
Scope and frequencies
Price only means something once you know what it buys, so the scope comes first.
- Every room from your walkthrough appears, including storage, stairwells and outdoor entries
- Each area has a task list rather than a general line such as “clean offices”
- Each task carries its cadence, whether nightly, weekly, monthly or less often
- Restrooms and breakrooms are covered on every visit
- Carpet extraction, floor refinishing and window work appear as separate, named lines
- Anything left out of the proposal is stated rather than implied
If you wrote your own janitorial scope of work, hold each bid against it. Where a bidder changed a frequency, note whether they explained why.
Hours, access and supplies
- Days of service and the start time each night
- Whether the hours fit around your closing time, alarms and building rules
- How crews enter after hours and who holds keys, fobs and codes
- Who provides toilet paper, paper towels, soap, sanitizer and liners
- Whether dispensers are supplied and installed, and who restocks them
- Where equipment and supply stock will be stored on site
Supplies are easy to overlook and change the comparison more than people expect. One bid that includes paper and soap and another that leaves them with you are describing two different services. Our janitorial supplies page shows how we handle both options.
Supervision and quality inspections
A scope describes the work; supervision is how you find out whether it happened. Look for a concrete answer rather than a general assurance.
- Who inspects the work, and how often
- Whether inspection results are shared with you
- How you report a missed task, and by when it is put right
- Who you call between visits when something needs attention
At Oakland Janitorial Co, quality inspections by our supervisors are built into each recurring plan.
Insurance and paperwork
- General liability insurance in place
- Workers’ compensation coverage for the cleaning crew
- Bonding
- Background checks for crew members
- A certificate of insurance available before the start date
Ask each bidder to send the certificate with the proposal or soon after, and check that the dates and the insured name match the company that signed the bid. Oakland Janitorial Co is covered by insurance, a bond and workers’ compensation, and we screen our crews with background checks; each client of ours is sent a certificate of insurance.
Contacts, handover and the opening weeks
- A named contact for questions and notes
- How notes from your staff reach the crew
- A target start night, with the prep work listed before it
- How keys, codes and supply stock are handed over
- How early visits get reviewed and fine-tuned
A clear start-up plan shows that the bidder has thought about your building rather than buildings in general. If you are replacing a current provider, our guide to switching cleaning companies walks through the handover itself.
Laying the finished sheets side by side
Put the completed copies next to each other and read across one section at a time. Count the blank boxes on each sheet first; a bid with several empty lines needs follow-up questions before its price can be judged. Then confirm the scopes match. Only when two sheets describe the same rooms, tasks, frequencies and supplies does comparing their totals tell you anything.
For a sense of where Oakland pricing sits, see our Oakland cleaning costs guide or try the janitorial cost calculator. Want our bid in the pile too? Book a free walkthrough through the contact page, and a written quote follows, built on your building’s own task list.
A few useful answers
Common questions.
Why use a separate sheet for every bid?
A fresh copy per proposal keeps each company’s answers apart, and the empty boxes on each sheet show you exactly what to ask that bidder next.
Where does price fit into the comparison?
At the end. Match the scope, frequencies and supplies first, then compare totals, because a lower figure for fewer nights or no supplies is a different service.
What should I do when a proposal skips a line?
Leave the box blank and ask the bidder. A written answer belongs in the final proposal so it is part of what you agree to.
Do you include a certificate of insurance with your proposal?
Each client we serve gets a certificate of insurance from us. Ask for it while you compare bids and keep it with your filled-in sheet.
Should floor and carpet work be listed apart from nightly cleaning?
Yes. Periodic work such as extraction, scrubbing and refinishing runs on its own schedule, so separate lines make the recurring price easier to compare.