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October 6, 2026·5 min read
How Commercial Cleaning Is Priced in Madison, WI
Per visit, per square foot or per month: what actually drives the price of an office or building cleaning contract in Dane County.
Two bids for the same building can be very different, and usually it is because they are pricing different scopes. These are the factors that matter.
What drives the price
- Square footage of cleanable area — not the whole building
- Number of restrooms and fixtures (restrooms take the most labor)
- Frequency: nightly, a few nights a week, weekly
- Floor types and how often floors need machine care
- Hours of access: after-hours and weekend work
- Who supplies paper products, liners and chemicals
Per visit vs. monthly
Small sites are usually priced per visit with a minimum, because every visit carries travel, payroll and insurance no matter how short it is. Larger buildings are priced as a fixed monthly amount based on a written task-frequency chart.
Red flags
- No written scope with frequencies
- No certificate of insurance or workers' compensation
- A price far below others — usually understaffed shifts
- Auto-escalation clauses buried in the contract
Get a written scope
We walk the building, count fixtures and measure the area, then send an itemized proposal. Request a bid at ibscleaningwi.com/commercial.