How to read a commercial cleaning quote

I spent fifteen years writing the documents this page translates. Here is how they get made: nobody drives back to the office and writes a fresh scope. You search your sent folder, find one from a job in roughly the same industry, change the name at the top, and send it. That is not a scandal — it is just what the document is. But it means the words in it were chosen to win jobs and survive disputes, not to tell you what you are buying.

So read it like a translator, not a customer. Below: what the standard phrases actually mean, and then the five things a quote must contain before it deserves your signature. No companies are named, because we would have to name almost everyone.

What the words actually mean

“General office cleaning”. Which is what, exactly? You will find out at 7am on a Tuesday, and by then it is an argument. A scope that does not list tasks is not a scope — it is a defence, written broad enough to be defended against everything you assumed was included.

“As required”. Required by whom? Nobody has ever located this person. Every task with “as required” after it defaults to never, because the person deciding what is required is also the person paying for the labour.

“Fully insured”. Certificate? Expiry date? Sum insured? Whose name is the policy in — the company quoting you, or a different entity that happens to share a logo? “Fully insured” with none of those four answers is a vibe, not a fact. Ask for the certificate of currency and check the named insured matches the ABN on the quote.

“Tailored cleaning solution”. It is the same scope, sold fifty times, with your name changed at the top. You can test this: ask why clause 4 mentions the timber flooring in reception. You do not have timber flooring in reception. Somebody else does.

“Attention to detail”. Every quote in the pile says this. Statistically, somebody in that pile is lying — and the phrase is unfalsifiable anyway, which is why it is there.

“Eco-friendly products”. Name one. The actual product name of any product. If the quote cannot, the claim is decoration.

“Family owned and operated”. Everyone is. It tells you nothing about whether your bins get emptied.

12-month term, 90 days notice, annual CPI. Three clauses that exist purely to make leaving harder than staying. None of them makes your office cleaner. A provider confident in their work does not need to lock the door from the outside.

Five things a real quote contains

1. A task list with a standard. Not “clean washrooms” — each task with what done looks like, so a miss is a fact rather than an opinion. Here is what that format looks like, free.

2. The exclusions, in the same font size. Every scope excludes things. The honest ones print the list next to the inclusions. If the exclusions are missing, they still exist — you will meet them one at a time, as disputes.

3. A price that maths. Per visit, per week, per month, GST stated — numbers that reconcile with each other and with the frequency. An hourly rate without stated hours, scope and frequency is unfalsifiable. That is what it is for.

4. Insurance as facts. Insurer, policy number, sum, expiry, and a named insured that matches the ABN quoting you. Anything less is “fully insured.”

5. Exit terms you would accept from a gym. If leaving takes 90 days of notice inside a 12-month term, ask what the lock-in is compensating for. Work that keeps clients does not need clauses that trap them.

For calibration: real Adelaide prices are published here, our full scope with its exclusions is public before you buy, and an annotated example of the document this page translates lives on the home page as Exhibit A. Hold any quote against those three and you will know within minutes which kind you are holding.