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Lining up cleaning bids: a janitorial bid comparison checklist to print per company
No two cleaning proposals are laid out alike. This printable worksheet sorts each bid under one fixed set of headings, so you weigh the service rather than the formatting.
Printable checklist
Why each bid gets its own sheet
One proposal opens with a cover letter and a monthly figure. Another runs to twelve pages of task lists. A third answers half your questions in an email thread. Put on a desk together, the tidiest document tends to win, whether or not it fits the building.
This worksheet fixes the order. Print one copy per bid, fill it in from that company’s walkthrough and written proposal, and write “not stated” wherever the proposal is silent. With every bid under the same headings, a missing answer becomes an empty row you can point to.
Settle your own side first. The room list, hours and supply decisions laid out in our janitorial hiring guide all come before any company walks the building, and a written cleaning scope of work gives every bidder the same starting point.
Scope, frequencies and hours
The first heading records which rooms each bidder priced and how often each one gets attention. A bid that lists areas without a frequency beside each one leaves you guessing how often a room is touched.
- Does the bid name every area on your room list, including the janitor closet and support rooms?
- Is there a frequency beside each area: every visit, weekly, monthly?
- Do carpet extraction, recoating or stripping appear on lines of their own, each with an interval?
- Which nights or days does the crew come, and roughly when does it start?
- How does the crew get in: key, alarm code, badge or a meeting with building security?
Filling in a sheet during each walkthrough
Much of the sheet can be completed before the written bid arrives. Bring a fresh copy to each company’s walkthrough and fill in what you learn as you go. Note which rooms the visitor asked to see, whether they opened the janitor closet, and whether they asked how the building is locked at night or which floors are carpet and which are tile.
Questions the bidder asks you belong on the sheet too, in the margin beside the matching heading. They show what that company will need from your side once service begins, and they often fill gaps that the written bid later leaves out. Keep each walkthrough on its own copy, even when two visits happen on the same afternoon, so details from one company never drift onto another’s page.
Supplies and equipment
Consumables are where two otherwise similar bids quietly part ways. Write down exactly what each bid includes.
- Who buys toilet paper, paper towels, hand soap, seat covers and can liners?
- If the company supplies them, are dispensers included or does your building keep its own?
- Who brings vacuums, mops and cleaning chemicals, and where will they be stored on site?
Supervision, inspections and insurance
This section records how the work will be checked and what protection sits behind it. Ask the same questions of everyone and note the answers in the bidder’s own words.
- Who inspects the work, how often, and how are results shared with you?
- Are crew members background-checked before they work in your building?
- Is the company insured and bonded, and does it carry workers’ compensation?
- Will proof of coverage arrive ahead of the first visit, and who is named as holder?
Filled in for Sacramento Janitorial Co, the insurance heading gets three ticks: insured, bonded and workers’ compensation. Under supervision, you would write quality inspections by our supervisors, plus background checks for the people on each crew. Each client also receives its own certificate of insurance.
Contacts, follow-up and getting started
The last two headings cover how the relationship runs once the paperwork is signed. They are easy to skip during bidding and hard to fix later.
- Who is your day-to-day contact, and how do you reach them?
- How should a missed task be reported, and how is it followed up?
- How are changes to the room list or schedule requested and confirmed?
- What happens between signing and the first visit: walkthrough, keys, alarm codes, supply setup?
- How will the first weeks be checked before the routine settles?
If you are moving from another provider, our guide to switching janitorial providers covers the handover side of that start-up plan.
Laying the sheets side by side
Once every copy is filled in, spread them out heading by heading rather than bid by bid. Read across all the scope sections first, then all the supply sections, and so on. A blank row or a “not stated” on any sheet becomes a follow-up email to that bidder, not a reason to rule it out.
Only after the sheets match should totals come into it. Our Sacramento janitorial cost guide explains what moves the monthly figure, and it reads far more clearly when each proposal has already been lined up against the same scope.
When you want our proposal on the same footing, request a quote. We walk the building before quoting, and you are welcome to hand us a blank copy when we arrive.
A few useful answers
Common questions.
How many copies of the checklist should we print?
One per company bidding, plus a spare. Each sheet holds a single proposal, so the answers never blur between bidders.
What should we write when a proposal doesn't answer a line?
Write “not stated” and send that line back to the company as a question. A missing answer is information, and asking for it is fair to every bidder.
Where do prices fit on the sheet?
They stay off it. The sheet lines up what each bid includes. Totals mean more once you know every proposal covers the same rooms, frequencies and supplies. The factors behind each total are covered in our Sacramento cost guide.
Is it reasonable to ask each bidder for insurance paperwork up front?
Yes. Requesting a certificate of insurance before work begins is a routine step for any building. Ours goes to each client as part of setting up service.