CLEANING BID GUIDE / SITE WALKTHROUGH
Leave the walkthrough with a scope you can price.
The useful output of a walkthrough is a set of tasks, spaces, frequencies, and responsibilities. Use this checklist to capture those details before you turn them into labor hours and a proposal.
1. Confirm the opportunity
Start by finding out what the client wants to improve and who can confirm the scope. Keep your notes specific enough that someone else in your business could understand the proposed job.
- Client name, site name, address, and the contact responsible for reviewing the proposal.
- Desired visit frequency, service days, possible start date, and times the crew can work.
- Current concerns, such as missed tasks, inconsistent results, or an area needing separate attention.
- Who will approve the scope, the budget, access arrangements, and any later changes.
- How and when the client wants to receive the proposal and a follow-up.
A request for “three times a week” still leaves questions. Record which days, whether the schedule changes on holidays, and whether the client expects a fixed monthly fee.
2. Record the site and its constraints
Group areas in a way that reflects the work. An open room and a small space with many fixtures can require different assumptions even when their floor areas are easy to measure.
- Cleanable square footage by area, along with your measurement method and any unverified figures.
- Floor surfaces, furnishings, room layout, and obstacles affecting the work.
- Restrooms, kitchenettes, entrances, shared rooms, and other spaces with distinct tasks.
- Access windows, keys or credentials, alarm procedures, elevators, and restrictions on movement.
- Parking, travel between work areas, supply storage, waste disposal, and access to water and electricity.
- Areas, surfaces, or tasks needing a separate assessment before you can promise service.
Record an open question as an open question. If an area cannot be measured or a task is unclear, identify the assumption in the proposal and confirm it before work begins.
3. Turn observations into workload inputs
For each area, list the tasks included on a normal visit. Then separate work that happens on another schedule, takes a fixed amount of time, or belongs in a separate quote.
| Walkthrough note | Calculator input | Check |
|---|---|---|
| Area size and planned work | Area and square feet per labor hour | Use a pace you can support with your own timed work. |
| Setup, restocking, or other fixed tasks | Other labor per visit | Do not repeat tasks already covered by the area calculation. |
| Paid crew travel | Paid travel per visit | Use total paid person-minutes across the crew. |
| Products and supplies you provide | Monthly supplies | Confirm what the client provides separately. |
| Job-specific recurring expense | Other direct monthly costs | Avoid duplicating an overhead allocation. |
SweepBid's workload model repeats the entered per-visit hours across the entered weekly schedule. If some tasks happen only weekly or monthly, allocate their labor carefully to an average visit or estimate them separately, then describe their actual frequency in the proposal.
For example, a task requiring 30 person-minutes once each week across a three-visit weekly schedule averages 10 minutes per visit. Add that time only if it is not already included elsewhere. The client-facing scope should still say the task happens once weekly.
4. Write a scope the client can read
Pair each task with an area and frequency. State supply responsibilities and exclusions alongside the included work. Here is an illustrative excerpt you can adapt after a walkthrough.
Example scope excerpt
Schedule: Three visits per week, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday after 6 p.m., subject to the agreed access arrangements.
At each visit: Empty designated office waste bins and replace liners; vacuum accessible carpeted areas; damp-mop specified hard floors; clean the listed restroom fixtures and kitchenette surfaces.
Once weekly: Complete the additional agreed task identified in the walkthrough record. Name the task and area before sending the final proposal.
Client responsibilities: Provide working access credentials, water, electricity, and the agreed paper and soap products. The cleaning company supplies the agreed cleaning products and bin liners.
Excluded unless separately agreed: Floor restoration, exterior windows, work at heights, and tasks outside the listed areas.
Replace the placeholders and align every line with what you actually priced. Avoid promises like “all cleaning included” when you have only estimated a defined set of tasks.
The calculator can format your scope into a proposal, but it cannot establish whether an unvisited site or an unverified task is covered by your inputs.
5. Review the proposal before sharing it
- The client, site, scope, schedule, and monthly price match the walkthrough notes.
- Every included task has a place in the workload estimate and its frequency is clear.
- Supply responsibilities, access assumptions, exclusions, and additional work are stated.
- The proposal gives a validity period and identifies any details still requiring confirmation.
- Start date, payment terms, and the process for confirming the final agreement are clear.
- The next step tells the client who to contact and what remains to be agreed.
SweepBid's proposal preview does not record a signature or acceptance. Use the document to present the proposed service, then confirm the final agreement with the client through your own business process.
Keep the walkthrough record with the bid. When the scope changes or you compare planned and actual hours, those notes help you understand why the price needs to change.
Keep building your bid
Put your own site into the numbers.
Enter the workload, costs, and scope you can support. SweepBid shows the monthly calculation as you go.