Pricing & estimates · updated August 2026
How to Write an Office Cleaning RFP for a New York Building
A commercial cleaning RFP has eight standard sections — background and submission requirements, cleaning goals, scope of work, applicable standards, payment terms, additional services, evaluation criteria and points of contact. For a New York property, seven more belong in it, and they are the ones that determine whether the bids you receive are actually comparable.
The Eight Standard Sections
- Company background and submission requirements — who you are, property details, deadline, format, contact.
- Cleaning goals — frequency, priority areas, product preferences, outcome standards.
- Scope of work — by area and frequency. This is the section that matters most and it should be an exhibit, not a paragraph.
- Applicable standards — OSHA, EPA, CDC, HIPAA where relevant, and the cleanliness standard you expect (see APPA levels below).
- Payment terms — invoicing cadence, payment window, escalation mechanism.
- Additional and project services — periodic work, add-ons, who can authorise them and up to what value.
- Evaluation criteria — state the weighting. Bidders price differently when they know price is 40% rather than 100%.
- Points of contact.
The Seven New York Sections Nobody Includes
| Section | What to require | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Prevailing wage applicability | State whether the site is covered by NY Labor Law Art. 9, RPTL §421-a or NYC Admin Code §6-130, and require bidders to state whether their bid is at prevailing wage | Otherwise you are comparing a covered bid to an uncovered one |
| 32BJ status | Signatory or non-signatory; if the building is a 32BJ house, require acknowledgement of successorship and retention obligations | A non-signatory may be flatly ineligible for your building |
| COI schedule | Mirror the exact limits and additional-insured wording from your building's tenant handbook | A bidder who cannot meet it cannot be badged in |
| Building access and badging | Vendor registration procedure, advance notice, named-worker roster, badge display | Sets the realistic start date |
| Freight and loading dock | Availability windows, reservation limits, overtime operator charges — and who pays them | The most common surprise line item |
| Consumables | Who buys, who stocks, and require markup disclosure or open-book pass-through | Otherwise it is an undisclosed margin |
| SLA and remedies | Response times, missed-service credits, inspection scoring cadence and score floor | This is what you will rely on in month nine |
Scope of Work: Build It by Area, Not by Task
The single highest-leverage change you can make to an RFP is to structure the scope exhibit as a grid: rows are areas (reception, open workspace, private offices, conference rooms, restrooms, pantry, elevator lobby, stairwell, server room), columns are frequencies (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annual). Then add a final column: not included unless specified.
That last column prevents most future disputes. A complete area-by-frequency matrix is here and can be lifted straight into your document.
How to Score the Bids
Publish the weighting in the RFP. A defensible structure for a commercial office:
- Price — 30 to 35%
- Scope completeness and staffing plan (labour hours per visit, crew size, supervision ratio) — 25%
- Quality assurance programme: inspection method, cadence, reporting — 15%
- Compliance: insurance, workers' compensation, employment model, screening — 15%
- References at comparable properties — 10%
Weighting price at 100% guarantees the lowest bid and, in this industry, guarantees the conversation you will have in month four.
A Realistic Timeline
Issue to award: four to six weeks. Walkthroughs in week one or two — and insist on them, because a bidder who prices without walking the space is guessing. Questions closed one week before the deadline with answers circulated to all bidders. Then allow two to four weeks after award for insurance, vendor registration and badging before service starts.
Last reviewed August 2026. Figures for prevailing wage and regulatory schedules change on 1 January and 1 July — we re-verify this page each cycle.
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