Resources
Janitorial bid comparison checklist
A Roseville worksheet for weighing cleaning bids: one copy per bidder, the same lines on each, from rooms and visit days to insurance paperwork and how service gets off the ground.
Printable checklist
Why every bid needs its own sheet
Janitorial bids rarely arrive looking alike. A long one comes with room lists and photos, a short one is barely a page, and a third spends most of its words on a cover letter. Read them back to back and the polished one tends to stick in your memory, even when a plainer bid fits your building better.
This worksheet levels the field. Take one copy per bid, then work down identical lines every time: what gets cleaned and how often, when the crew is in, who supplies the products, how the work is checked, what insurance stands behind it, how you reach the company and how its opening weeks are planned. Lay the completed sheets out together on a table, and whatever a bidder left out is plain to see.
Price is left off on purpose. For the walkthrough itself and for lining totals up fairly, read how to choose a Roseville cleaning company, and for budgeting, see what cleaning costs in Roseville. This sheet deals with what each total actually buys.
Scope and frequencies
Begin with the work itself, room by room. If a bid never says which rooms are included or how often each task happens, there is little to point to when a room gets skipped in month three.
- Every room or area you listed appears by name
- Restrooms are counted one by one, not lumped into a single line
- Tasks are spelled out for each area
- Each task paired with how often it happens
- Visits per week match what you requested
- Carpet extraction and strip-and-refinish sit on separate lines
- Interior glass, high dusting and other detail work show when they happen
Already have a written cleaning scope of work? Lay it beside each bid and read the two together. A room that never shows up, or a task with no timing, gets written in the margin as a question for that company.
Hours, access and supplies
These practical lines decide whether a plan will actually fit the way your building runs from one week to the next.
- Service days and the time window the crew will work
- How the crew gets in, arms the alarm and locks up
- Restricted rooms and how each is handled
- Who buys bath tissue, towels, hand soap and liners
- If the bidder supplies products, how dispensers stay full
- Where carts, equipment and backup stock will be kept
- Saturday, Sunday or holiday service where the building calls for it
Give the supply line a firm answer on every sheet. Two bids can look nearly identical until that line reveals that one folds restroom paper and soap into the work while the other leaves the ordering on your desk. Note too whether dispensers are part of the offer, because mismatched units from past tenants can make restocking slower for everyone.
Hours matter as much as tasks. A crew booked for late afternoon shares the hallways with your team, while one booked after close has the floors to itself. Write the window each bidder proposes on the sheet, then ask yourself whether it suits how your team really uses the building, including late meetings and early deliveries.
Supervision and quality checks
Put one question to every bidder: how will anyone know the work was done? The answer belongs in writing, not in a passing remark on a phone call.
- Who checks finished rooms, and how often
- Whether those checks track the written checklist
- How you will see the results
- What happens after you flag something that was skipped
For reference, Roseville Janitorial hands every client a written checklist naming rooms, tasks and timing, and our supervisors return for quality inspections that hold the finished rooms up against that list. When the building changes, the checklist is revised with it.
Insurance and proof of coverage
Coverage takes up only a few lines on the sheet, yet none of them should stay empty.
- Insurance named in writing
- Workers’ compensation for the people doing the work
- Bond mentioned
- Screening for every crew member who will hold your keys
- Proof of insurance in your hands ahead of the start date
Request the insurance paperwork while bids are still open rather than after you sign. At Roseville Janitorial, each client is sent our certificate of insurance, crews are background-checked, and the company holds a bond and keeps workers’ compensation in place.
Staying in touch and getting started
The last block looks past signing day to how the two of you will actually work together.
- A named contact for questions and service notes
- How quickly requests get a reply
- How changes to the checklist are made and confirmed
- A first service date, with the steps leading up to it
- Walkthrough, keys and alarm handoff written into the plan
- A plan for reviewing the opening weeks together
A specific start-up plan shows a bidder has pictured your building and not a generic one. Replacing a current cleaner? Read our Roseville changeover guide for the handover from the outgoing crew to the incoming one.
Reading the finished sheets
With a sheet for each bid, read across the stack instead of down a single page. Mark every line clear, unclear or missing. A bid with several unclear lines is not automatically weak, but it is the one to call with questions before you decide.
Send those questions in writing and record the answers on the same sheet, so the final comparison rests on what each company has put on paper. If you would like Roseville Janitorial in the running, book a walkthrough through the quote form or by phone, and our bid will cover every line on this sheet.
A few useful answers
Common questions.
Do we need a fresh copy of the sheet for every bidder?
Yes. Use one copy per bid, so each company ends up with its own complete record. Comparing the finished copies afterward is far easier than untangling notes from several bids on one page.
Where do the bid totals go?
Off the sheet. Totals only mean something once you know what each one covers, so the worksheet settles rooms, hours, supplies, inspections and insurance first. The prices you compare afterward then describe the same work.
Which insurance items belong in a cleaning bid?
Coverage, workers’ compensation and a bond, with screening for whoever carries your keys. Get the certificate of insurance in hand before the first visit.
Is the bid checklist a free download?
Yes. It opens as a plain PDF straight from this page, ready to print once for each bidder.
How detailed should a cleaning company's start-up plan be?
It should name a first service date, the walkthrough, the handoff of keys and alarm codes, and a review of the opening weeks. Ask about any piece that is missing before you sign.