Before you get the job, the general contractor or project manager will ask: "What's your price per square foot, and what does it cover?" If you answer with a bare number, you lose either way. Too low and you eat the cost of every surprise. Too high and they move on to the next name on their list. The better answer is a number plus a scope, and this page works backwards from that question to how you build it.
Why a bare rate gets you in trouble
A price per square foot sounds simple, but two buildings of the same size can be completely different jobs. One has sealed floors and clean drywall. The other has dried paint on glass, stuck stickers on every window, drywall dust in every vent, and adhesive on the floors. If you quote the rate without describing the condition, you've promised to clean the hard building for the easy building's money.
Contractors know this. Many will ask for a rate anyway, because it's the fastest way to compare bids. Give them the rate, but tie it to a written scope and the stage of the job you're cleaning.
Match your quote to the stage of the build
Post construction cleaning usually splits into stages: a rough clean after the trades finish messy work, a final clean before handover, and sometimes a touch-up after the owner's walkthrough. Each stage has different labor, different tools, and a different risk of a callback. Quote them separately so the client sees what they're buying and you can price each one honestly.
| Pricing method | Works best when | Main risk for you |
|---|---|---|
| Per square foot | Space is standard and the condition is known | Hidden debris or heavy residue erases your margin |
| Hourly with a crew | Scope is unclear or the site is still changing | Client worries about an open-ended bill, so you may need a cap |
| Flat project price | You've walked the site and listed every task | Scope creep unless change orders are in writing |
| Per room or per unit | Repeating layouts such as apartments or suites | Odd rooms and extra-dirty units need their own line |
Work out your floor before you look at the market
Start with your real costs: crew wages and payroll taxes, insurance, equipment and supplies, fuel and travel, dump or disposal fees, and the time you spend quoting and driving. Then estimate how many labor hours a typical job takes you. Divide your cost by the area and you have a floor, the price below which you lose money. Anything you quote should sit clearly above it.
Competitor prices are a useful check, not a starting point. Their costs, crew speed, and quality aren't yours. If you copy their rate and your crew is slower, you'll work harder for less.
Walk the site and price the surprises
A walkthrough is where you earn your margin. Look at the floor types, the amount of glass, the number of fixtures, the ceiling height, and how much debris is left. Take photos. Note anything that adds time: paint overspray, stickers, caulk smears, construction dust in ducts or on high ledges, and anything that needs special products or lifts.
A quote the contractor can say yes to
Keep it to a page. Include the address, the stage you're cleaning, the tasks covered, what's excluded, the price, how you'll handle extra work, and when you'll be done. Add a line on a re-clean window if the walkthrough finds missed spots. Contractors are juggling many subs, and a clear written scope makes you the easy one to approve.
How many people are looking for this price?
Searches for this topic are small. The whole cluster, covering 11 different ways of asking, adds up to about 70 searches a month. Even the single phrase "how much to charge for post construction cleaning" peaked at 30 searches a month in September 2025 and dropped to 20 in February 2026. Most of those are other cleaners like you checking their pricing, not buyers.
That matters for where you look for work. Buyers of this service rarely search for it by price. They're contractors and builders who get referred, or who ask around when a job is about to finish. The leads come from relationships, not search volume. The guide on where general contractor leads really come from covers that path in more detail.
Should you pay for ads to find these jobs?
The highest top-of-page bid advertisers pay on this search is $4.10 a click. That's not huge, but a click is not a signed job, and with such a small pool you can burn a budget quickly without learning much. Get your quote template, a few before-and-after photos, and a short reply process in place first. If you do test ads later, keep them narrow, such as one city and one type of client, and track which calls turn into quotes.
Get a second opinion if the numbers don't add up
If you win bids but never make money, your costs or scope are off, and that's a pricing problem, not a marketing one. If you price well but the phone is quiet, that's a lead problem. An outside person, whether another cleaner you trust, an accountant, or an agency that handles ads and tracking, can help you tell which one it is. Ask any of them to show you how they would measure results before you spend anything.