How much does commercial cleaning cost in Brisbane?

The short answer: commercial cleaning in Brisbane is priced per visit, and the price comes from the hours a trained cleaner needs to complete the written scope at the agreed frequency. Delta's agreements start from $150 + GST per week, and the exact price for any site is set after a free walkthrough. Anyone who gives you a firm number without seeing the premises is guessing, and guesses get corrected later.

This guide explains what moves the price, how a quote is built, and walks through an illustrative example with every assumption labelled so you can see the logic rather than a market figure we have made up.

What actually drives the price

Square metres are the number everyone asks for and the least useful one. Two offices of the same size can take very different times to clean. Six things decide the hours, and therefore the price.

Hours per visit. The scope is converted into a realistic time for the cleaner on your site. Time, not floor area, is what you pay for.

Scope and standard. A bins-and-desks routine is a different job from one that includes glass partitions, fridge fronts, microwave interiors and consumables every visit. The office cleaning checklist shows how much a full scope contains.

Frequency. Daily sites cost less per visit than weekly ones, because there is less build-up each time. A monthly visit is priced as a deeper clean.

Washrooms and kitchens. Wet areas take the longest per square metre. The number of toilets, basins, showers and kitchens is the biggest single factor after frequency.

Layout and access. Open plan cleans faster than a warren of small rooms. A loading dock booking, a security sign-in or a lift that needs a fob after six adds time to every visit.

Periodic work. Carpet steam cleaning, strip and seal, high dusting and window cleaning are separate line items with their own frequency. They should never be hidden inside the per-visit price, because then nobody can tell whether they are being done.

How a quote is built, step by step

1. Walkthrough. The person pricing the job walks every area, counts the wet areas and notes floor types, fixtures and access. At Delta that person is the owner, and the walkthrough is free.
2. Scope. Every task per visit and every periodic task is written down, with the standard each is cleaned to. If it is not written down, it cannot be checked or priced.
3. Hours. The scope is turned into a time per visit. This is where experience matters: an honest estimate of how long a bathroom block with four cubicles takes, not a hopeful one.
4. Fixed price per visit. One figure, ex GST, plus separate line items for periodic work. It does not change unless the scope does.

If a contractor skips step one, be careful with step four.

An illustrative example, with the assumptions labelled

This example is not a market rate and not a Delta price list. It exists to show how the arithmetic works. Every number in it is an assumption you can replace with your own.

The site (assumed): a single-floor office of about 400 square metres with 25 staff, one kitchen, a bathroom block with two toilets and two basins, one accessible bathroom, carpet throughout except a vinyl kitchen floor, and after-hours access by key with no security sign-in.

The scope (assumed): bins, desks and surfaces, kitchen, bathrooms with consumables restocked, vacuum and mop, touch points and glass spot cleaned, five nights a week.

The time (assumed): suppose the walkthrough shows the routine takes a single cleaner about two hours per visit. On a Monday after a weekend, or after a staff function, it might run longer; on a quiet Wednesday, shorter. Two hours is the planning figure.

The arithmetic: five visits at two hours is ten hours of cleaning a week. Whatever hourly cost the contractor works to, including wages, superannuation, insurance, supervision, equipment and chemicals, multiply it by ten and you have the weekly labour-and-overhead figure. Add the consumables if the contractor supplies them. Divide by five for the price per visit.

What is not in that figure: quarterly carpet steam cleaning, six-monthly window cleaning and annual strip and seal of the kitchen vinyl. Each is a separate line item, priced per job.

Notice what changed the price in that example: not the 400 square metres, but the ten hours. Add a second bathroom block and the hours rise. Drop to three nights a week and the per-visit time rises slightly while the weekly total falls. That is the whole model.

Why a cheaper quote is not always a better one

A low price is usually a thin scope, a short time allowance or a contractor without the insurance and supervision that cost money. Before you compare two numbers, compare:

• the task list per visit, line by line
• the frequency and the time of day
• who carries the insurance and whether you have seen the certificate
• whether the cleaners are police checked and who supervises them
• how a missed task is reported and how quickly it is fixed
• whether inspections are scored and shared with you

A fair price for a clear scope, done properly and checked, costs less over a year than a cheap price for a vague one that needs re-cleans and arguments. The contract terms guide covers the clauses that decide what happens when something goes wrong.

Insurance, WorkCover and what they add

Public liability insurance and workers' compensation are part of a contractor's cost base, and a contractor without them is cheaper for a reason. WorkSafe Queensland explains employer obligations for workers' compensation on its site at worksafe.qld.gov.au, and any contractor working on your premises should be able to show you a current certificate of currency for public liability. Delta carries $20 million public liability insurance, has WorkCover in place and shows both in the compliance pack at the walkthrough.

What to do next

Write down what you want cleaned and how often, then get it walked. Ask each contractor for a fixed price per visit against the same written scope, with periodic work itemised, and ask how they check their own work. If you would like Delta's number for your site, book a free walkthrough; the owner calls you within 30 minutes during enquiry hours to arrange it. For an office in the city, see how we handle tower access and lift bookings in the Brisbane CBD; for a business park site, see Eight Mile Plains.

Questions people ask

Is commercial cleaning charged by the hour or per visit?

Most Brisbane contractors quote a fixed price per visit, worked out from the hours the scope takes. Hourly billing is unusual for regular contracts because it rewards slow work. Periodic jobs such as carpet steam cleaning are usually priced per job.

Why do two quotes for the same office differ so much?

Usually because the scopes differ. One may include the kitchen fridge, internal glass and consumables, the other may not. Compare the task lists per visit, the frequency, the insurance and who answers the phone before comparing the numbers.

Can I get a price without a walkthrough?

You can get a guess. The things that drive the price, wet areas, floor types, layout and access, cannot be seen from a phone call, which is why a price given without a walkthrough tends to be corrected after you have signed.