Commercial cleaning cost and contract calculator
Pricing a recurring cleaning contract is about covering labour and on-costs, then adding a margin that survives. Enter the schedule and your costs for a monthly cost, a suggested price at your target margin, and the profit. For the going rates to sense-check against, see our guide to commercial cleaning prices in the UK.
How it works
The cost to deliver starts with labour. We turn your weekly schedule into monthly hours using an average of 4.33 weeks per month, multiply by the cleaner's pay rate, then add employer on-costs for National Insurance, pension and holiday cover. Materials and travel are added on top to give the full monthly cost.
The suggested price works back from your target net margin rather than just marking the cost up. A 25% margin means the cost is 75% of the price, so the price is the cost divided by 0.75. That is why a 25% margin needs a markup of a third on cost, not a quarter.
How to use the result
Use the effective charge-out per hour as your reality check. It is the suggested monthly price divided by the hours your team is actually on site, and it is the number to compare against what other firms charge in your area. If it looks high for the local market, trim materials and travel or revisit the hours per visit before you cut the margin.
What commercial cleaning costs in the UK in 2026
For context on where your charge-out rate should land: standard commercial cleaning runs £15 to £30 an hour across the UK, with £18 to £25 the band most quotes fall into, and London roughly 10 to 20% above regional cities. Per-area pricing typically works out at £0.10 to £0.30 per square foot per clean for offices, less for warehouses and more for medical premises. Our commercial cleaning prices guide breaks these ranges down by premises type, city and schedule, with sample monthly costs.
Two anchors when you judge the output here. The National Living Wage is £12.71 an hour from April 2026, and once employer on-costs, materials, travel and supervision are added, a charge-out rate below roughly £15 to £16 an hour leaves no honest margin. And regular contracted work should price lower per visit than ad hoc cleaning, because travel and set-up are spread across a predictable schedule; if your quote for a daily contract lands near one-off rates, check the hours per visit before assuming the margin is safe.
An estimate to sanity-check a quote. It excludes equipment and machinery, management and quoting time, bad debt and VAT. Check cleaner pay is at least the National Minimum or Living Wage once on-costs are added.
Frequently asked questions
- What should I put in the employer on-costs field?
- On-costs are what each hour of cleaning really costs you on top of the pay rate: National Insurance, pension and holiday cover. The tool suggests roughly 18 to 25 percent and defaults to 20. Leave this at zero only if your cleaners are genuinely self-employed, because for employed staff it materially raises the monthly cost and the right price.
- Why is the suggested price higher than my cost plus 25 percent?
- Because the tool works back from a net margin, not a markup. A 25 percent margin means cost is 75 percent of the price, so it divides the cost by 0.75. That needs a markup of about a third on cost, not a quarter. It is the correct way to leave 25 percent profit in the price rather than 25 percent on top of cost.
- What is the effective charge-out per hour and how do I use it?
- It is the suggested monthly price divided by the hours your team is actually on site, so it strips out the schedule and shows your real hourly rate. Use it as a reality check against what other firms charge locally. If it looks high, trim materials and travel or revisit hours per visit before you cut the margin.
- Does the suggested price cover everything I will spend on the contract?
- No. This is an estimate to sanity-check a quote, not full job costing. It excludes equipment and machinery, your management and quoting time, bad debt and VAT. Treat the monthly profit as a gross figure before those, and build any equipment or admin load into materials, travel or the margin if they are significant.
- How do I make sure the pay rate I enter is legal?
- Enter the actual hourly rate you pay cleaners, then check it still meets the National Minimum or Living Wage once on-costs are added, as the page warns. The on-costs percentage is on top of pay and does not reduce the headline rate, so the figure in the pay field is the one that must clear the legal minimum for the worker's age.