Commercial cleaning contracts come from three places, and only one of them is advertised. Public buyers have to post: any federal contract expected to exceed $25,000 must appear on SAM.gov, under FAR 5.101, and the states and cities run portals of their own. Private buildings let their contracts when a tenant moves in, a managing agent changes, or a business opens, and none of that is posted anywhere. It is, however, visible in public records months before the contract is signed. The third route is walking in unannounced, which works and costs you the week.
This guide covers all three: where the open bids live and the thresholds that put them there, which public records show a private contract opening before a bid exists, what a nightly contract is worth, who actually signs it, and where the line sits between doing this yourself and paying someone to read the records for you.
A one-off clean and a nightly contract are not the same business
A one-off deep clean is a single job. A move-out scrub, a post-construction wipe-down, a one-time carpet extraction: the customer pays once and the relationship ends. A commercial cleaning contract is a building that needs cleaning every night, billed monthly, on a multi-year term. If you want to grow past the owner-operator ceiling, the contract is the thing to chase. The one-off job pays your crew for a day. The contract pays your company for years.
The two are sourced completely differently. One-off cleans come from search ads, referrals and homeowners typing “deep cleaning near me”. Contracts come from buildings changing hands, tenants moving in, public bodies re-tendering, and property managers re-bidding their vendors. You cannot buy your way into a nightly contract with a homeowner lead. You get there by being in front of the building at the moment it needs a cleaner, and before anyone else is.
Route 1: the open bid portals
Public buyers are required to advertise. That makes the portals the one place a cleaning company with no track record can compete on a written response.
| Portal | Who posts | When they must post | Cost to search |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAM.gov (US federal) | Federal contracting offices | Any action expected to exceed $25,000 (FAR 5.101) | Free; a free login.gov account lets you follow notices |
| State portals, for example the NYS Contract Reporter | State agencies and authorities | Per state rules | Free account |
| City and county portals | Municipal buyers, school districts, transit and housing authorities | Per local rules | Usually free |
| Contracts Finder (UK) | Central government and its agencies, councils, NHS, education, housing | Contracts over £12,000 including VAT | Free, no account needed to search |
| Find a Tender (UK) | Same buyers, larger contracts | Usually above £139,688 including VAT | Free |
Search by keyword (“janitorial”, “custodial”, “cleaning services”) and by NAICS code 561720 on the federal side. Set up saved searches so new notices reach you the day they post; on SAM.gov that is what the free account is for. Read the notice for the site count, the frequency, the security or clearance requirements and the response deadline, and only bid where you can staff the route.
The honest limits: a public bid is a competition on a written response, it is often held by an incumbent, and the timeline from notice to award runs months. The advantage is that the whole opportunity is written down, which nothing on the private side ever is.
Route 2: the public records that show a private contract opening
Private contracts are never advertised, but almost every one is preceded by a public, dated event. Four records do most of the work.
Office fit-out and build-out permits. When a tenant leases commercial space, they file permits to build it out: demolition, partitions, electrical, HVAC, finishes. That permit is a company about to occupy space it does not yet have a cleaner for. There is a post-construction clean, and then, every night after move-in, a janitorial contract. The permit files weeks to months before occupancy, which is exactly the window where no incumbent exists.
Managing-agent changes. When the managing agent on a commercial property changes, the entire vendor list is in play. The new agent re-bids landscaping, security, HVAC and cleaning. The old contract is open, not because the cleaner failed, but because the relationship it sat inside just ended. This is the highest-value record because it opens the whole portfolio, not one building.
New business registrations. A newly registered business that leases office, medical or retail space is a new occupant with no cleaning vendor history. Registrations are public and dated. Filter to the entity types and locations that need nightly cleaning and you have companies forming their vendor relationships for the first time.
New certificates of occupancy. A new certificate of occupancy means a building or a space is cleared for use. Someone is about to move in and operate. A fresh CO on a commercial property is a building that needs a janitorial provider from its first day, with no incumbent to displace.
Each is public record. Each carries a date. That is what separates it from a generic list: the record tells you a contract is opening now and gives you a documented reason to call.
Route 3: outbound with no record behind it
Walking into buildings, calling property managers from a directory, and working LinkedIn all produce contracts. They produce them slowly, because you are calling accounts with no reason to believe they are buying, and most are not. The route is worth keeping for the buildings you can see from your own jobs: a fit-out under way next door, a “coming soon” sign, a new tenant’s name on the directory. Treat those as records you noticed with your own eyes and call them the same way you would a permit.
What a nightly contract is actually worth
The reason the records are worth reading is the size of the account behind them.
| Line item | Small office account | Mid-size office account | Larger facility |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nightly cleaning, monthly base | $1,800 | $4,500 | $9,000 |
| Add-ons (day porter, floors, carpets) per month | $300 | $1,200 | $3,500 |
| Supply resale margin per month | $150 | $500 | $1,400 |
| Total monthly recurring revenue | $2,250 | $6,200 | $13,900 |
| Contract term | 2 years | 3 years | 3 years |
| Total contract value | $54,000 | $223,200 | $500,400 |
The exact figures move by market, square footage and spec. The ratio is the point. A single mid-size office account is worth over $200,000 across its term, and it renews. A one-off deep clean at $600 pays once; you need hundreds of them a year to match a handful of contracts that renew on their own. The cost-per-closed-client arithmetic is laid out in buying leads: the real math.
Who signs, and how to reach them before the RFP
By the time an RFP is posted, the building has a process, a spec and twenty responders, and you are competing on price against companies willing to bid below cost to fill a route. The records put you in front of the account before the RFP is written. When a fit-out permit files, the tenant is months from move-in and has not yet thought about who cleans at night. When a managing agent changes, there is a window before the new agent formalizes the re-bid.
Lead with the reason. “I saw you are building out the space at X and wanted to talk about nightly cleaning before you move in” opens a door that “do you need a cleaning company” never will. You are showing up at the moment the need is forming and the incumbent does not exist yet.
You need the signer, not the building. On a managed commercial property that is the managing agent or the facilities manager, not the tenant’s receptionist. Verified decision-maker email on every lead. Company phone where listed.
| Stage | Bid portal path | Public-record path |
|---|---|---|
| When you learn about it | Notice posted, weeks to months before award | Permit or agent change files, months before move-in |
| Competitors in the room | Every bidder who read the notice | Often none; you are the first call |
| Basis of decision | Written response and price | Relationship and fit, built before price |
| Incumbent to displace | Usually | Usually none |
| Your position | One of many responders | The company they already know |
The weekly routine, if you do it yourself
Set a standing block each week and work it in this order. How long it takes depends entirely on how many portals your area spreads the records across.
- Open bids. Run your saved searches on SAM.gov, the state portal and the city portals. Read every new cleaning notice for site count, frequency, clearance and deadline. Decide bid or pass the same day.
- Fit-out permits. Pull the week’s commercial alteration permits from the building department’s portal or open-data feed. Keep the ones with a tenant improvement or interior fit-out description and a commercial address.
- Agent changes and occupancy. Where the city publishes managing-agent registrations and certificates of occupancy (New York does both), pull the week’s changes.
- New registrations. Pull new business filings from the state, filter to the entity types that occupy space, and match the addresses to buildings you can serve.
- Find the signer. For each record, identify the owner entity or managing agent, then the person who awards the contract, then a working email. This step is where most of the time goes.
- Call with the reason, log it, and schedule the follow-up. Contracts sign on the second or third touch, after the walkthrough.
Doing it yourself, or having the records read for you
| Way to get contracts | What you get | What it costs |
|---|---|---|
| Bid portals, worked by hand | Every public notice, in writing | Free to search; your hours to read and respond |
| Public records, worked by hand | Every private contract opening in your area, if you can pull and match the records | Free; the hours in the routine above, most of them on step 5 |
| Lead marketplaces | Names of businesses that searched for a cleaner, sold to several companies | Price on request; per-lead pricing varies by market |
| FieldClients | The fit-out permits, agent changes, registrations and occupancy certificates in your area, read daily, each matched to the account and the signer, one email a day with only the ones that fit what you told us at setup | $800, $1,400 or $2,000 a month by area size; month to month, no setup fee |
The FieldClients row has a limit worth stating: it is built for contract accounts. A company that only wants one-off residential cleans is the wrong fit, and the proposal will say so. Tell us your area on the Check your market form and within 24 hours you get your exact rate and 3 to 5 sample leads pulled from your own area, before you pay anything.
In the UK
The same three routes exist with different names. Public cleaning lots are on Contracts Finder for anything over £12,000 including VAT and on Find a Tender above £139,688, published by councils, NHS trusts, schools and housing associations; the notice date sets the clock, and the public tender record page walks through reading one. The private records are planning consents for offices and commercial units, Companies House incorporations and registered office changes into a commercial address, and the food hygiene register, where a new restaurant or kitchen appears awaiting its first inspection and needs a deep clean and then a contract before it. Plans are £600, £1,050 or £1,500 a month by area size.
Start with the accounts that are opening now
The difference between a flat cleaning business and a growing one is what the effort points at. Chase one-off cleans and you close single jobs that end the day they finish. Read the bids and the records, and every close adds recurring revenue that renews without you selling it again.
The work is knowing which buildings are opening a cleaning contract this week and who signs for it. That is what commercial cleaning leads from FieldClients deliver: the records above, read daily in your area, matched to the account and the person, sent only where they fit what you told us. Start with the records, call with the reason, and quote the contract.