Cleaning Price Per Square Metre Calculator
Commercial cleaning is bought by the square metre and delivered by the hour. This calculator converts between the two so you can quote a per-m² rate that still pays your cleaners properly.
Cleaning Price Per Square Metre Calculator
Commercial cleaning priced properly, by floor area.
Per m², per visit: the figure a tender is benchmarked on
- Hours per visit
- 5.2 hrs
- Cleaner-hours per year
- 1,357 hrs
- Labour per visit
- £83.48
- Price per visit
- £119.25
- Monthly invoice
- £2,583.85
- Per m² per month
- £2.15
- Per ft² per visit
- £0.009
- Annual contract value
- £31,006
£2.15 per m² per month sits inside the £1.20–£3.20 band typical for UK commercial contracts.
What is a normal cleaning rate per square metre in the UK?
Commercial cleaning is normally benchmarked per square metre per month, and for a standard five-nights-a-week office contract most UK contractors land between £1.20 and £3.20 per m² per month once labour, materials, management and margin are included. That works out at roughly £0.07 to £0.22 per m² per visit, or £16 to £40 per m² per year. Below the band you are almost certainly under-resourcing the specification; above it you are either in central London, cleaning something specialised, or you will lose the tender.
The number moves with the surface mix far more than with the building. A 1,000 m² floor that is 90% open-plan carpet is a fundamentally cheaper job per square metre than a 1,000 m² floor with a canteen, four washroom blocks and a reception atrium.
Productivity rates by area type
Productivity: square metres cleaned per cleaner-hour: is the number that decides whether a contract makes money. These are the planning figures used across UK contract cleaning.
| Area type | m² per cleaner-hour | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Open-plan office, carpet | 250–350 | Vacuum, bins, spot clean |
| Cellular offices | 180–250 | More doors, more bins |
| Corridors and circulation | 350–500 | Fast if uncluttered |
| Reception and atrium | 150–250 | Glass and high-visibility detail |
| Canteen / kitchen | 80–120 | Grease, tables, floor scrubbing |
| Washrooms | 35–60 | Or budget 15–20 min per WC |
| Warehouse floor | 400–800 | Machine dependent |
| Medical / clinical | 60–120 | Two-stage clean, colour coding |
Converting between square metres and square feet
UK tenders are usually in square metres; American software and some landlord documents use square feet. One square metre is 10.764 square feet. To convert a rate, divide your per-m² price by 10.764, so £1.20 per m² is roughly £0.11 per ft².
Watch for gross versus net internal area. Landlord schedules often quote gross, which includes structure and risers you will never clean. Quoting off gross area quietly inflates your hours and makes you uncompetitive.
Why per-m² pricing loses money on small sites
Per-m² rates assume you can spread fixed costs: travel, setup, supervision, machine transport: across a large area. On a 120 m² shop unit those fixed costs dominate, and a "market rate" of £1.50/m² gives you £180 a month for a job that needs three hours a week.
Below roughly 300 m², price the hours and quote a fixed monthly figure. Reserve per-m² pricing for sites where the area genuinely drives the workload.