Office cleaning cost: key facts
- There is no official "going rate" for office cleaning.
- Most quotes are hours × an hourly charge, and the charge has to cover far more than the wage.
- The legal wage floor for workers aged 21 and over is £12.71 an hour from 1 April 2026, rising to £13.21 from 1 April 2027 (National Living Wage, GOV.UK).
- The voluntary real Living Wage for 2026-27 is £14.10 an hour, or £15.45 in London (Living Wage Foundation).
- On our worked example, 10 hours of cleaning a week costs a contractor about £7,723 a year in wages, holiday pay, employer NI and pension at the National Living Wage (about £14.81 per hour delivered), before supervision, materials, insurance or profit.
- Wage costs go up every April when the minimum wage rates change, so check your contract's price review clause.
- A quote that can't cover the minimum wage for the hours it promises is a warning sign.
How much does office cleaning cost?
It depends on the hours your office needs and the contractor's hourly charge, so there's no honest single figure. No official body publishes typical office cleaning prices. You can work out what the wages alone must cost, and judge quotes against that.
Online "average" office cleaning prices don't come from any official survey, and they can't know your building or specification. What you can rely on is how a price is put together:
Yearly price = hours of cleaning a week × weeks a year × the contractor's hourly charge
+ consumables (if supplied) + periodic cleans (if included)
The hourly charge is not the cleaner's wage. So the useful questions are:
- How many hours is the contractor planning to clean, and is that enough for your specification?
- What is the hourly charge, and is it high enough to cover a legal wage plus on-costs?
- What is included and what will be charged as extra?
If you haven't yet written down what you want cleaned, start with our guide to office cleaning, which covers what a good specification includes.
How do contractors build an office cleaning quote?
A contractor estimates the labour hours your office needs from a site survey, then multiplies them by an hourly charge that covers the cleaner's wage, employment on-costs, overheads and margin.
Step 1: the hours
The contractor walks round your office, or asks you for floor plans, and estimates how long each task takes. The things that drive the hours are:
- Floor area and layout: open-plan, cellular offices, corridors and stairs.
- Floor types: carpet to vacuum, hard floors to sweep and mop.
- Desks and headcount: more bins, desks, kitchen use and busier toilets.
- Washrooms: cleaned and restocked, usually every visit.
- Kitchens and tea points, and whether washing up is expected.
- Frequency and the specification: which tasks are done each visit, weekly or monthly.
Step 2: the hourly charge
The hourly charge has to cover everything it costs to put a cleaner in your building for that hour:
- The cleaner's wage: at least the National Living Wage (£12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over from 1 April 2026), or more if the contractor pays the real Living Wage or above.
- Holiday pay. Most workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks' paid holiday a year, and someone else has to clean your office while they're off, so holidays are paid for twice.
- Employer National Insurance: 15% of earnings above £5,000 a year per employee in 2026/27 (some employers can reduce this with the Employment Allowance).
- Workplace pension: at least 3% of qualifying earnings for staff in the scheme.
- Sick cover. Statutory Sick Pay is payable from the first day of illness, and a replacement cleaner is paid as well.
- Supervision, recruitment and training.
- Insurance and health and safety. HSE says health and safety law applies to all cleaning businesses, however small.
- Equipment and chemicals.
- Travel between sites. Under minimum wage rules, time spent travelling from one work assignment to another counts as working time and must be paid.
- Office costs, invoicing and profit.
Step 3: extras
Consumables, periodic cleans (carpets, windows, high-level dusting) and washroom hygiene services may be included, charged at cost, or quoted separately.
Worked example: what do the wages alone cost for 10 hours a week?
For an office cleaned 2 hours a night, 5 nights a week, wages, holiday pay, employer NI and pension at the 2026 National Living Wage come to about £7,723 a year, or about £14.81 per hour of cleaning delivered. That is a wage floor only, not a price: a contractor's charge must be higher.
This illustration is not a price. It shows the least a contractor must spend employing one cleaner for these hours, before anything else.
- 2 hours a night, 5 nights a week = 10 hours a week (an assumption for a small office; your hours will differ).
- 52.14 weeks a year (365 days ÷ 7), so 10 × 52.14 = 521.4 hours of cleaning a year.
- One cleaner, aged 21 or over, whose only pay from this employer is for this office.
- 5.6 weeks' paid holiday = 56 hours of holiday pay (5.6 × 10), with a cover cleaner paid at the same rate for those weeks, so 577.4 paid hours in total.
- Employer NI at 15% above £5,000 a year, with no Employment Allowance.
- Employer pension at 3% of earnings above £6,240 (the lower end of qualifying earnings), assuming the cleaner is in the scheme.
- No sick pay, overtime, bank holiday premiums, supervision, materials, insurance, travel or profit. These all come on top.
| Wage cost item | National Living Wage 2026 (£12.71) | Real Living Wage 2026-27 (£14.10) | Real Living Wage London (£15.45) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hours worked (521.4 × rate) | £6,626.99 | £7,351.74 | £8,055.63 |
| Holiday pay (56 × rate) | £711.76 | £789.60 | £865.20 |
| Total pay (577.4 × rate) | £7,338.75 | £8,141.34 | £8,920.83 |
| Employer NI (15% × (pay − £5,000)) | £350.81 | £471.20 | £588.12 |
| Employer pension (3% × (pay − £6,240)) | £32.96 | £57.04 | £80.42 |
| Wage floor a year | £7,722.52 | £8,669.58 | £9,589.37 |
| Per month (÷ 12) | £643.54 | £722.47 | £799.11 |
| Per hour of cleaning delivered (÷ 521.4) | £14.81 | £16.63 | £18.39 |
Sums are rounded to the penny. Wage floor only, not a price. The real Living Wage is voluntary; the National Living Wage is the legal minimum for workers aged 21 and over.
When the National Living Wage rises to £13.21 on 1 April 2027, the same sums give total pay of £7,627.45 (577.4 × £13.21), NI of £394.12 and pension of £41.62: £8,063.19 a year, or about £15.46 per hour delivered. That is £340.67 a year more than at the 2026 rate, for exactly the same cleaning.
Why the real figure is higher still
- NI could be higher if the cleaner also works other sites for the contractor, as the £5,000 threshold applies once across all their pay.
- Sickness costs extra. Statutory Sick Pay is £123.25 a week or 80% of average weekly earnings if lower: for a cleaner earning £127.10 a week (10 × £12.71), £101.68 a week, while a cover cleaner is also paid.
- No business costs are in the table: supervision, insurance, equipment, travel, admin and profit.
Plug in a quoted hourly rate
- Ask each contractor for the hours per week and the hourly charge behind their price.
- Yearly labour price = hourly charge × hours per week × 52.14. For example, at 10 hours a week, a charge of £R an hour gives R × 521.4 a year.
- Take away the wage floor per hour for the wage the contractor says it pays (£14.81 at the National Living Wage on our example).
- What's left per hour must pay for sick cover, supervision, materials, insurance, travel, overheads and profit. If it's very little, ask how.
Per hour, per square foot or fixed monthly price: what's the difference?
They are three ways of presenting the same thing. An hourly rate shows the labour charge; a price per square foot divides the yearly price by your floor area; a fixed monthly price spreads the yearly price over 12 months. Convert every quote to a yearly figure before comparing.
- Per hour. The most transparent: you can see the hours and judge whether they're enough. Ask how attendance is recorded.
- Per square foot (or square metre). Usually a yearly price ÷ floor area. It hides the hours, and two offices of the same size can need very different hours. Ask what hours it assumes.
- Fixed monthly price. Easy to budget; usually the yearly cost ÷ 12. Check whether bank holidays and closures are deducted.
How to convert between them
Yearly price = monthly price × 12
Effective hourly charge = yearly price ÷ (hours per week × 52.14)
Price per sq ft per year = yearly price ÷ floor area in sq ft (÷ 10.764 for sq ft → m², or × 10.764 for a price per m²)
Why does a one-off or deep clean cost differently from a contract?
A regular contract spreads set-up costs over many visits and lets the contractor plan staff and routes, so it's priced as a steady monthly amount. A one-off or deep clean is priced as a job: the hours for a team, specialist kit and materials, and the cost of getting people there.
Regular contract
- Recruitment, training and the survey are spread across the whole contract, and regular cleaning keeps each visit shorter.
- The contractor carries the risk of cover, wage rises and staff turnover, and prices that in.
- Contracts often have a minimum term, a notice period and a price review clause.
One-off, deep or periodic clean
- Priced on the hours a team needs for the job, which can be many hours in one go.
- Often needs machines (carpet extraction, floor scrubbers), access equipment for high-level work, or different chemicals.
- Often done out of hours or at weekends.
- No ongoing cover or TUPE implications: GOV.UK says TUPE doesn't protect contracts for a single event or short-term task.
Some specialist work, such as cleaning grease from a kitchen extract system in a staff canteen, is a separate trade: see kitchen extract cleaning.
What pushes office cleaning cost up or down?
The main drivers are the hours (set by size, layout, headcount, toilets, kitchens, frequency and specification), the wage the contractor pays, when the cleaning happens, access arrangements, whether consumables are included, contract length and any staff who transfer under TUPE.
| Factor | Why it changes the price |
|---|---|
| Frequency | More visits mean more hours, though fewer visits each have more to do. |
| Daytime vs evening | Evening work suits empty offices but may carry unsocial-hours premiums; daytime cleaning has to work round people. |
| Specification | Every extra task (desk wiping, internal glass, skirting boards) adds minutes. |
| Washrooms and consumables | More toilets mean more time; supplying paper, soap and liners adds to the bill. |
| Access and security | Key holding, alarms, sign-in rules and tight access windows all affect time and staffing. |
| Contract length | Longer contracts spread set-up costs; check notice and price review terms. |
| Living Wage commitment | Paying the real Living Wage (£14.10, or £15.45 in London) instead of the National Living Wage (£12.71) raises the wage floor in our example from £7,722.52 to £8,669.58 a year. |
| TUPE'd staff | If cleaners transfer from your current contractor or your own staff, their existing terms and conditions transfer with them. Their pay and hours get built into the price. |
Different premises bring different requirements. Schools and surgeries have their own rules and audits that add time; see school cleaning and GP surgery cleaning if your building includes either.
What extras should you ask about before you sign?
Ask whether consumables, periodic cleans, bank holidays and office closures, call-outs and equipment are included, and how the price changes when the minimum wage rises each April.
- Consumables: are toilet roll, hand towels, soap and liners included? If at cost, what are the unit prices?
- Periodic cleans: are carpets, hard floors, windows and high-level dusting included, and how often?
- Bank holidays and closures: is cleaning done on bank holidays? If not, is the monthly price reduced? Is there a premium if you want cleaning that day? Bank holidays don't have to be given as paid leave, so ask how the contractor handles them.
- Holiday and sickness cover: is cover guaranteed at no extra charge?
- Price review clause: National Living Wage rates change on 1 April every year. Does the contract allow the price to rise then, by how much, and is the rise limited to the wage element?
- Real Living Wage: if paid, when will the 2026-27 rates (due by 1 May 2027 for accredited employers) change your price?
- Extra visits, equipment and chemicals: included, or charged separately?
- Minimum term and notice: how long are you committed for, and what notice do you need to give?
How do you get office cleaning quotes you can compare?
Give every contractor the same written specification, the same visit pattern and the same list of inclusions, and ask each to state their hours per week and hourly charge. Then compare yearly totals, not headline monthly prices.
- Write a specification: each area and task, and how often.
- Fix the visit pattern: days, times and any daytime cover.
- State what's included: consumables, periodic cleans, bank holidays and equipment.
- Ask for hours and rate: the hours per week and the hourly charge behind the price, and the wage the cleaners will be paid.
- Mention current staff who might transfer under TUPE; the outgoing employer must pass on their details at least 4 weeks before a transfer.
- Convert everything to a yearly figure for the same specification and compare.
What are the warning signs in an office cleaning quote?
The biggest warning sign is a price that can't cover the minimum wage for the hours promised.
The minimum wage check
Divide the yearly price for labour by the yearly hours the contractor says it will clean. If the answer is below the National Living Wage (£12.71 an hour from 1 April 2026), the price can't even pay a cleaner aged 21 or over the legal minimum for those hours, before holiday pay, NI, pension or anything else.
Using our example of 10 hours a week, wages alone at £12.71 for the hours worked are 521.4 × £12.71 = £6,626.99 a year, or £552.25 a month. A monthly labour price at or below that leaves nothing for holiday pay, NI, pension, cover, materials or profit. Something has to give: fewer hours than promised, or a business that can't sustain the contract.
Other red flags
- No hours stated, or a one-line specification such as "general office clean".
- No plan for cover when the regular cleaner is off.
- No evidence of insurance, or no answers on managing chemicals under COSHH.
- Long minimum terms with automatic price rises and no break clause.
Related guides
Office cleaning cost: frequently asked questions
How much does office cleaning cost per hour?
There is no official typical rate, so we don't quote one. A contractor's hourly charge has to be well above the cleaner's wage, because it also covers holiday pay, employer NI, pension, sick cover, supervision, materials, insurance, travel and profit. On our worked example, wage costs alone at the 2026 National Living Wage are about £14.81 per hour delivered.
How much does office cleaning cost per square foot?
There's no official figure. A price per square foot is usually the yearly price divided by floor area, and it hides the hours you're buying, so ask what hours it assumes.
Why is the hourly charge so much higher than the cleaner's wage?
Because the contractor pays for holidays twice (holiday pay plus cover), plus employer NI, pension, sick cover, supervision, insurance, equipment, chemicals, travel, admin and profit.
Will my office cleaning price go up every April?
It may. The National Living Wage changes on 1 April each year: £12.71 from April 2026 and £13.21 from April 2027. Contracts may include a price review linked to this, so check how the clause works before you sign.
Is a one-off clean cheaper than a contract?
A one-off or deep clean is priced as a job, with team hours, machines, materials and travel paid for by one visit. A contract spreads set-up costs over many visits but commits you to a term.
Should I ask contractors to pay the real Living Wage?
It's your choice; the real Living Wage is voluntary. For 2026-27 it is £14.10 an hour, or £15.45 in London. On our worked example it raises the yearly wage floor for 10 hours a week from £7,722.52 to £8,669.58.
What happens to the cleaners if we change contractor?
Cleaners who work on your contract are likely to be protected by TUPE, so their jobs and terms usually transfer to the new contractor.
How can I tell if a cleaning quote is too cheap?
Divide the yearly labour price by the yearly hours promised. If the result is below the National Living Wage, the price can't legally pay the cleaner for those hours, let alone cover anything else.
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources on 12 November 2026:
- National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates (GOV.UK)
- What is the real Living Wage? (Living Wage Foundation)
- Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027 (GOV.UK)
- Workplace pensions: what you, your employer and the government pay (GOV.UK)
- Holiday entitlement (GOV.UK)
- Minimum wage for different types of work: working time (GOV.UK)
- Employee rights when businesses change hands (TUPE) (GOV.UK)