Questions About Calculating Cleaning Square Footage

I received several responses to an article regarding calculating square footage for bidding and managing contracts. I will respond to them as best I can:

Question: “What amount do I multiply against the square footage?”
My response is that you can calculate your total direct labor hours in different ways. You need to determine how many DLH (direct labor hours) expended per visit. Then you need to calculate your total costs (sometimes referred to as Burdened Labor Rate) times the total DLH (direct labor hours) times the total number of visits.

Example $15.00 BLR x 5 hours per visit x 104 visits per year = $7,800.00 per year.

Only you can determine your DLH based on your productivity and only you can determine you BLR since your costs are based on the factors that impact this number.

Question: “Is cleaning carpeted office space ‘cheaper’ than hard floor?”
My response is that it can be under certain circumstances. Hard floors (especially those requiring finish/buffing) can show soils and scuffing, which can require more labor. Carpet tends to hid soils until the fibers get loaded. Of course, the color and texture of the carpet can have an impact on final costs.

Question: “What about calculating the cost for cleaning marble?”
My response is that marble is a hard floor that requires daily sweeping/vacuuming, good matting system, damp mopping with a neutral cleaner and periodic scrubbing. Avoid the use of acids, abrasive cleaners and in most cases do not use floor finish or seal unless it is specified for marble. Your costs should be similar to maintaining any hard floor which is based on the required tasks and frequencies.

Question: “How do you calculate rate per month for 6238 square meters?”
My response is that the math is the same whether you are using square feet or square meters. You first need to determine your cost per visit; then multiply by the number of visits/actions per month.

There are calculators, manuals and other guides available. I'd suggest you check them out.

We will continue this discussion in a future article.

Your comments and feedback are always appreciated. I hope to hear from you soon. Until then, keep it clean...

Mickey Crowe has been involved in the industry for over 35 years. He is a trainer, speaker and consultant. You can reach Mickey at 678-314-2171 or CTCG50@comcast.net.