Office cleaning for a five-desk firm can look almost too easy to quote. You see one toilet, a kitchenette, a few bins and a modest stretch of flooring. In a law or accounting office, though, floor area tells only half the story. The real question is access: may the cleaner move a file, who opens the archive, and what happens if the alarm will not set at 9 p.m.? A useful quote states what gets cleaned and what stays untouched.
Measure the access routine, not only the floor area
Start the walkthrough with the ordinary work. Count toilets, inspect the kitchenette, note the flooring and check how many bins need emptying. Ask how many people use the office on a normal day and how often clients visit. A four-person estate agency in Prague 2 may see twenty visitors after a wet afternoon. A similarly sized bookkeeping office with two staff will leave a very different amount of dirt and waste.
Then ask when the work happens. Cleaning around staff takes longer because calls and occupied desks interrupt the route. Evening work is quieter, but it adds responsibility for keys, doors and the alarm.
Record the operational details while you are on site:
- who hands over the key or access fob, and whether a substitute cleaner may use it;
- how the alarm is armed without putting a code into an ordinary chat message;
- which rooms must remain locked;
- who takes a call if a window is open, something is damaged or the alarm fails;
- where ordinary rubbish goes and who can open the waste room.
I once reviewed a quote where every task had been timed carefully. On paper it worked. During each visit, however, the cleaner waited at reception, walked to another floor for the waste key, then called the manager about the alarm. Those extra twenty minutes were part of the building routine, and the quote had missed them.
Agree clear boundaries for desks and documents
“Dust the desks” is not a complete instruction. Decide whether the cleaner works only on empty areas or may move a telephone, pen holder or closed binder. My preference in an office with confidential files is plain: loose papers, open files, notebooks and data media stay exactly where they are. The cleaner wipes the reachable surface around them. Nothing is stacked, opened or carried away.
Waste needs the same precision. A sheet of paper beside a bin is not automatically rubbish. Neither is the contents of a box under a desk. Only material inside the designated bin, or material clearly labelled for removal, should leave the room.
Keep three streams separate in the scope:
- ordinary mixed and recyclable waste;
- documents placed in secure shredding containers;
- records intended for archiving or further work.
If the office wants the cleaning provider to handle shredding bins, describe the handover in writing. For law office cleaning, I would not include confidential destruction in a monthly fee unless the client specifies who may remove it and where it goes. Anything without a clear label stays put.
Build the time estimate by zone, then test it
A small office cleaning cost is easier to defend when the client can see how the time was built. Break the visit into zones. An initial worksheet might allow 15 minutes for one toilet, 15 to 20 for the kitchenette, 10 for bins, 25 for vacuuming and mopping, and another 20 for reachable surfaces. Those are not universal production rates. They are assumptions to test during the first visits.
Allow time for work that leaves no shiny surface behind: collecting keys, entering the building, changing shoes, preparing supplies, moving between floors, taking waste out and securing the office. In an older Vinohrady building without a working lift, carrying a vacuum between two floors can take longer than dusting a small meeting room.
For the first month, record planned and actual time for each visit. Operational notes are enough: “kitchenette took 12 extra minutes after a meeting” or “waited eight minutes for key handover”. Do not record document titles or anything seen on a desk. After four visits, the pattern is usually clear.
Define the monthly fee and the extras
An office cleaning quote should state the frequency and the work completed on every visit. “Complete office cleaning” is far too loose. A client may read it as window cleaning, the inside of the fridge and every cupboard. The cleaner may have priced only floors, bins, sanitary areas, the worktop and empty desk surfaces.
A recurring office cleaning fee might include:
- emptying designated bins and replacing liners;
- cleaning the toilet and replenishing agreed hygiene supplies;
- wiping the kitchen worktop, sink and clear surfaces;
- vacuuming or mopping accessible floors;
- dusting clear areas under the agreed desk rule.
Price windows, machine carpet cleaning, the inside of the fridge, cupboard tops and post-event work separately. You can help with a one-off fridge clean. Record it as an extra so that a helpful exception does not become part of every visit.
The quote also needs an answer on consumables. Who buys toilet paper, hand towels, soap and bin liners? Who supplies cleaning products, and where are they stored? On a small contract, five minutes spent looking for liners or replacing an empty bottle can upset the whole schedule. Clear ownership is more useful than a complicated price table.
Check the work without photographing confidential areas
Photos are common proof on residential jobs, but they can catch a client name, contract number or computer screen in a professional office. Agree in advance whether any photography is permitted. For routine handover, a zone checklist is often enough: toilet complete, kitchenette complete, floors complete, bins removed, windows closed, alarm armed.
If you find water under the sink or a damaged window, do not photograph the whole room. Call the named contact and describe the location. A close-up may be useful after the client agrees, provided no files or screens appear in the frame.
Agree how arrival and departure will be recorded. A client may use a reception logbook, an access fob or a short message to the office manager. Do not create desk photos simply because that method works in flats. Secure office cleaning needs proof that does not create a new confidentiality risk.
Review the scope after three visits
The first quote is an informed estimate. After three visits you have real operating data. Compare the expected duration with the actual time, the amount of waste and any repeated extras. Look beyond total hours. The whole difference may come from Thursday meetings in the kitchenette or muddy footprints at the entrance on wet days.
A blanket price increase is not always the best answer. Adjusting frequency can be fairer: clean the entrance three times a week, the meeting room once, and never enter the locked archive. Elsewhere, keep the monthly fee and add a separate post-meeting service.
Confirm changes in writing before an exception becomes the expected standard. A short email can cover what changes, from which date, how often and at what price. A ten-desk office does not need twenty pages of legal prose. It does need one shared version of the arrangement.
The strongest scope ends with a simple boundary: clean the agreed zones, remove labelled waste, leave confidential papers where they are and enter locked rooms only when authorised. If you need office cleaning in Prague, send a no-obligation enquiry through the ČistýKout contact form. Access rules and the practical scope can be settled before the first visit.
