Government cleaning contracts and janitorial contracts for bid
Government cleaning contracts are posted every business day: custodial service for a Social Security field office, floor care at a VA clinic, barracks cleaning at an Army post, a five year janitorial contract for a federal courthouse. Most of them are in the wrong state, the wrong size or reserved for someone else. FederalContracts reads each new cleaning and janitorial solicitation the day it posts, scores it out of 100 against the services you offer, the square footage you can staff, your set-aside status and the area your crews cover, then sends one morning list with the best fits first.
A two crew 8(a) janitorial company in Texas and a 300 employee facilities firm in Virginia read the same federal notices. They should not be reading the same list.
| Match | Solicitation and agency | NAICS | Set-aside | Place of performance | Response due |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 83 | Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Custodial, Pest Control, and Grounds Maintenance Service Contract at U.S. Marine Corps Air St | 561210 | Full and open | Not stated | 28 Oct |
| 77 | USACE SPK MOTCO Facilities and Utilities Maintenance Services - Concord, California | 561210 | 8(a) | Not stated | 8 Oct 7 days left |
| 77 | N6247826R2431 FACILITIES AND LIGHTING MAINTENANCE SERVICES at Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam, Oahu, Hawaii | 561210 | 8(a) | Not stated | 13 Oct |
| 77 | Operation and Maintenance of Government-Owned Facilities and Equipment, Jim Woodruff Lock and Dam and Lake Seminole Project, Florida and Geo | 561210 | Total small business | Not stated | 19 Oct |
| 73 | Solicitation - BWT Operation and Maintenance | 561210 | Total small business | Not stated | 16 Oct |
Where do I find government cleaning contracts for bid?
Federal cleaning contracts above the micro-purchase threshold are posted on SAM.gov under janitorial NAICS code 561720 and product service code S201, along with facilities support (561210) and grounds work (561730). State, county, city and school district cleaning bids sit on hundreds of separate procurement portals. A matching service reads the full notice, including square footage, place of performance and set-aside, and ranks the ones your crews can actually staff.
What changes for a cleaning company once the list is ranked:
- Notices in buildings your crews can reach rise to the top, so a clinic 40 miles away outranks a better titled contract three states over
- Set-aside notices you qualify for (small business, 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB, WOSB) sit above full and open work you would lose on price
- Work set aside for AbilityOne nonprofits drops out, so you stop reading contracts nobody else can win
- Site visits, question deadlines and proposal due dates go on a board the moment you save a bid
Who awards government janitorial contracts
Federal cleaning money is spread across many buyers, and each one buys a little differently. Knowing which ones operate buildings in your area tells you which notices to expect.
| Buyer | What gets cleaned | How the work usually reaches a small firm |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Veterans Affairs | Medical centers, community clinics, national cemeteries, regional offices | Many requirements set aside for veteran-owned firms under the VA's own rules, often with infection control standards in the work statement |
| Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps installations | Barracks, dining facilities, offices, training buildings, fitness centers | Base level contracts from the installation contracting office, sometimes bundled into facilities support |
| GSA Public Buildings Service | Federal office buildings and courthouses | Building level custodial contracts and larger operations and maintenance contracts that include cleaning |
| Social Security Administration, IRS and other civilian agencies | Field offices, processing centers, leased space | Smaller set-aside contracts, often for a single building or a cluster in one city |
| Interior and USDA agencies (National Park Service, Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management) | Visitor centers, campgrounds, restrooms, ranger stations | Seasonal and recurring contracts in rural areas with few local bidders |
| State, county, city and school districts | Offices, courthouses, libraries, schools, transit stations | Each agency's own portal, under state procurement law |
The single building contract at a nearby office or clinic is the realistic first federal win for most cleaning companies. It is posted the same way as a large facilities contract, and it is exactly the notice that gets buried when you search SAM.gov by keyword.
Cleaning NAICS codes and service codes the matching covers
Your profile holds every code you are registered under. The match also reads the work described, because a notice filed under 561210 can be mostly custodial and a "building services" contract can be floor care and window cleaning.
| Code | Title | Typical government notices |
|---|---|---|
| NAICS 561720 | Janitorial Services | Custodial service, floor stripping and waxing, carpet cleaning, restroom service |
| NAICS 561210 | Facilities Support Services | Combined operations, maintenance and custodial for a whole site |
| NAICS 561730 | Landscaping Services | Grounds maintenance, mowing, snow removal often bundled with custodial |
| NAICS 561790 | Other Services to Buildings and Dwellings | Window cleaning, pressure washing, duct cleaning |
| NAICS 561710 | Exterminating and Pest Control Services | Integrated pest management, often attached to custodial |
| NAICS 562111 | Solid Waste Collection | Trash and recycling pickup |
| PSC S201 | Housekeeping, custodial janitorial | The service code most federal cleaning notices carry |
| PSC S208 | Landscaping and groundskeeping | Grounds contracts that cleaning firms often bid alongside |
Janitorial size standards are set in average annual receipts. Confirm yours in SBA's current size table before you rely on a small business set-aside, because the facilities support code carries a higher standard than janitorial.
What decides whether you can win a cleaning contract
Before price, government cleaning bids are won or lost on a few rules. The ranking reads each of them from the notice so they show up in the reason line, not on page 30 of the performance work statement.
- Service Contract Act wages. Federal service contracts over 2,500 USD carry a wage determination that sets the minimum hourly wage and fringe benefits for each job class, such as janitor or floor care worker. Your labor price has to start there, and it changes by county.
- AbilityOne. Many federal custodial contracts are on the AbilityOne Procurement List and must go to designated nonprofits that employ people who are blind or have significant disabilities. Those requirements are not competed, so the match drops them.
- Square footage and frequency. The work statement lists cleanable square feet, room types and how often each is cleaned. That, plus the wage determination, is your price. The match compares the building size with the range in your profile.
- Site visits. Usually held once, sometimes mandatory. Missing a mandatory walk-through can disqualify the bid, so the date goes on your board with the due date.
- Past performance and award method. Lowest price technically acceptable awards go to the cheapest compliant offer. Best value awards weigh past performance and your quality control plan, which is where a small firm with good commercial references can beat a larger one.
- Contract length. Most federal custodial contracts run a base year plus up to four option years, so one win can carry five years of revenue and the incumbent is known.
Pricing the bid is the hard part. Grounds and snow work often rides along with custodial, and if you are pricing acreage as well as square footage, landscaping estimating software that measures the property from satellite imagery saves the second site visit.
How cleaning bid matching works
You set the profile once. After that you read only the notices that fit your services, size and region.
- Describe the company in plain English. "Commercial janitorial company, office and medical cleaning, floor care, 45 staff, buildings up to 200,000 square feet, Dallas and Fort Worth." Add your NAICS codes, set-asides and the states you work in.
- Each new cleaning notice is read and scored. The whole notice, including square footage, place of performance, set-aside and any AbilityOne note, is compared with the profile and given a score out of 100 plus a one sentence reason.
- One ranked email every morning. The best matches come first with agency, building, due date, set-aside and the incumbent where award history shows one.
- Save a bid and the dates take over. Amendments, site visits, question deadlines and due date changes land on your board the day they post, with reminders to whoever owns the bid.
Government contracts for cleaning services, who uses this
- Commercial janitorial companies bidding their first federal job. Single building contracts under the simplified acquisition threshold, now 350,000 USD, are where most cleaning firms win first. The ranking puts the ones near you at the top.
- 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB and WOSB cleaning companies. Certification is part of the score, so set-aside and sole source custodial notices you qualify for never sit under full and open work.
- Facilities support firms. Companies bidding combined maintenance, custodial and grounds contracts need the large notices filed under 561210 and the custodial ones filed under 561720. Matching on the work described catches both.
- Specialty cleaning firms. Floor care, window cleaning, pressure washing and medical cleaning contractors bid as primes on narrow jobs and as subcontractors to the incumbent on large ones.
- Cleaning companies that also bid schools and cities. School district and municipal custodial work is plentiful and often less competitive. The Capture plan adds those notices to the same ranked list, see state and local government bids.
Ways to find government cleaning bids compared
Prices are published prices where vendors publish them and reported figures where they do not. Check each with the vendor before you sign.
| Option | How cleaning bids are chosen | Coverage | Entry price | Billing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FederalContracts | Score out of 100 against services, size, set-aside and region, with a reason | Federal on Bid Desk, plus state and local on Capture | 64 USD a month billed annually, or 129 USD monthly | |
| SAM.gov saved search | Your NAICS, PSC and keyword filters | Federal only | No charge | |
| BidNet Direct | Agency bid notices by state | State and local, federal as an add-on | Reported from about 599 USD a year for one state | |
| BidPrime | Keyword matched bid notices | State and local, some federal | Quoted, reported from about 1,500 USD a year regionally | |
| Deltek GovWin IQ | Research database with analyst coverage | Federal and state and local packages | Quoted, reported from about 13,000 USD a year |
Where the others win: SAM.gov costs nothing and every federal notice is there if you have the time to read them. GovWin tracks large facilities contracts and recompetes years ahead, which matters to a firm chasing 20 million USD operations contracts. BidNet Direct and BidPrime have long lists of local agency portals. If the job is "which of today's cleaning notices should we bid", a ranked list does that for far less. The detail is in BidNet Direct pricing, BidPrime alternatives and GovWin alternatives.
What cleaning companies get on each plan
- Bid Desk, 129 USD a month or 768 USD a year. Federal cleaning and janitorial solicitations, 1 company profile, 3 seats, 5 saved searches, the daily ranked digest with a reason per match, site visit and due date reminders and 3 years of competitor award history.
- Capture, 349 USD a month or 2,088 USD a year. Adds state, county, municipal and school district cleaning bids, 5 business lines (for example custodial, floor care and grounds each with its own digest), 15 seats, question deadlines, Slack and Microsoft Teams alerts and full award history with exports.
- Enterprise, annual and invoiced. Unlimited profiles and seats, SSO, webhooks, custom sources and a full API.
Every feature is listed on pricing. Monthly plans run to the end of the paid month and stop when you cancel.
How do I get government cleaning contracts?
You get government cleaning contracts by registering in SAM.gov under NAICS 561720, checking which set-asides you qualify for, then bidding on custodial solicitations for buildings your crews can reach. Most small firms win first on a single office or clinic contract under the simplified acquisition threshold, then use that past performance to bid larger multi-building work.
Are government cleaning contracts worth it?
Yes, for most established cleaning companies. Federal custodial contracts usually run a base year plus up to four option years, the government pays on a fixed schedule, and the Service Contract Act wage floor means competitors cannot undercut you on labor below it. The trade-offs are compliance paperwork, certified wage rates and slower payment setup than a commercial client.
How do you bid on a government cleaning contract?
To bid on a government cleaning contract, read the performance work statement for square footage and cleaning frequencies, attend the site visit, price labor from the attached wage determination, add supplies, equipment, supervision, overhead and profit, then submit the price and technical volumes exactly as the solicitation's instructions require, before the stated deadline.
What NAICS code is used for janitorial services?
Janitorial services use NAICS code 561720. Combined facilities support contracts that include cleaning often use 561210, and window cleaning or pressure washing can fall under 561790. Register every code you actually perform, because contracting officers and set-aside eligibility both depend on the code assigned to each solicitation.
Can a small cleaning company get government contracts?
Yes. Custodial service is one of the most common small business set-aside categories, and many contracts cover a single building. A small cleaning company needs an active SAM.gov registration, the right NAICS codes, insurance at the levels the solicitation asks for, and past performance, which can come from commercial accounts.
Are there state and local government cleaning contracts too?
Yes, and many more of them by count. School districts, counties, cities, transit agencies and state offices all bid custodial service on their own portals under state law. The Capture plan adds those notices to the same ranked list as federal work, so one person can watch both.
See today's cleaning contracts ranked for your company
Type your services, your state and your janitorial NAICS codes. Bid Match ranks a dated snapshot of public solicitation records against them, so you see the list you would get each morning before you pay.
Related reading: small business government contracting opportunities, list of government contracts for bid, government contract finder, RFP alerts and government contract alerts, government construction contracts, DHS contracting opportunities.