Per-square-metre pricing is how cleaning quotes get compared, and it’s the reason so many comparisons go wrong. Here’s how the number is actually built, and what it hides.
The coverage rates behind every quote
Cleaning is priced on time, and time is estimated from coverage rates, how much area one cleaner covers in an hour:
| Area type | Coverage per cleaner-hour |
|---|---|
| Open-plan office, carpet | 250 – 350 m² |
| Cellular offices, corridors | 180 – 250 m² |
| Hard floor (sweep and mop) | 200 – 300 m² |
| Kitchen / breakout | 40 – 80 m² |
| Bathrooms | 25 – 45 m² |
| Reception / entry (detail) | 100 – 150 m² |
Look at the spread. Bathrooms are roughly seven times slower per square metre than open-plan carpet. This is why floor area alone tells you almost nothing.
Worked example
A 300 m² office:
- 220 m² open-plan carpet ÷ 300 = 0.73 hours
- 30 m² kitchen ÷ 60 = 0.50 hours
- 30 m² bathrooms (×2) ÷ 35 = 0.86 hours
- 20 m² reception ÷ 125 = 0.16 hours
Total ≈ 2.25 hours per visit, plus about 15 minutes for setup, bins and travel between areas. Call it 2.5 hours.
At three visits a week: 2.5 × 3 × 4.33 = 32.5 hours a month. At $40/hour that’s $1,300 a month excluding GST.
Notice that the two bathrooms, 10% of the floor area, consumed nearly 40% of the labour.
Annual cost per m²
If you want a single comparison figure, use annual cost per square metre:
Annual cost per m² = (Monthly price × 12) ÷ Floor area
From the example above: ($1,300 × 12) ÷ 300 = $52 per m² per year at three visits a week.
Typical ranges:
| Frequency | Annual cost per m² |
|---|---|
| 2 visits/week | $30 – $45 |
| 3 visits/week | $45 – $65 |
| 5 visits/week | $70 – $100 |
Anything meaningfully below these is buying fewer hours than the job needs.
Why per-m² pricing misleads
Two buildings of identical floor area can differ 40% in cost:
- One has two bathrooms, one has six
- One is open-plan, one is cellular offices and corridors
- One is all carpet, one is mixed carpet and vinyl
- One has ground-floor access, one requires a lift and sign-in
Use cost per m² to compare your own quotes against each other, not to compare your building against someone else’s.
What to ask for
Ask any provider to break the quote into hours by area. A provider who has walked the site can do it in two minutes. One who quoted off a floor plan cannot, and that tells you what you need to know.