How to bid on federal janitorial contracts
Federal agencies buy custodial and grounds work for offices, clinics, bases and parks in every state. The process is public and written down, but it is spread across several government sites. This page puts the steps in order for a cleaning or landscaping company bidding for the first time, with a link to the rule or official page behind each one.
It explains how the process works. It is not legal, tax or accounting advice; for help with your own situation, your state's free APEX Accelerator (see step 7) is a good first call.
1. Know the codes buyers use
Every federal notice is tagged with an industry code (NAICS). Cleaning work is almost always 561720, Janitorial Services; lawn, landscaping and grounds work is 561730, Landscaping Services. These two codes are how you search for notices, and they also decide whether your company counts as small for a given contract.
SBA sets a size standard for each NAICS code, usually by average annual receipts, and you must count the receipts of any affiliated companies too (SBA: size standards). Check your size against the current figure with SBA's size standards tool rather than a number you read elsewhere: SBA revises them.
2. Register your company in SAM.gov
Agencies can only award to companies with an active registration in the System for Award Management at SAM.gov. Registering gives you a Unique Entity ID (UEI) and records your representations and certifications, including your size for each NAICS code. It is free on SAM.gov; sites that charge to "register" you are private services, not the government.
Start before you find a contract you want. Registration is checked against your IRS and business records, and a mismatch in your legal name or address can hold it up for weeks. The registration must be renewed every year.
3. Find the notices
Open solicitations are posted on SAM.gov's Contract Opportunities search. Filter by NAICS 561720 or 561730 and by place of performance. You will see a few notice types:
- Sources sought or request for information: the agency is doing market research, not buying yet. Responding tells the contracting officer a capable small business exists, which matters for the next point.
- Presolicitation: a heads-up that a solicitation is coming.
- Solicitation or combined synopsis/solicitation: the actual request for quotes or proposals, with a due date.
Many cleaning contracts are reserved for small businesses. Under the "rule of two" in FAR 19.502-2, a purchase above the micro-purchase threshold is set aside for small business when the contracting officer expects offers from at least two responsible small businesses (above the simplified acquisition threshold, at fair market prices). Since October 1, 2025 those thresholds are $15,000 and $350,000 (FAR 2.101). Contracts up to $350,000 can also be bought with simplified procedures, which usually means a shorter quote rather than a long proposal.
Some notices are reserved further, for HUBZone, service-disabled veteran-owned, women-owned or 8(a) firms. See janitorial set-aside contracts for who qualifies for each.
Notices also show contracts that are ending: the incumbent's contract on USAspending.gov tells you roughly when a rebid is coming. Our contracts by state pages list the ones ending in the next 6 to 18 months.
4. Read the whole package before deciding
A cleaning solicitation is usually a commercial-services package on a Standard Form 1449 with attachments. Before writing anything, find these parts:
- The work statement (PWS or SOW): buildings, square footage, tasks and how often, hours, and quality standards. This is what you are pricing.
- Instructions to offerors: usually FAR clause 52.212-1 plus an addendum, or Section L in larger buys. It says what to submit, in what format, how, and by when.
- Evaluation: usually 52.212-2 or Section M. It says how the agency picks: lowest price that is technically acceptable, or a best-value trade-off between price, technical approach and past performance.
- The wage determination: the minimum wage and fringe benefits by job class for that county (step 5).
- Dates: the questions deadline, any site visit, and the due date and time with its time zone.
A site visit, when offered, is often the only chance to see the buildings and floor types before you price (see site visits on federal cleaning contracts). Check SAM.gov for amendments until the due date: each one has to be acknowledged in your offer.
5. Price against the wage determination
Federal service contracts over $2,500 are covered by the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act. Service employees on them must be paid at least the wages and fringe benefits in the contract's wage determination, or those in a predecessor contractor's collective bargaining agreement where one applies (Department of Labor: Service Contract Act). The wage determination is attached to the solicitation, and you can look it up on SAM.gov.
These rates are a floor for the labor in your price, and they are often higher than what local commercial cleaning pays. Read them before you decide to bid, not after. See how the wage determination affects a cleaning bid for a worked example.
6. Submit exactly what was asked, on time
For commercial solicitations, FAR 52.212-1(b) lists the minimum an offer must show, unless the solicitation changes it. In short:
- the solicitation number and the due time;
- your company name, address and phone number;
- a technical description detailed enough to show you meet the requirements;
- price and any discount terms;
- your representations and certifications (FAR 52.212-3, usually completed in SAM.gov);
- acknowledgment of every amendment;
- past performance information, if it is an evaluation factor;
- if you don't use the SF 1449, a statement of how far you agree with the solicitation's terms.
Late offers are generally not considered (52.212-1(f)). Submit by the method the solicitation names, well before the deadline: an email system that delays a large attachment is not a reason the agency has to accept it.
7. Use the free help
APEX Accelerators (formerly Procurement Technical Assistance Centers) are run under the Department of Defense's Office of Small Business Programs, with centers in every state. Their one-on-one counseling is generally free and covers SAM.gov registration, finding opportunities and understanding requirements, for civilian agencies as well as defense. SBA's federal contracting pages explain the small business programs and certifications.
Where we fit
Steps 3 and 4 are where the hours go: checking SAM.gov every day and reading packages that turn out to be a poor fit. Trade Bid Desk does that part. The free weekly list sends you the open janitorial and grounds solicitations and upcoming rebids, your state first. The bid desk ($149 a month, 14-day trial) adds a go/no-go note on each one, and we can draft the response when you decide to bid.
Checked October 20, 2026 against the linked pages. Thresholds and size standards change; the linked official pages are the authority.