How to Scope and Compare Exterior Cleaning Bids Across a Multifamily Portfolio
Quality Power Wash Team | August 2026
The problem with three exterior cleaning bids is almost never the prices. It is that they are not measuring the same thing. One contractor quotes by the square foot, one quotes a flat price per building, one quotes an hourly rate, and one of the three has quietly excluded the dumpster pad. Laid side by side they look like a price comparison. They are not.
This post is about writing a scope that forces comparable bids across several buildings, and about reading what comes back. If you want indicative pricing for a single property, our commercial pressure washing cost guide for NYC covers that ground.
The Four Units Bids Arrive In
Commercial exterior cleaning is priced four different ways, and each is legitimate in the right context. Knowing which one you are looking at is the first step to comparing anything. For multifamily specifically, see apartment building power washing.
Pricing unit | Typically used for | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
Per square foot | Flatwork: sidewalks, plazas, decks, lots | Who measured, and is the figure gross area or the area actually being cleaned |
Per linear foot | Storefront and building frontage | Depth of the cleaned band, and whether the kerb line is included |
Per space or per door | Parking areas and multifamily budgeting | Useful for board reporting, but confirm what a space includes |
Hourly | Unmeasured, irregular or access limited sites | Open ended unless the bid caps hours or defines a completion standard |
Published cost guides tend to quote the per square foot figure because it is the easiest to tabulate. Be careful with those numbers. Widely cited ranges for commercial work sit somewhere between roughly a few cents and a dollar per square foot depending on surface and intensity, but the spread across sources is very wide, most of the guides are lead generation sites with no stated methodology, and several of the highest ranking ones are written to teach contractors how to price rather than to help buyers budget. Treat any published figure as a sanity check on a quote you already have, not as a substitute for one.
Write the Scope Before You Ask for a Price
A scope that produces comparable bids is not long. It is specific. For each property in the portfolio it should state the following, and a contractor who will not answer these in writing is telling you something useful.
- Every surface, listed. Frontage sidewalk, entrance and steps, courtyard, refuse staging area, parking surface, facade to a stated height. If it is not listed it will not be cleaned.
- Measured areas, supplied by you. If each bidder measures independently you will get three different areas and the prices will not compare. Supply the numbers.
- Method by surface. Soft wash or pressure wash, hot water or cold, degreaser or plain water. This is where genuine quality differences hide.
- Frequency and dates. Number of visits a year and the target month for each, so the bid prices a schedule rather than a wish.
- Access and hours. Overnight, weekend, before opening, water source, parking or staging arrangements.
- Water containment and disposal. State that runoff must be contained rather than flushed to the nearest catch basin, particularly anywhere grease is involved.
- Insurance and compliance requirements. Set these out up front, because they can disqualify a bidder after the fact and waste a round.
Want a single itemised bid across every building you manage?
We quote portfolios surface by surface, with the method stated for each, so you can compare it line for line against anyone else. Call 718-986-8129 or see pressure washing for property managers.
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What Actually Drives the Number
Once bids are comparable, the differences between them are usually explained by a handful of real variables rather than by margin.
- Soiling load. Bonded grease outside a food tenant takes a degreaser and dwell time. Ordinary traffic film does not. These are different jobs on the same square footage.
- Access. A property with its own lot and an outside tap is cheaper to service than a street frontage with metered parking and no water. In much of the city the access conditions cost more than the cleaning.
- Working hours. Overnight and weekend work carries a premium, and it is usually worth paying, because the alternative is disrupting residents or trading hours.
- Route density. Buildings clustered in one borough price better than the same number scattered across five, because mobilisation is the fixed cost.
- Recurring versus one off. After the first visit, access, water and site conditions are solved. That is why an annual agreement prices below the sum of its visits.
- Surface condition. Old stains lighten rather than disappear. A bid that promises otherwise on twenty year old oil staining is a bid to read twice.
Red Flags in a Portfolio Bid
- A single lump sum for the whole portfolio with no per property or per surface breakdown. You cannot drop a building, add one, or audit the work.
- No method stated. If the bid does not distinguish soft washing from pressure washing, nobody has looked at your substrates.
- Hourly with no cap and no completion standard.
- Insurance produced after award rather than with the bid.
- A price materially below the others with the same stated scope. Usually it means an excluded surface, a cold water rinse in place of a degrease, or an uninsured crew.
Final Thoughts
The goal of a portfolio bid process is not the lowest number. It is a number you can put in a budget, defend to a board, and repeat next year without re running the whole exercise. That comes from a scope tight enough that three contractors quote the same work, and from an agreement that prices a schedule rather than a series of emergencies.
Get the scope right once and the annual conversation becomes a renewal rather than a procurement. Our commercial power washing and concrete and surface cleaning pages set out what a typical itemised scope covers.
Frequently Asked Questions
How should exterior cleaning be priced for a multifamily portfolio?
Usually by surface and by visit, per property, rolled into an annual agreement. That structure lets you add or drop a building without repricing everything, and it prices the schedule rather than a series of one off calls.
Why do three bids for the same buildings differ so much?
Almost always because they are not quoting the same work. Different measured areas, different included surfaces, and different methods, such as a cold rinse instead of a hot water degrease, will produce very different numbers for what looks like one job.
Is a recurring contract cheaper than calling when a building looks bad?
Per visit, yes, in most cases. After the first visit the access, water supply and site conditions are already solved, and a scheduled route lets a crew service several nearby properties in one mobilisation.
What should a portfolio bid include beyond the price?
A per property and per surface breakdown, the cleaning method for each surface, the number of visits and target months, working hours, water containment and disposal, and current insurance documentation supplied with the bid rather than after award.
Ready to put your portfolio out to bid?
We will price every building surface by surface so the comparison is honest, whoever wins it. Call 718-986-8129 or request a free quote.
718-986-8129