Post Construction Cleaning Price List: How to Price Each Phase
Price post-construction cleaning by phase: rough, final and touch-up rates per square foot, add-ons and a visit minimum, with a worked 2,400 sq ft house.
A post-construction cleaning price list works best per square foot, by phase: a rough clean, a final clean and a touch-up clean, plus add-ons like exterior windows and haul-away and a minimum charge per visit. Build each rate from your crew's production rate, your loaded hourly cost and a target margin.
Rate per sq ft = (cost per labor hour ÷ sq ft per labor hour + supplies per sq ft) ÷ (1 − margin).
Hypothetical final clean: ($35 ÷ 300 + $0.01) ÷ 0.70 = $0.181 per sq ft, rounded up to $0.19.
Why bother with phases? Because a builder who asks for "a construction clean" usually means three trips, and if you quote one, you clean three times for the price of one.
Scope: US cleaning companies quoting new homes and remodels for builders and general contractors. Every rate below is a hypothetical built from stated assumptions, not a market survey. For recurring commercial accounts, see how to bid janitorial contracts.
1. The three phases of a post-construction clean
Price each phase as its own line, because each one is its own visit with its own production rate.
- Rough clean. After the messy trades, before paint or flooring. Debris out, floors swept and vacuumed, dust off sills and boxes. Fast work per square foot.
- Final clean. After the trades leave. Every surface dusted and wiped, cabinets inside and out, fixtures, inside windows and tracks, stickers and paint specks off, floors done to finish. This is most of the hours.
- Touch-up clean. Right before the walk-through or move-in. Dust that settled, footprints, fingerprints, the punch-list trades' mess. Short, but it's another trip.
Some builders only want the final. Fine. Quote what they ask for and list the other two as options, so nobody "assumes" a touch-up was included.
2. Turn square feet into hours
A production rate is how many square feet one cleaner covers in an hour at a given phase. Divide the home's square feet by that rate and you get labor hours.
The rates in this guide are assumptions for a new home in normal condition: 1,000 sq ft per labor hour for a rough clean, 300 for a final clean, and 1,200 for a touch-up. Your crew, your equipment and how dirty the builder leaves it will change them. Time your next three jobs and use your own numbers.
Recurring office rates don't transfer here. The final clean assumption is 300 sq ft an hour; the APPA rate for a carpeted office used in the janitorial bidding guide is about 2,600. You're removing construction dust from every surface for the first time.
3. Cost one labor hour
Cost each hour with a loaded labor rate plus overhead, and keep supplies on their own line.
For a reference point, the national median wage for janitors and cleaners is $17.71 an hour (O*NET, from BLS 2025 wage data). This example uses $25 an hour loaded, about 41% on top of that median for payroll taxes, workers' comp and insurance, plus $10 an hour of overhead for the van, equipment, phone and your time quoting. Both are assumptions, so $35 per labor hour.
The hourly rate calculator builds your own loaded rate from your real overhead and billable hours.
4. A hypothetical post-construction cleaning price list
Using $35 per labor hour and a 30% target margin, here's what the formula gives. Rates are rounded up: per sq ft rates to the next cent, the window rate to the next dollar, haul-away and the minimum to the next $10.
| Line item | Unit | Assumptions | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rough clean | per sq ft | 1,000 sq ft per labor hour, $0.005 supplies | $0.06 |
| Final clean | per sq ft | 300 sq ft per labor hour, $0.01 supplies | $0.19 |
| Touch-up clean | per sq ft | 1,200 sq ft per labor hour, $0.003 supplies | $0.05 |
| Exterior window wash | per window | 10 minutes, $0.25 supplies | $9 |
| Debris haul-away | per pickup load | $60 dump fee, 1.5 labor hours, $20 truck | $190 |
| Minimum charge | per visit | 3 labor hours plus a $25 trip | $190 |
The math for the final clean: $35 ÷ 300 = $0.117 of labor per sq ft, plus $0.01 of supplies is $0.127. Divide by 0.70 and you get $0.181, which rounds up to $0.19.
The minimum charge matters more than it looks. A touch-up on a small house can take two hours, and the drive is the same either way.
5. Worked example: a 2,400 sq ft new home
Hypothetical job: a builder wants all three phases on a 2,400 sq ft spec house, 18 exterior windows washed at the final, and one load of debris hauled at the rough clean.
| Visit | Lines | Price | Cost | Profit | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rough clean | 2,400 sq ft × $0.06 + 1 haul-away $190 | $334 | $228.50 | $105.50 | 31.6% |
| Final clean | 2,400 sq ft × $0.19 + 18 windows × $9 | $618 | $413.50 | $204.50 | 33.1% |
| Touch-up clean | 2,400 sq ft × $0.05 = $120, minimum applies | $190 | $77.20 | $112.80 | 59.4% |
| Total | $1,142 | $719.20 | $422.80 | 37.0% |
That's about $0.48 per sq ft all in, for three trips and about 17 labor hours. Cost per visit is labor and overhead at $35 an hour, plus supplies and the haul-away's dump fee and truck.
Quote it as one number and the builder will want to cut a phase to save money. Quote it by visit and they can see exactly what they lose.
6. What goes on the quote
Write the scope per phase, because "construction clean" means something different to every builder.
- What each phase includes, in plain words: inside windows and tracks, cabinet interiors, light fixtures, vents, baseboards, garage.
- What it doesn't: paint or grout removal beyond specks, carpet shampoo, mold, hazardous waste, debris beyond the quoted loads. Price those as extras.
- Access and timing: power and water on, trades out of the house, and a rule for return trips when another trade dirties a finished room.
- Payment terms: when you bill each phase and when it's due. More on that in contractor payment terms.
On bigger commercial jobs, the GC may hold back a percentage until the project closes. Know what you signed before you price it; retainage explains how that works. And if the GC's own scope of work describes the cleaning, make your quote match it line for line.
Exterior extras have their own math: window cleaning pricing for full window jobs and pressure washing pricing for driveways and siding.
7. When the price list needs adjusting
- Remodels in occupied homes. Furniture, protecting finished areas, and working around the family. Slower production rate, so a higher rate per sq ft.
- Heavy drywall dust. If the builder skips the rough clean, your final clean gets slower. Quote it at a lower production rate or require the rough clean.
- High ceilings and big windows. Ladders and lifts slow everything. Price windows above the first floor separately.
- Repeat builders. Same floor plans, same crews, faster each time. Your production rate improves, so you can sharpen the price without cutting margin.
Check any changed rate with the profit margin calculator before it goes on the list. The roofers and other trades on the same houses run the same margin math, like this roofing business profit margin breakdown.
Common post-construction cleaning pricing questions
How much should I charge per square foot for post-construction cleaning?
Build it from your own production rate and costs. In the hypothetical price list above, $35 per labor hour and a 30% margin give $0.06 per sq ft for a rough clean, $0.19 for a final clean and $0.05 for a touch-up. All three phases on a 2,400 sq ft home came to about $0.48 per sq ft.
Should I charge hourly or per square foot for construction cleaning?
Per square foot for the quote, because builders compare bids that way. But build the rate from hours, so it covers your crew. Keep an hourly rate for extras and return trips. In this example the cost is $35 per labor hour; at a 30% margin, that bills at $50.
What is the difference between a rough clean and a final clean?
A rough clean happens during construction, after the messy trades, and removes debris and loose dust so the next trades can work. A final clean happens after the trades leave and gets every surface move-in ready. Under the assumptions here, the final takes more than three times as long per square foot.
Do I need a minimum charge for post-construction cleaning?
Yes. Each phase is a separate trip, and a touch-up on a small house can bill less than your drive, setup and labor cost. In the hypothetical price list, the touch-up on a 2,400 sq ft home figures to $120, so the $190 visit minimum applies.
What to do on your next construction cleaning quote
Time your crew on each phase, plug the rates into the formula, and quote by visit with a minimum per trip.
Already sent one? Upload it to the estimate checker and see if it's priced too low.
