How to win public sector cleaning contracts

By Faisal Rehman · Published 8 October 2026 · About 7 minutes

Councils, schools, academy trusts, NHS bodies and housing associations buy cleaning all year round. Small firms win these contracts, but rarely by bidding for everything. They win by picking the right tenders, clearing the pass/fail checks, answering the questions actually asked and pricing the real cost of the staff.

1. Find the contracts that are actually open to you

Where a contract is advertised depends on who is buying and where:

• Find a Tender is the main source for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Since the Procurement Act 2023 took effect on 24 February 2025, buyers publish their notices there, including many lower-value opportunities.
• Contracts Finder still carries notices for procurements that started under the earlier rules, the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.
• Public Contracts Scotland is used by Scottish public bodies, which buy under Scottish legislation rather than the Procurement Act 2023. Sell2Wales is used in Wales and eTendersNI in Northern Ireland.
• In Ireland, buyers publish on etenders.gov.ie, and contracts above the EU thresholds also appear in the EU's Tenders Electronic Daily (TED).

The notice tells you which e-tendering portal holds the documents. You usually have to register there, and often "register interest" in the specific opportunity, before you can download the pack or ask questions.

Much public cleaning is bought through frameworks and dynamic purchasing systems. Mini-competitions under them are only open to suppliers already admitted, so they never appear in public listings. Watch for the notice that sets up a framework or DPS: that is the moment to get on it.

To see what is open now, use our live lists of cleaning and FM tenders, which are broken down by region and link to every original notice. For the procedures and the 2026 thresholds, see public sector cleaning contracts; for private work too, see cleaning contracts.

2. Bid for the right ones

A focused firm that bids for five well-matched tenders usually does better than one that rushes twenty. Before writing anything, check four things:

• Fit: the type of site and service you already deliver well, at a size you can staff.
• Geography: can you supervise the sites without new depots or long travel between visits?
• How it is scored: the split between quality and price varies widely. In two real notices open in October 2026, a council window-cleaning tender was scored on price alone, while a secondary-school cleaning tender weighed written quality at 54%, price at 36% and a presentation at 10%. A price-only tender suits a lean operator; a quality-heavy one rewards firms with strong method statements and references.
• Time: leave enough days to read the pack, ask questions and price properly.

Our tender go/no-go checklist turns this into a ten-minute score.

3. Clear the pass/fail stage

Many bids fail before anyone reads the quality answers. Typical pass/fail items in cleaning tenders are:

• Insurance. Employers' liability insurance is compulsory for most employers in Great Britain, with at least £5 million of cover. The buyer sets its own minimum for public liability and sometimes professional indemnity. Check the levels before you bid and get a quote from your broker if you need to raise them.
• Accreditations and training. Buyers often ask for evidence of health and safety management, for example membership of a scheme in the Safety Schemes in Procurement (SSIP) forum, ISO certifications or recognised cleaning training. Read exactly what is required; "or equivalent" is common.
• Policies. Health and safety, COSHH, environmental, equality, safeguarding for schools, and a modern slavery statement where it applies.
• Financial standing. Some buyers set a minimum turnover or look at your accounts. Check this early if the contract is large compared with your business.
• Registration. Under the Procurement Act 2023, suppliers register on the Central Digital Platform and share their core supplier information with the buyer.

4. Write quality answers that score

Evaluators score each answer against the question and the published criteria, not against your brochure. Strong cleaning answers usually:

• Answer every part of the question, in the order asked, within the word limit.
• Name the buyer's sites, opening hours and service levels, and show how your staffing pattern covers them.
• Explain mobilisation week by week: TUPE consultation, uniforms, vetting, equipment, keys and site inductions.
• Describe supervision and quality audits, how faults are reported and how quickly they are fixed.
• Give real evidence: similar contracts, audit scores, staff retention, complaint figures.
• Make specific, measurable social value commitments. Central government buyers must give social value at least a 10% weighting under Procurement Policy Note 002; many councils set their own weighting.

5. Price the real cost, not a guess

Cleaning is labour-heavy, so pricing errors are almost always staffing errors. Build your price from the hours the specification needs, then add:

• Wages that will apply during the contract. The National Living Wage rises every April, so price each contract year, not just year one. Some buyers ask for the Real Living Wage.
• Transferring staff. If staff transfer to you under TUPE, their current pay, hours, holiday and pension come with them. Read our guide to TUPE in cleaning tenders before you price.
• On-costs: employer's National Insurance, pension contributions, holiday and sickness cover, training and vetting.
• Consumables, equipment and periodic work such as deep cleans and high-level cleaning, priced exactly as the pricing schedule asks.
• Supervision, management time and margin.

Public contracts under the Procurement Act 2023 carry an implied term that undisputed invoices are paid within 30 days, which helps cash flow, but you still fund wages for the first month.

6. After you submit

Some tenders add a presentation or site meeting; prepare the people who will deliver the contract, not just the bid writer. Under the Procurement Act 2023, each bidder receives an assessment summary explaining its scores, and there is normally a standstill period of eight working days before the contract is signed. Read the feedback whether you win or lose: it is the cheapest bid training available.

This guide is general information about public procurement in the UK and Ireland, written on 8 October 2026. It is not legal advice. Rules differ between England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland, and every tender pack sets its own requirements. Always follow the pack and take professional advice where needed.