If you're budgeting for commercial cleaning or comparing quotations for a site in Gippsland, the first question is usually the simplest one: how much should it cost?
The honest answer is that there is no single price. Published Australian commercial-cleaning price guides vary considerably, and there is no official published Gippsland commercial-cleaning rate. Actual pricing depends on factors such as site size, cleaning scope, frequency, access, cleaning times, periodical requirements and other operating costs.
This guide explains why published price figures vary, what sits underneath a commercial cleaning price, the factors that change it, and how to compare quotes fairly. It is written for commercial premises such as offices, schools, medical practices, industrial sites and other workplaces.
Is there a standard commercial cleaning rate in Gippsland?
No. We found no official government or industry-body price benchmark for commercial cleaning in Gippsland or regional Victoria. The Cleaning Services Award sets minimum pay rates for cleaning employees, but those are wage entitlements, not customer prices.
Online cost guides and quote websites do publish commercial cleaning figures, usually as national hourly or per-square-metre ranges. We haven't reproduced them here, because they vary considerably, none of them is an official benchmark, and none of them can tell you what a particular site will cost.
Why published price guides vary
If you have looked at online price guides, you have probably seen figures that don't line up. There are good reasons for that:
- Most are national and weighted towards metropolitan markets. We found no published pricing data specific to Gippsland or regional Victoria.
- They are usually published by cost-guide websites, quote marketplaces or service businesses rather than independent researchers, and few disclose their methods, data or sample sizes.
- Some figures are averages of quotes submitted through a single platform, rather than a survey of the wider market.
- They mix pricing units (per hour, per square metre, per month) that can't be converted into each other without knowing the scope.
- Some include GST and some don't, and many don't say which.
- A "standard office" in one guide may include different tasks, frequencies and consumables from another.
Treat any published figure as a rough orientation at most. A realistic price for your site comes from a written scope.
What sits underneath a commercial cleaning price
Labour and the Cleaning Services Award
Labour is usually the largest part of a commercial cleaning price. In Australia, employees of contract cleaning businesses are generally covered by the Cleaning Services Award 2020, which sets minimum pay rates. Award minimum wages increased by 4.75% from 1 July 2026.
| Level 1 cleaning services employee | Ordinary hours (Monday to Friday) | Mon–Fri shift starting before 6am or finishing after 6pm | Saturday | Sunday | Public holiday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full-time | $27.08 | $31.14 | $40.62 | $54.16 | $67.70 |
| Part-time | $31.14 | $35.20 | $44.68 | $58.22 | $71.76 |
| Casual | $33.85 | $37.91 | $47.39 | $60.93 | $74.47 |
Minimum hourly rates for adult Level 1 employees under the Cleaning Services Award 2020 [MA000022], from the first full pay period starting on or after 1 July 2026. Source: Fair Work Ombudsman pay guide, published 24 June 2026. Higher classifications, night shifts and overtime attract different rates. These are employee minimum entitlements, not commercial customer prices.
Higher rates may apply depending on when and under what conditions the work is performed, including early-morning, evening, night, weekend and public holiday work. That matters for commercial cleaning, because much of it happens outside business hours.
A Level 1 casual cleaning employee's minimum ordinary weekday rate is $33.85 per hour from 1 July 2026. Employer costs can extend beyond the wage itself, including superannuation, WorkCover, supervision, administration, equipment, consumables, travel and other business overheads. This is one reason hourly customer prices cannot be compared directly with employee wage rates, and why a cleaning quote can't be calculated or judged simply by comparing its price with one hourly wage figure.
Minimum shift lengths
The award also sets minimum shift lengths for part-time and casual cleaners, based on the cleaning area of the location. At a location with up to 2,000 square metres of cleaning area, the minimum is generally 2 consecutive hours, rising to 3 or 4 hours for larger areas. A 1-hour minimum applies only in limited circumstances, such as a sole cleaner at a small stand-alone location of 300 square metres or less.
Employees must be paid for the minimum shift even if the work takes less time. This is one reason a very short clean doesn't always cost proportionally less.
Other costs in a commercial cleaning price
Beyond wages, a price typically has to cover:
- superannuation (the super guarantee rate is 12% for 2026–27) and WorkCover insurance
- supervision, quality checks and site inductions
- equipment, chemicals and, where supplied, consumables
- public liability insurance, licensing and administration
- travel between sites
How each business structures these costs differs, which is part of why quotes differ.
The factors that change the price
Building size, layout and floor types
Floor area matters, but so does what's on the floor. Open-plan offices can be quicker to clean than spaces broken into small rooms. Carpet, vinyl, tiles and polished concrete each need different methods, and stairs, glass partitions and fit-outs add time.
How often and when you need cleaning
Frequency sets the total hours across a month. Daily cleaning can need less time per visit than weekly cleaning, but more hours overall. Timing matters too: under the award, weekday shifts that start before 6am or finish after 6pm, and weekend work, attract higher minimum rates.
Type of site
Different facilities carry different requirements. School cleaning often involves high-traffic washrooms and holiday periodicals. Medical and healthcare cleaning involves more detailed procedures for clinical areas. Industrial sites bring site-specific safety requirements. Post-construction cleaning is priced as a project rather than a routine service.
Scope detail and traffic
Two buildings of the same size can need very different amounts of work. The number of washrooms and kitchens, how many people use the site, and tasks such as internal glass, high dusting or spot-cleaning walls all change the hours involved.
Consumables
Toilet paper, hand towels, soap and bin liners can be supplied by the contractor and included in the price, supplied by the contractor and charged separately, or bought by you. Check which approach each quote uses.
Periodical work: carpets, hard floors and windows
Carpet steam cleaning, hard-floor scrubbing, stripping and sealing, high dusting and window cleaning are usually scheduled periodically, and are often priced separately from the regular service. Leaving them out can make a quote look lower than a comparable one that includes them.
Initial and deep cleans
If a site hasn't been cleaned to a consistent standard for some time, an initial or deep clean may be needed before regular cleaning starts. This is typically quoted as a separate, one-off job.
Access, security and site requirements
Alarm codes, key and swipe-card procedures, sign-in systems, site inductions, restricted areas and specific documentation requirements all take time to manage, and can affect both the hours and the administration involved.
Travel and regional sites across Gippsland
Gippsland is a large region, and some sites sit well over an hour's drive from larger centres such as Traralgon, Morwell or Sale. Travel time, and how a contractor rosters cleaners, covers absences and supervises a distant site, can all be reflected in pricing.
| Cost factor | Why it changes the price | What to tell the contractor |
|---|---|---|
| Size, layout and floor types | Drives the time needed each visit | Floor plans, areas and floor finishes |
| Frequency | Sets the total hours each month | Required days per week, and any variations by area |
| Timing | Early-morning, evening and weekend shifts attract higher award rates | Access windows and any times cleaning must avoid |
| Site type | Some facilities need more detailed procedures | Clinical, child-related, food or industrial areas |
| Traffic and facilities | More people and washrooms mean more work | Occupancy, washroom and kitchen numbers |
| Consumables | Can be included, charged separately or supplied by you | Your preferred arrangement |
| Periodical work | Often priced separately from regular cleaning | Which periodicals you need, and how often |
| Access and site requirements | Adds management and administration time | Security, inductions and documentation required |
| Location | Travel and cover arrangements for regional sites | Site address and any service-hour constraints |
How different scenarios change the price
These examples show how a scope turns into hours. They are illustrative only. They don't include dollar amounts, and they are not quotes or Brightest Property Services prices.
| Scenario | What pushes hours or cost up | What to budget separately |
|---|---|---|
| A small office cleaned three evenings a week | Evening timing, washrooms and kitchen, minimum shift lengths for each visit | Carpet cleaning and window cleaning |
| A primary school cleaned daily during term | Number of classrooms and washrooms, high traffic, after-hours timing | Holiday deep cleans and hard-floor maintenance |
| A medical suite cleaned daily | More detailed procedures for clinical areas, consumables | Periodical floor care |
| A warehouse office and amenities cleaned twice a week | Site inductions, safety requirements, distance from other sites | Pressure cleaning or high-level dusting |
In each case the logic is the same: the time needed for each visit, multiplied by how often the site is cleaned, adjusted for when the work happens, plus separately planned periodical work.
How commercial cleaning is priced
Contractors use different pricing models, and it helps to know which one a quote is based on.
| Pricing model | How it works | Suits | Check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed monthly or annual price | A set amount for an agreed scope and frequency | Regular contract cleaning with a stable scope | What's included, and how changes and price reviews are handled |
| Hourly rate | Charged for the hours worked or allocated | Flexible or variable work | How many hours are allocated, and how time is recorded |
| Per square metre | A rate applied to the cleaning area | Large, consistent spaces and some project work | What the rate covers and how often |
| Per job or project | A price for a one-off scope | Initial cleans, construction handover, periodicals | Inclusions, exclusions and access requirements |
Why two quotes for the same site can differ
Even when two contractors quote for the same building, their prices can be very different. Common reasons include:
- different assumptions about how many hours the work will take
- periodical services included in one quote but not the other
- consumables included, excluded or supplied by you
- different supervision, inspection and reporting arrangements
- different timing, such as evening versus early-morning cleaning
- the level of detail in the scope, and what's written as an exclusion
- how additional work and variations are priced
- whether prices are shown with or without GST
- the contract term and how price reviews are handled
A quote with a thin scope can look lower simply because it covers less.
What to check when one commercial cleaning quote is much lower than another
A lower quote isn't automatically the wrong choice. Before deciding, make sure you're comparing the same thing.
| Question to check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Are the cleaning hours equivalent? | Fewer allocated hours can explain a lower price |
| Is the scope identical? | Areas, tasks and frequencies should match |
| Are periodical services included? | Carpets, floors and windows can be a large share of yearly spend |
| Are consumables included? | Supplies such as paper towels and soap add up over a year |
| Are windows, carpets and floor maintenance included? | These are often quoted separately |
| Are after-hours requirements included? | Timing affects labour costs |
| Are supervision and inspections included? | They show how quality will be checked |
| Are exclusions clearly documented? | They reveal work you may pay for later |
| Are insurance and licensing requirements comparable? | Your site's requirements should be met by every quote |
If the answers differ, ask each contractor to price the same written scope. For a fuller list of questions about scope, compliance documents and contract terms, see our buyer's checklist for choosing a commercial cleaning contractor.
How to budget for commercial cleaning
A realistic annual cleaning budget usually includes more than the regular service:
- Regular cleaning: the agreed scope and frequency across the year
- Periodical work: carpets, hard floors, windows and high dusting, planned in advance
- Consumables: if they aren't included in the regular price
- Initial or deep cleans: if the site needs one before a new contract starts
- Additional work: an allowance for one-off requests, spills or events
Plan periodical work around quieter times, such as school holidays or planned shutdowns, and review the budget when contracts renew, since labour costs can change.
How Brightest Property Services prices a site
We don't publish standard rates, because each site's scope and requirements are different. We price each site from its actual scope: the areas and floor types, how often and when cleaning is needed, the level of detail required, periodical work, consumables, access and site requirements, and location.
Depending on the site and service required, Brightest Property Services may prepare a quotation following a site visit or from sufficiently detailed information such as floor plans, photos, cleaning requirements and the required service frequency. The quotation should clearly identify the agreed cleaning scope and any relevant inclusions or exclusions. Current insurance and licensing documentation can be provided on request.
Frequently asked questions
How much does commercial cleaning cost per hour in Australia?
There is no official published hourly rate for commercial cleaning in Australia or Gippsland. Online price guides publish hourly ranges, but they vary considerably, are usually national and rarely explain how they were calculated. Actual pricing depends on factors such as site size, cleaning scope, frequency, access, cleaning times, periodical requirements and other operating costs, which is why a quotation based on your site's scope is the reliable way to find out.
Is after-hours commercial cleaning more expensive?
It often is. Under the Cleaning Services Award, higher minimum rates apply to shifts that start before 6am or finish after 6pm, and to weekend and public holiday work. Much commercial cleaning happens outside business hours, so timing can affect the price.
Are consumables included in a commercial cleaning quote?
Not always. Some quotes include toilet paper, hand towels, soap and bin liners, some charge for them separately, and some assume you'll supply them. Ask for consumables to be shown clearly so quotes can be compared.
Are carpet cleaning and floor maintenance included in the regular price?
They are often quoted separately as periodical services. Ask each contractor to list which periodicals are included, which are priced separately, and how often they're scheduled.
Do commercial cleaning quotes include GST?
Some do and some don't. Check whether each quote shows prices including or excluding GST before comparing them.
Request a site-specific commercial cleaning quote
Published price guides and award rates can help with budgeting, but they can't tell you what your building will cost to clean. Brightest Property Services is based in Morwell and provides commercial cleaning across Gippsland, the Latrobe Valley and regional Victoria. Tell us about your site and what you need, and we'll prepare a quotation based on your actual scope and requirements.
Request a site-specific commercial cleaning quote
Sources
Award rates, superannuation and employment information in this guide were reviewed on 17 September 2026. This guide is general information, not financial, legal or employment advice.
- Fair Work Ombudsman — Cleaning Services Award 2020 (MA000022) summary
- Fair Work Ombudsman — Pay guides (Cleaning Services Award pay guide effective 1 July 2026)
- Fair Work Commission — Cleaning Services Award 2020, full award text
- Fair Work Ombudsman — Minimum wages increase from 1 July 2026
- Australian Taxation Office — Super guarantee rates