Full workflow of a construction cleaning cost calculator

(Top portion — “Estimate name,” “Description/notes,” “Location”)

Estimate Name:
Text field to name your job (e.g., Final Clean – Google Office Project).
Description/Notes:
Space for adding job-specific details — like constraints, special requests, or inclusions/exclusions.
Country & State/Province:
Sets location for regional pricing factors (e.g., California has higher labor multipliers).
Auto from [State]:
Checkbox that automatically fills in local multipliers and rates based on the selected state.

Project Type:
Dropdown to classify the project (Corporate, Residential, Healthcare, etc.).
Each type changes productivity and pricing factors.
Total Area (ft²):
Total cleanable area of the project. Used to calculate total cost.
Levels/Stories:
Building height — affects access costs and productivity.
Use detailed per-building sizes:
Optional setting to break a large project into multiple buildings or sections.

Phase Count:
How many phases (e.g., Rough, Final, Fluff).
Each phase can represent a different cleaning stage.
Single Phase Type:
Select Rough Clean, Final Clean, or Fluff Clean.
The percentages (0–100%) define how the total work is divided between phases.
Passes:
How many times the crew will perform that phase.
(e.g., 2 passes of Final Clean = 2 rounds of cleaning.)
Phase Details Box:
Shows breakdown of hours, cost, and per-pass cost for that specific phase.

Labor Rate (USD/hr):
The hourly pay rate per worker.
Crew Size:
Number of cleaners used (affects productivity and hours).
National Base (seed):
The base cleaning rate per ft² before applying any multipliers.
Effective Rate ($/ft²):
Shows final rate after applying:
- Location Multiplier (Loc) – cost of living or regional adjustment
- Type Multiplier (Type) – complexity for that building type
- Phase Multiplier (Phase) – phase-specific adjustments
Special Labor Requirements:
Options to include Davis-Bacon or Union labor rates, which increase cost per local wage laws.

Bill Rate (USD/hr):
Hourly rate for T&M jobs.
T&M Total:
Auto-calculated total = (hours × rate) + add-ons.
Override hours manually:
Lets user input hours directly instead of using system-calculated productivity.
Calculation Details:
Displays all applied multipliers (Location, Type, Phase, Level).
Productivity (m²/hr):
How fast the crew works for each cleaning type.
Auto visits from phases/days:
Automatically includes the correct number of site visits based on project duration.
Travel cost ($23/visit) is added only after the first 2 visits.

Add to bid:
Toggle to include window cleaning in the bid.
Mode:
Determines how window panes are calculated (auto by area or manual entry).
Panes / 1000 ft²:
Pane density — number of windows expected per 1,000 ft² of building area.
Price per pane:
Cost per individual window.
Pane Calculation Details:
Shows formula used (e.g., 15,000 ft² × 4 panes/1,000 ft² = 60 panes × $5 = $300).

Include lift:
Option to add lift equipment rental if needed for window access or high ceilings.
Daily cost / Days needed:
Fields to set rental cost and duration.
Suggested daily rate:
Auto-suggested rate for that state (e.g., $365/day for California).

Add to bid:
Adds a per-room calculation for simpler projects like hotels, apartments, or dorms.
Units × Rate / Baths × Rate:
Quick multiplier for pricing cleaning by number of units and bathrooms.
Suggested:
Pre-filled reference rates (e.g., $240 per unit, $60 per bath).

Add to bid:
Enables detailed residential pricing by unit type (studio, 1BR, 2BR, etc.).
Columns:
- Type: Unit type
- Sqft: Average size
- Base: Base rate for cleaning that unit
- /Bath: Additional per-bath rate
- 1-Bath / 2-Bath / 3-Bath: Unit count per type
- Total: Auto-calculated cost for each unit type.

Apply basis:
Frequency of billing — Monthly, Weekly, etc.
Supplies %:
Adds supply cost as a percentage of labor (e.g., 5%).
Totals (Per-visit, Weekly, Monthly, Annual):
Displays different billing intervals for the same job.

This section shows what will appear in the proposal:

Selected Bid Amount:
The final price chosen (e.g., $6,950).
Project Details:
Type, Location, and Area.
Pricing Methods:
Offers 3 pricing models:
- Market-Win: Lowest profit margin to win competitive bids.
- Lean: Balanced margin for steady work (default for most bids).
- Profit-Heavy: Higher margin for complex or high-risk work.

Core Phases:
Labor and equipment cost per cleaning phase.
Effective ft² seed:
Total cost derived from ft² rate × area.
Sum:
The final total for the selected pricing method.
Phase Breakdown:
Lists total rough, final, and fluff hours for transparency.

At the bottom:

Save Estimate:
Saves the calculation internally.
Save Estimate & Create Proposal:
Generates a ready-to-send proposal with the same numbers.