Short answer: most Melbourne offices pay between $180 and $650 per clean, depending on size. A small office under 100 square metres sits around $180 to $300 a visit. A 100 to 300 square metre office runs $350 to $650. Anything above 300 square metres usually starts at $650 and climbs from there. Our own minimum visit for regular cleaning starts from $178 plus GST.
That is the number most people come here for. The rest of this guide explains what actually moves it, because the same office can be quoted twice with a $200 gap between the two prices, and the reason is almost never greed. It is usually that one cleaner counted the bathrooms and the other did not.
Office cleaning prices in Melbourne, by size
| Office size | Typical cost per clean | Common frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Under 100 m², small studio or suite | $180 to $300 | 2 to 3 times a week |
| 100 to 300 m², standard floor | $350 to $650 | 3 to 5 times a week |
| Over 300 m², large or multi floor | $650 and up | 5 times a week |
All figures exclude GST. They are a guide to the Melbourne market rather than a quote for your office.
Why you should be careful with hourly rates
Plenty of cleaning companies quote by the hour. It sounds transparent and it is the least useful number in the whole conversation.
An hourly rate tells you what an hour costs. It tells you nothing about how many hours your office needs, how many hours they will actually spend, or what gets cleaned in them. Two cleaners at the same rate can produce completely different results in the same building, and the one who is slower costs you more.
A fixed price against a written scope is the only quote you can hold someone to. It says what gets done, how often, and what it costs. If the standard slips, there is a document to point at instead of an argument about how long someone was on site.
What actually drives the price
Bathrooms and kitchens, not floor space
This is the one most people get wrong. Open plan desk areas are quick. Bathrooms and kitchens are slow, and they are where complaints come from. A 200 square metre office with one bathroom and a kitchenette is a materially cheaper job than a 200 square metre office with four toilets and two full kitchens. Any quote given over the phone without counting them is a guess.
Frequency
Cost per visit drops as frequency rises, because a daily clean never lets dirt build up. Going from twice a week to five times a week rarely costs two and a half times as much. It is usually closer to double.
After hours access
Most office cleaning happens after your team leaves. Under the Cleaning Services Award (MA000022), work after 6pm, overnight and on weekends attracts penalty rates, so the hours cost more to deliver. A quote that ignores this either has the margin stripped out of it or the hours cut, and you find out which one in month three.
Building requirements
CBD towers add real time. Contractor inductions, security passes, sign in procedures, service lift bookings and restricted after hours windows all have to be worked around. The same floor in a Cremorne or Collingwood warehouse conversion is cheaper to service than one on Collins Street for exactly this reason, and Docklands offices sit somewhere in between, with large floorplates but simpler access than the Hoddle Grid. Our Melbourne CBD office cleaning page covers this in more detail.
Your fit out
Polished concrete and laminate are fast. Timber, natural stone, glass partitions and anything with a specialist finish are slower, and some need specific products. Glass partitioning in particular adds up, because every panel shows fingerprints.
Consumables
Toilet paper, hand towel, soap, sanitiser and bin liners either sit in your cleaning price or come as a separate line. Neither is wrong. Just make sure you know which one you are looking at before you compare two quotes.
What a Melbourne office cleaning quote should include
Before you sign anything, check it has all of this in writing:
- A room by room scope, with a frequency against every task
- A fixed price, not an hourly rate
- Whether consumables are included or charged separately
- What happens if something is missed, and how fast it is fixed
- A current certificate of currency for public liability insurance
- Confirmation that staff are police checked and verified to work in Australia
- The contract term, how it renews, and how you exit it
If a quote is one line and a dollar figure, you have nothing to hold anyone to. That is how standards drift.
Why the cheapest quote usually costs more
Underpayment is a documented problem in Australian commercial cleaning, and the Fair Work Ombudsman publishes the minimum rates a cleaner must legally be paid. When a price comes in well under everyone else, the money has to come from somewhere, and it is almost always the hours. Fewer hours means a faster clean, which means the bathrooms get a wipe instead of a scrub.
You will not notice in week one. You will notice in month four, which is roughly when most businesses start looking for a new cleaner. The cheap quote cost you a search, a handover and four months of a building that was not properly clean.
There is a simple test. Ask the cleaner how many hours they have allowed per visit, and how many people. Then ask yourself whether that is enough time to do what is in the scope. If the numbers do not work, the clean will not either.
What we charge
We provide commercial cleaning across Melbourne, and our minimum visit for regular cleaning starts from $178 plus GST. Every price after that comes from a free walkthrough of your site, because that is the only way to count the bathrooms, the kitchens and the access time properly.
You get a written scope room by room, a fixed monthly figure, and the scope is yours to keep whether you go ahead with us or not. If the scope changes later, the price only moves with your approval.
Every clean is logged in our app against that scope, with photo evidence of the completed work, so you can see what was done without walking the floor to check.
Frequently asked questions
How much does office cleaning cost in Melbourne?
Most Melbourne offices pay $180 to $300 per clean under 100 square metres, $350 to $650 between 100 and 300 square metres, and $650 or more above that. Our minimum visit for regular cleaning starts from $178 plus GST. All figures exclude GST and are a guide rather than a quote.
Is it cheaper to pay hourly or a fixed price?
A fixed price against a written scope is almost always better value. An hourly rate tells you what an hour costs but nothing about how many hours your office needs or what gets done in them. A fixed price ties the cost to a documented list of tasks you can hold the cleaner to.
How often should an office be cleaned?
Most Melbourne offices with staff in most days need three to five cleans a week, with bathrooms and kitchens done every visit. Our guide on cleaning frequency goes through it by office type.
Are consumables included in office cleaning?
It depends on the provider. Some include paper, soap and bin liners in the cleaning price and some invoice them separately. Both are normal. Check which one applies before comparing quotes, because it can be a meaningful difference.
Why are some office cleaning quotes so much cheaper?
Usually because the hours have been cut. The scope looks the same on paper but there is not enough time allowed to deliver it. Ask how many hours per visit and how many people, then judge whether that is realistic for the work listed.
How do I get an accurate quote for my office?
Have someone walk the site. A proper quote requires counting bathrooms and kitchens, checking access and after hours arrangements, and looking at the finishes. Anything quoted off a floor plan or a phone call is an estimate at best.
Want a real number for your office? We walk your site for free, then send a written scope with a fixed price within two business days. It is yours to keep either way. Book a free walkthrough or call 0408 679 075.
More on our office cleaning in Melbourne, or see all our commercial cleaning services.