First federal janitorial contract checklist

Get eligible (weeks before you bid)

• Register your entity at SAM.gov and get a Unique Entity ID. It's free; if someone charges you, that's a third-party service, not the government.
• Note when your SAM.gov registration expires. It must be renewed every year to stay active.
• Make sure your SAM.gov profile lists the NAICS codes you'll bid, such as 561720 (janitorial) and 561740 (carpet and upholstery cleaning).
• Check you're small for those codes using SBA's size standards. For 561720 it's $22.0 million in average annual receipts.
• If you may qualify for a certification (8(a), HUBZone, women-owned, service-disabled veteran-owned), apply at certify.sba.gov. See how set-asides work.
• Get your insurance agent's quote for the liability, workers' compensation and auto coverage federal work typically asks for, so you can price it.
• Write a one-page capability statement: what you clean, where, your certifications, your UEI, and past work.
• Contact your local APEX Accelerator for free counseling. They review registrations and bids.

Find a bid you can win

• Search SAM.gov by NAICS 561720 and your state (how), or start from our checked list of open janitorial bids.
• Pick a first bid that's close to home, similar in size to work you already do, and set aside for a group you qualify for.
• Look up past awards for the same building on USAspending.gov to see roughly what it was worth before and who holds it.
• Follow the notice on SAM.gov so you're emailed about amendments.

Read the solicitation

• Write down the offer due date, time and time zone, the questions deadline and any site-visit date (how to read a solicitation).
• Read the instructions: what to submit, page limits, file format and submission method.
• Read the evaluation criteria: lowest price technically acceptable, or best value tradeoff?
• List every building, square footage, floor type, task and frequency in the work statement.
• Note service hours, holidays, supply responsibilities, inspection method and staffing rules.
• Note security requirements: background checks, badges, base access, and how long they take.
• Find the wage determination and the occupations you'll use; note wage, health and welfare, vacation and holidays.
• Check whether a collective bargaining agreement applies to the current workforce.
• Go to the site visit if there is one, and send any questions in writing before the deadline.

Price it

• Turn square footage and frequencies into labor hours. The estimator shows the math.
• Price labor at no less than the wage determination, plus fringe benefits.
• Add payroll taxes, workers' compensation, insurance, supplies, equipment and supervision.
• Add overhead and profit, then price every option year (allow for wage increases).
• If you're a small business on a set-aside, check you'll do enough of the work yourself; for services, generally no more than half of what the government pays you can go to subcontractors that aren't similarly situated (see SBA's rule at 13 CFR 125.6) and the solicitation's own clause.
• Sanity-check your total against past awards and the hours the job really needs.

Submit

• Fill in every line of the price schedule, including option years.
• Complete and sign the cover form (often SF 1449) and acknowledge every amendment.
• Make sure your SAM.gov representations and certifications are current.
• Write the technical and past-performance parts to answer the evaluation criteria in order, within the page limits.
• Check SAM.gov once more for new amendments the day before.
• Submit well before the deadline by the exact method stated, and keep proof you sent it. Late offers are generally not accepted.

After you submit

• If you don't win, ask the contracting officer for a debriefing or feedback; you can learn what the winner did differently.
• If you do win, plan hiring, uniforms, supplies, badges and the start date with the contracting officer's representative.

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General information from the Bid Brief team, not legal or contracting advice. Requirements differ by solicitation; the solicitation and its amendments control. We aren't affiliated with SAM.gov, SBA or any government agency. Last reviewed Nov 4, 2026.