Office cleaning cost calculator
Enter the hours from your quote or specification and, if you have one, the contractor's price. There are no built-in prices: the only figures filled in are example hours (2 hours a night, 5 nights) and the official wage rates. Wage rates last checked 12 November 2026.
Office cleaning wage floors at a glance
These are not prices. Each row is the least a contractor must spend on wages, employer National Insurance and pension for that many hours of cleaning, worked out by this calculator. A real quote also has to cover supervision, materials, equipment, insurance, travel, sick pay, overheads and profit, so it should be higher. Click a row to open the calculator with those hours filled in, then add your own quote.
| Hours of cleaning | Pay rate | Hours cleaned a year | Wage floor a year | A month | Per hour of cleaning delivered |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 hour a night, 5 nights (5 hours a week) | National Living Wage 2026 (£12.71) | 260.7 | £3,669.38 | £305.78 | £14.08 |
| 2 hours a night, 5 nights (10 hours a week) | National Living Wage 2026 (£12.71) | 521.4 | £7,722.52 | £643.54 | £14.81 |
| 2 hours a night, 5 nights (10 hours a week) | National Living Wage 2027 (£13.21) | 521.4 | £8,063.19 | £671.93 | £15.46 |
| 2 hours a night, 5 nights (10 hours a week) | real Living Wage (£14.10) | 521.4 | £8,669.58 | £722.47 | £16.63 |
| 2 hours a night, 5 nights (10 hours a week) | London Living Wage (£15.45) | 521.4 | £9,589.37 | £799.11 | £18.39 |
| 4 hours a night, 5 nights (20 hours a week) | National Living Wage 2026 (£12.71) | 1,042.8 | £16,382.27 | £1,365.19 | £15.71 |
| 8 hours a day, 5 days (40 hours a week), 2 cleaners | National Living Wage 2026 (£12.71) | 2,085.6 | £32,764.54 | £2,730.38 | £15.71 |
Office cleaning cost calculator: key facts
- 10 hours of office cleaning a week costs a contractor at least £7,722.52 a year in wages and on-costs at the 2026 National Living Wage: £14.81 per hour of cleaning delivered, before anything else.
- At the real Living Wage (£14.10) the same 10 hours have a wage floor of £8,669.58 a year (£16.63 an hour); at the London Living Wage (£15.45), £9,589.37 (£18.39 an hour).
- When the National Living Wage rises to £13.21 on 1 April 2027, the 10-hour wage floor goes up to £8,063.19 a year. Ask how a contract handles the April rise.
- The wage floor per hour is higher than the hourly pay because the contractor also pays 5.6 weeks' holiday per cleaner, and pays someone to cover those weeks.
- A quoted hourly rate below the wage floor is a warning sign: it can't cover the legal pay for the hours quoted. Ask how many hours will really be worked.
- A monthly price can be turned into an hourly rate: monthly price × 12 ÷ hours cleaned a year. Hours a year = hours a week × 52.14.
- We don't publish 'typical' cleaning prices per hour or per square foot, because there's no official source for them. The calculator only uses your quotes and official wage rates.
How does the office cleaning cost calculator work?
It works out the hours of cleaning a year (hours a week × 52.14), multiplies them by your quoted hourly rate (or takes the monthly price × 12) and adds consumables and periodic cleans. Separately, it works out the legal minimum wage cost of the same hours, including holiday, employer NI and pension, and compares the two per hour.
Part 1: the cost of a quote
- Hours a week = hours of cleaning per visit × visits a week.
- Hours a year = hours a week × 52.14 (365 days ÷ 7).
- Cleaning a year = hours a year × the quoted hourly rate, or the monthly price × 12.
- Total a year = cleaning + consumables a month × 12 + periodic cleans a year. A month = total ÷ 12.
- Cost per hour delivered = total a year ÷ hours a year. The cleaning charge per hour (without consumables and periodic cleans) is what's compared with the wage floor.
Part 2: the wage floor
The method is the one used in the worked example in our office cleaning costs guide:
- Hours per cleaner = hours a week ÷ number of cleaners.
- Paid hours per cleaner = hours per cleaner × (52.14 + 5.6). The 5.6 weeks are paid holiday; the holiday weeks are still cleaned by someone else, so the cleaning hours stay the same.
- Pay = paid hours × the hourly pay rate.
- Employer NI = 15% of each cleaner's pay above £5,000 a year (no Employment Allowance).
- Employer pension = 3% of each cleaner's pay between £6,240 and £50,270.
- Wage floor = pay + NI + pension, for all the cleaners. Per hour delivered = wage floor ÷ hours cleaned a year.
For 10 hours a week and one cleaner at £12.71: 521.4 hours cleaned, plus 56 hours' holiday, makes 577.4 paid hours. Pay is £7,338.75; NI is 15% of £2,338.75 = £350.81; pension is 3% of £1,098.75 = £32.96. Total £7,722.52 a year, or £14.81 for each of the 521.4 hours cleaned.
Figures used, and where they come from
- National Living Wage: £12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over from 1 April 2026, rising to £13.21 from 1 April 2027 (GOV.UK).
- Real Living Wage: £14.10 an hour outside London and £15.45 in London for 2026-27, voluntary; accredited employers have until 1 May 2027 to pay it (Living Wage Foundation).
- Employer National Insurance: 15% above the secondary threshold of £5,000 a year, 2026-27 (GOV.UK rates and thresholds).
- Pension: minimum employer contribution 3% of qualifying earnings, £6,240 to £50,270 (GOV.UK workplace pensions).
- Holiday: most workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks' paid holiday a year (GOV.UK holiday entitlement).
What you enter, what it assumes and what it leaves out
- Inputs: hours of cleaning per visit (all cleaners together); visits a week; number of cleaners sharing the hours; the pay rate to test against (National Living Wage 2026 or 2027, real Living Wage, London Living Wage or your own); whether the cleaners are already over the NI and pension thresholds from other work for the same employer; and up to three quotes, each with a price, per hour or per month, and optional consumables a month and periodic cleans a year.
- Assumptions: cleaning every week of the year (52.14 weeks); hours split equally between cleaners; cleaners aged 21 or over, in the pension scheme and, unless you tick the box, with no other pay from the same employer; holiday weeks covered at the same pay rate; all prices before VAT.
- Exclusions: the wage floor leaves out sick pay, overtime or unsocial-hours premiums, supervision and management, travel between sites, training, materials, equipment, insurance, overheads and profit. It isn't a price and no contractor could work at it. See what the calculator leaves out.
- Pre-filled links: add
hours(per visit),visits(a week),cleaners,wage(nlw2026,nlw2027,rlw,londonorcustomwithpay),other=yes, and for each quoterate,unit(hourormonth),cons(£ a month) andperiodic(£ a year); second and third quotes userate2,unit2,cons2,periodic2andrate3and so on. The result shows when the page opens. For example, /office-cleaning-cost-calculator?hours=2&visits=5&wage=nlw2026&rate=18&unit=hour checks a quote of £18 an hour for 10 hours a week (£18 is just an example input, not a typical rate).
What is the wage floor, and why check a quote against it?
The wage floor is the least a contractor must legally spend on its cleaners for the hours it's quoting: pay at the minimum rate, paid holiday, employer National Insurance and pension. A quoted rate below it can't pay for the hours legally, so it's a sign to ask questions.
Most of what you pay a cleaning contractor goes on its cleaners' wages, and the legal minimum for those wages is set by law. That gives you one firm number to check a quote against, without anyone needing to know what a "typical" price is.
The wage floor per hour is always more than the hourly pay, for three reasons:
- Holiday. Each cleaner gets 5.6 weeks' paid holiday. Your office still gets cleaned in those weeks, so the contractor pays for the holiday and for the cover.
- Employer National Insurance. 15% of each cleaner's pay above £5,000 a year.
- Pension. At least 3% of qualifying earnings above £6,240 a year for staff in the scheme.
For 10 hours a week at the National Living Wage, those bring the cost to £14.81 per hour of cleaning delivered, against pay of £12.71 an hour. Because NI and pension only start above a threshold for each cleaner, splitting a small number of hours between several cleaners lowers the floor: 10 hours a week shared by two cleaners keeps both under the thresholds. The tick box shows the other end of the range, where the cleaners already earn above the thresholds on other contracts for the same employer.
What if a quote is below, or only just above, the wage floor?
Below the wage floor, the rate can't cover the legal pay for the hours quoted, so ask how many hours will really be worked and how cleaners are paid. Only just above it, there's little left for materials, supervision, insurance and profit, so ask what's included and how standards are kept.
The calculator shows how far each quote's cleaning charge per hour is above or below the wage floor. How to read it:
- Below the wage floor. The price doesn't pay for the hours stated at the legal minimum. Common explanations are that fewer hours will actually be worked than the quote implies, or the quote leaves out holiday cover. Ask the contractor to confirm the hours per visit in writing and to explain how it pays at least the National Living Wage, including for travel between sites, which counts as working time for minimum wage purposes.
- A small margin above. Not proof of a problem: a contractor might use part-time cleaners under the NI threshold, or already have staff nearby. But the margin has to pay for everything else, so ask what's included, who supervises, and what happens when a cleaner is off sick.
- A wide margin above. Check what you're getting for it: supervision, quality checks, materials, specialist equipment, a better pay rate such as the real Living Wage, or simply more profit. Compare like with like.
The comparison is only as good as the hours. If a quote doesn't state hours per visit, ask for them. A low monthly price for an unstated number of hours tells you very little. Our warning signs in a quote covers what else to look for.
How do I enter a quote priced per month, or with extras?
Choose 'per month' and enter the monthly price; the calculator turns it into an hourly rate using the hours you've entered. Add consumables and periodic cleans only if they're charged on top. Enter everything before VAT.
- Hourly rate. Choose per hour and enter the rate. The cleaning cost a year is the rate × hours a week × 52.14.
- Fixed monthly price. Choose per month. The calculator works out the hourly rate it implies: monthly price × 12 ÷ hours a year. You still need the hours, so ask the contractor how many hours a visit the price allows.
- Consumables. Toilet roll, hand towels, soap and bin liners are sometimes in the price and sometimes charged on top. Enter a monthly amount only if they're extra. If a monthly price includes them, the implied hourly rate includes them too, which makes the quote look further above the wage floor than the cleaning alone.
- Periodic cleans. Carpet cleaning, window cleaning or a deep clean a few times a year. Enter the yearly total if it's priced separately.
- VAT. Enter prices before VAT so quotes compare fairly. If your business can't reclaim VAT, the real cost is higher.
Comparing quotes. The three quotes share the same hours, so the comparison is fair only if each contractor has priced the same specification. If one contractor proposes fewer hours, run the calculator again with their hours. A cheaper quote with fewer hours isn't the same service at a lower price.
How many hours of cleaning a week does my office need?
It depends on the size and layout of the office, how many people use it, the specification and how often each task is done, so the calculator doesn't guess it. Use the hours on your quote or specification, and ask contractors to state their hours after a site visit.
We don't estimate hours from floor area, because there's no official figure for how many square feet a cleaner covers an hour, and it varies a lot with the building and what's being cleaned. A carpeted open-plan floor is quicker than a building full of small rooms, kitchens and toilets.
Better ways to get the hours:
- From your quotes. A good quote states hours per visit and visits a week. If it doesn't, ask.
- From your current contract. If you have a contractor now, the hours worked are your starting point. Ask whether they've been enough.
- From a specification. A clear specification of tasks and frequencies, room by room, lets contractors price the same thing. See our office cleaning guide for what a good specification covers.
Once you have the hours, enter them here with each quote. If two contractors propose very different hours for the same specification, that's worth asking about before you compare prices.
What doesn't the office cleaning cost calculator include?
It doesn't estimate a market price, the hours your office needs, or anything a contractor spends beyond wages, holiday, employer NI and pension. It's a check on the quotes you have, not a quote.
- Market prices. There's no official source for typical cleaning rates, so the calculator has none built in.
- Other employment costs. Statutory Sick Pay, overtime or night premiums, supervisors, training, uniforms and travel time between sites all add to a contractor's costs and aren't in the wage floor.
- Business costs. Materials, equipment, insurance, vehicles, overheads and profit.
- Younger workers. The floor assumes cleaners aged 21 or over, who are entitled to the National Living Wage. Lower minimum rates apply to younger workers.
- Employment Allowance and opt-outs. It assumes no Employment Allowance and that cleaners are in the pension scheme. Both make the floor a little higher than some contractors' real costs.
- Weeks the office is closed. It assumes cleaning every week of the year. If your office closes for some weeks, your contract may be priced differently.
- Future rates. Wage rates change every 1 April. Choose the 2027 rate to see the effect of the next rise on the wage floor.
For how contractors put a price together, the pricing models they use and what pushes the cost up or down, read our guide to office cleaning costs.
Related guides
Office cleaning cost calculator: frequently asked questions
How much does office cleaning cost?
It depends on the hours your office needs and the contractor's hourly charge, and there's no official 'typical' rate. What we can say is the legal minimum wage cost: 10 hours a week costs a contractor at least £7,722.52 a year at the 2026 National Living Wage, or £14.81 per hour of cleaning, before materials, supervision, insurance and profit. Enter your own quotes in the calculator to see their yearly and monthly cost.
How do I work out the yearly cost of an hourly cleaning quote?
Multiply the hours per visit by visits a week to get hours a week, multiply by 52.14 weeks, then by the hourly rate. Add consumables and any periodic cleans charged on top. Divide by 12 for the monthly cost.
What is the minimum hourly rate a cleaning contractor can charge?
There's no legal minimum price, but there is a legal minimum wage. Once holiday, employer National Insurance and pension are added, 10 hours a week at the £12.71 National Living Wage costs £14.81 per hour of cleaning delivered. A rate below the wage floor for your hours can't cover the legal pay, so ask how it's possible.
Why is the wage floor per hour higher than the minimum wage?
Because each cleaner is paid for 5.6 weeks' holiday while someone else covers those weeks, and the employer pays 15% National Insurance on pay above £5,000 a year and at least 3% pension on qualifying earnings above £6,240. Those costs are spread across the hours actually cleaned.
Why does splitting the hours between more cleaners change the wage floor?
National Insurance and pension contributions only start above a yearly threshold for each employee. When a small number of hours is shared, each cleaner may earn below those thresholds, so the employer pays less on top. Tick the box if the cleaners already work other contracts for the same employer.
How do I compare a monthly price with an hourly rate?
Choose 'per month' for that quote. The calculator turns it into an hourly rate by multiplying the monthly price by 12 and dividing by the hours cleaned a year. You need to know the hours the monthly price allows, so ask the contractor.
Should I ask for the real Living Wage?
That's your choice: the real Living Wage is voluntary. For 2026-27 it's £14.10 an hour, or £15.45 in London. Choose it in the calculator to see the wage floor if your contract requires it, and ask contractors to confirm in writing that they'll pay it.
Does the calculator tell me how many hours my office needs?
No. Hours depend on the building, the specification and how often each task is done, and there's no official productivity figure to estimate them from floor area. Use the hours on your quotes or current contract, and ask contractors to state their hours after a site visit.
Does the calculator include VAT?
No. Enter all prices before VAT so quotes compare fairly. If your business can't reclaim VAT, add it to the result.
Is my information saved or sent anywhere?
No. The calculator runs in your browser and nothing you type into it is sent to us or anyone else. Only the separate enquiry form, if you choose to fill it in, sends details to us.
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources on 12 November 2026:
- National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates (GOV.UK)
- Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027 (GOV.UK)
- Workplace pensions: what you, your employer and the government pay (GOV.UK)
- Holiday entitlement (GOV.UK)
- Calculating the minimum wage: travel time and different types of work (GOV.UK)
- What is the real Living Wage? (Living Wage Foundation)