Cleaning Bid Template — Chicago, IL 2026

Loop towers, Merchandise Mart wholesale corridors, Midway airport-adjacent industrial cleaning, and Naperville’s dense suburban corporate campus belt give Chicago more sub-market types per 30-mile radius than any US metro outside New York. SEIU Local 1 organizes most downtown Class A buildings. Cook County’s prevailing wage rules add a layer that suburban bidders miss when they first cross the county line.

Local Labor Math: What You Are Actually Paying

BLS OEWS May 2024 (SOC 37-2011) puts the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin MSA mean near $18/hr, median around $16.50. Illinois minimum wage reached $15/hr statewide on January 1, 2025. Chicago’s city minimum is $16.20/hr as of July 2024. Indiana’s portion of the MSA (Lake County) holds to the federal floor of $7.25.

Burden math on an $18/hr Chicago base: FICA 7.65% = $1.38; SUTA/FUTA ~2.5% = $0.45; Illinois workers’ comp for janitorial approximately $2.80–$3.20 per $100 payroll; health insurance ~$3.50/hr; vacation ~5%. Total burden: 27–33%, loaded rate near $23–$25/hr. See the wages breakdown for the Chicago MSA.

Sample Scope of Work: Class B Office Building

Hypothetical 50,000 sq ft Class B building in River North or the West Loop. Chicago winters add entry mat exchange cycles and salt-residue removal as daily labor inputs from November through March.

Task	Frequency	Notes
Restroom service + restock	5x/week	Full detail on Monday (post-weekend accumulation)
Lobby and elevator service	5x/week + mid-morning pass	Salt-residue removal Nov–Mar requires wet-mop protocol
Entry mat exchange	2x/week Oct–Apr; monthly May–Sep	Quote winter mat service as a separate line item
Common-area vacuuming	5x/week	Low-noise equipment for pre-8am start
Hard-floor auto-scrub	2x/week (add 3rd Nov–Mar)	Winter salt intrusion demands extra cycle
Breakroom and kitchenette	5x/week	Refrigerator monthly; microwave daily
Conference room reset	5x/week	Whiteboard, AV equipment, glass table
Day-porter coverage (5 hr)	5x/week	Mat management added during winter months
High-dusting: vents and ledges	Monthly	Loop high-rises audit HVAC diffuser dust quarterly
Carpet extraction (full)	2x/year (spring + fall)	Spring extract removes winter salt from carpet fibers

Chicago Going Rates: Class B Office and Day Porter

Loop and River North Class B commands $0.13–$0.18/sq ft/month for 5x/week. Naperville and O’Hare corridor suburban office: $0.09–$0.13. Lake County Indiana: $0.07–$0.10. Day-porter bill rate: $24/hr x 2.3 = approximately $55/hr; 5-hr/day porter near $1,375/month. Model accounts with the production rate calculator to confirm adequate winter labor hours. Healthcare accounts (Northwestern, Rush, Advocate corridors) add +25–35%; post-construction high-rise +40–55%.

Illinois Licensing and Insurance Requirements

Illinois requires no statewide janitorial license. Chicago requires a City of Chicago Business License through the Chicago BACP Business License Portal. IL workers’ comp rates for janitorial: $2.80–$3.20 per $100 payroll, verified through the Illinois Department of Insurance. Loop Class A requires $2M/$5M GL; suburban Class B requires $1M/$2M. Janitorial bonds of $10,000–$25,000 are standard.

SEIU Local 1 and Cook County Prevailing Wage

SEIU Local 1 covers most Loop Class A office, healthcare, and higher-education facilities. Local 1 scale runs $2–$5/hr above the BLS MSA mean with health and pension contributions. Bidding a Local 1 building without those costs produces a losing contract. The Illinois Prevailing Wage Act applies to Cook County public works; IL DOL publishes rates by county annually. Federal facilities fall under the Service Contract Act; check SAM.gov for the Chicago-area wage determination. Chicago’s MBE/WBE certification carries scoring weight on City contracts.

What Chicago Buyers Expect in a Bid Response

Monthly base service: hours x loaded rate by shift classification.
Seasonal upcharge: winter mat service, additional lobby passes, salt-residue protocol as a separate line item.
Supplies schedule: unit prices for consumables.
Equipment depreciation: 36-month amortization; wet-vacs and mat-handling equipment included.
Insurance allocation: GL, workers’ comp, and bond pro-rated to contract value.
Overhead and margin: 12–18% overhead; 8–14% profit. Pass-throughs quoted separately.

Bid Walk Checklist: Chicago MSA

Verify HVAC return locations; Loop high-rises track IAQ closely and flag missed cycles in formal audits.
Ask about the entry mat program: who supplies mats, how many entry points, and whether storage exists for seasonal exchange.
Confirm freight elevator and dock access hours; many Loop buildings restrict deliveries to 7am–9am and after 6pm.
Check lobby and corridor floor finish: terrazzo, polished concrete, and VCT each need different chemistry.
Identify the building’s union status and ask whether the prior BSC was a Local 1 shop.

Where Chicago Bidders Leave Money Behind

The most common miscalculation in this market is treating winter months as equivalent to summer months in the base rate. Salt-residue removal from granite lobbies, increased mat exchange cycles, and the extra lobby pass a porter runs during January morning rush are real labor costs that do not exist in August. BSCs who price a flat annual rate absorb that seasonal swing as margin compression every Q1. Quoting a winter-service add-on as a clearly scoped line item is the technically correct approach, and buyers who push back usually had a prior BSC who buried it in the base rate and underperformed in February.

Primary Sources

Build your winter service schedule with the scope-of-work generator and run pricing through the bid stress-test tool. For healthcare accounts in the River North or Streeterville corridor, see the healthcare cleaning hub.

By the Opora Editorial Team · Last updated: 2026

Commercial Cleaning Bid Template — Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI

Commercial cleaning bid template — Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI