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School clean quote.

DJT

Active member
Messages
192
Location
Stourbridge
Hi all, asking the impossible really but just wondering if I'm in the right ball park. 

Been asked to quote a primary school in the Midlands area. It has roughly 700 children and the buildings are no higher than 2 stories so you can get an idea of the size. I couldn't take pics as all the kids were there. I think it would take half a day to do. Has anyone got any experience in quoting for schools. Do you go in high or are they all a bit tight!!? 

Impossible to comment I know but guidance would be appreciated 

 
Hi DJT, I was asked to quote for a single story primary school once, from what I can remember I think there was approx 70/80 windows to be cleaned, I quoted around £90 and was promptly told I was too expensive, so in my opinion I think they can be a little tight when it comes to spending ??

 
Interesting @Apex. Well this school I think will take me half a day minimum. Maybe a little longer with faffing and moving the van. I was thinking like £200. Who knows 

 
Only one I do is this one, not great pictures but it will give you an idea. The other side has slightly more glass. It has circa 150 pupils, gets done once a year, in the summer holidays. It takes 2 of us 90 minutes to do and we charge £180School.pngSchool2.png 

 
We do a couple of schools and down hear they can spend £1000 without getting permission from the authority , we do windows, and softwashing for them several times a year , payment can take an age though last time it was nearly 3 months , I wasn’t happy about it but they do always pay in the end ??

 
We do a couple of schools and down hear they can spend £1000 without getting permission from the authority , we do windows, and softwashing for them several times a year , payment can take an age though last time it was nearly 3 months , I wasn’t happy about it but they do always pay in the end ??
Do you get paid by the school or by the local authority?

 
I price on average 2 -3 a year and never get them.Where I am schools only want it done cheap they don't care about anything else.

Schools have little money these days and window cleaning is way down the list of priorities for them.

 
Hi all, asking the impossible really but just wondering if I'm in the right ball park. 

Been asked to quote a primary school in the Midlands area. It has roughly 700 children and the buildings are no higher than 2 stories so you can get an idea of the size. I couldn't take pics as all the kids were there. I think it would take half a day to do. Has anyone got any experience in quoting for schools. Do you go in high or are they all a bit tight!!? 

Impossible to comment I know but guidance would be appreciated 


My suggestion is to break the job down into sections and try to visualize how long each will take you. Then add extra time because there will always be problems. For example, our school is on 3 floors on one side. Each window consists of 3 sections, an upper fixed section, an opener middle section and a fixed lower section. We have a terrible job with the windows bleeding down, so we have to do a run of the tops first, then come back to do the middle openers and then the lower section. We do this for every window now. Only clean the lower pane when the upper has stopped bleeding down.

We have done our local junior/high school for 10 years each summer holiday. We quoted tightly but I very much doubt we will get the job next year. Money is tight and our local council pays the bill. Our council is broke. The council slowly and methodically have taken every window cleaning job I have done for them away over the past couple of years and given it to their own window cleaning staff.

This year we have been the only outside contractors working on site. They usually bring in outside gardening and landscape gardening services to prepare the school for the new year and well as carpet cleaners and an electrical contractor to repair outside lighting. None of these were used this year.

The internal cleaners numbers have been cut and those remaining have had their hours reduced.

The part time business manager tells me that if the teachers want clean windows they can clean them themselves. That sets the tone for next year.

Quote @DJT but don't spend too much time on it and don't expect anything. Think of all the things that can go wrong and you will find a few more you never thought of. And clarify that your quote does not include removing residue from builder's work or repairs.

Various 227.jpg

 
I've got a rough picture from Google satalite but doesn't show much. 

It's interesting that it gives an indication as to the poor state of the schools and they're funding really. 

Screenshot_20191121_193227.jpg

 
I've got a rough picture from Google satalite but doesn't show much. 

It's interesting that it gives an indication as to the poor state of the schools and they're funding really. 

View attachment 18434


Nobody knows what tomorrow will bring with regard to cutbacks.

It could even end up that schools maintenance is done by volunteers. Now before anyone thinks differently, all our local gardens and flower arrangements in flower pots are all maintained by a group of volunteers.

Yes, the council has so far provided the actual plants over the past few years, but the rest has been done by volunteers.

Our local community have a number of beach litter collection days and another organised group pick up dogs mess left behind by dog walkers on trails and through the allotment areas.

 
Do you get paid by the school or by the local authority?




By the school,  they have a set budget each year for certain jobs provided the price is below £1000 they don’t have to get any permission from the board of governors or the council , they pay it direct themselves , which is good as you don’t have to go through the local authority procurement process, which having been through it so many times and never got the jobs I tended for  I wouldn’t waist my time doing it again , I have no idear how this process works but I deal with the school maintenance manager he asks fir a price , I give a written quote along with copies of insurance and a rams statement and crb check , it’s then discussed by the school management team  who they want to do the work , they then phone the firm and off you go , we do work for a couple of schools on this basis , works well for us and the school .

 
By the school,  they have a set budget each year for certain jobs provided the price is below £1000 they don’t have to get any permission from the board of governors or the council , they pay it direct themselves , which is good as you don’t have to go through the local authority procurement process, which having been through it so many times and never got the jobs I tended for  I wouldn’t waist my time doing it again , I have no idear how this process works but I deal with the school maintenance manager he asks fir a price , I give a written quote along with copies of insurance and a rams statement and crb check , it’s then discussed by the school management team  who they want to do the work , they then phone the firm and off you go , we do work for a couple of schools on this basis , works well for us and the school .
This is interesting as it goes to show how there is no fixed country wide policy regarding this.

In our case it was the school facilities manager who arranged things. I have always chatted with him ahead of time and arranged days we could clean.

We have always given a written quote but they have never asked to see insurance and we don't have a crb certificate as we are only on site when there are no pupils around. (The council was quite happy with us cleaning the local dots and spots nursery in their council offices as we always did the job over the weekend when everything was closed.)

Originally the school paid us by cheque from their funds, but the council started paying the bill directly 3 years ago. We have never been given an order number to do the job - we just present our invoice at the end of the job.

I did a comprehensive rams document but they never wanted it.

I didn't know about the £1000 limit. Our clean is just short of that amount.

 
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This is interesting as it goes to show how there is no fixed country wide policy regarding this.

In our case it was the school facilities manager who arranged things. I have always chatted with him ahead of time and arranged days we could clean.

We have always given a written quote but they have never asked to see insurance and we don't have a crb certificate as we are only on site when there are no pupils around. (The council was quite happy with us cleaning the local dots and spots nursery in their council offices as we always did the job over the weekend when everything was closed.)

Originally the school paid us by cheque from their funds, but the council started paying the bill directly 3 years ago. We have never been given an order number to do the job - we just present our invoice at the end of the job.

I did a comprehensive rams document but they never wanted it.

I didn't know about the £1000 limit. Our clean is just short of that amount.
In our case it was the Head Mistress, a friend of a friend, that rang us up for a quote. I emailed her the quote and Insurance Policy and she said ok. Don't need to be CRB checked as we do it in the school holidays. We're told what days the Caretaker is in and pick the day it suits. 

Only done it twice but last time didn't need to requote or show Insurance. 

 
I've got a rough picture from Google satalite but doesn't show much. 

It's interesting that it gives an indication as to the poor state of the schools and they're funding really. 

View attachment 18434
Looks a few moves with the van to me, if you work flat out you may get a building of that size done in 6 hours on your own, but that's a guess I used to do one which had smaller footprint than that 4 times a year at £250 per clean and it would take me 4-5 hours on my own including travel time of 30 mins 

The schools I cleaned I would submit the invoice to the school typically to an assigned address of who sorted the invoices and the money was usually in my bank within 2 weeks paid via the county council, I had two mess me around for months but this was an issue with business managers of the schools

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Schools are notorious for wanting it done really cheaply!

Our local school wanted a quote from me. They wanted a quote for all of the windows, every time, every 3 months. They already have a window cleaner, but they said they only do the office windows (6) each time and a few classroom windows at the same time. Apparently about an 1/8 of the work. But they charge full price and the school wanted a better service. I went in with a quote for every 3 months (which the other guys did) and, the lady that I was dealing with, said she got it to admin but they weren't interested as the cost was higher than they paid currently (it was double what they were charging) and they were only interested in the final figure. She told me that she even explained to them that the work wasn't being done properly and lots of glass being missed out, hence wanting to change window cleaners, to be told that they're not worried about that! 

Final figure mattered.

 
In light of this thread i emailed Daughters school yesterday and offered my services.
Unless they know you, you need to speak with them face to face IMHO.

Again, as @Iron Giant says, these things usually come via someone you know or someone who knows you or knows of you.

In our case it started with the manager of the said Nursery school located in the corner of the school grounds. We clean the windows for her at home. She knew us as we cleaned the windows for late brother in law and sister in law when she lived opposite them.

The caretaker of the school used to live on the property and his house fence bordered the Nursery school cum council offices. He got to know us with our monthly weekend cleans so recommended us when the new school was built.

 
In our case it was the Head Mistress, a friend of a friend, that rang us up for a quote. I emailed her the quote and Insurance Policy and she said ok. Don't need to be CRB checked as we do it in the school holidays. We're told what days the Caretaker is in and pick the day it suits. 

Only done it twice but last time didn't need to requote or show Insurance. 




We work outside of school hours but they wanted crb anyway , we were the only window cleaners that had crb I think that’s why we got the jobs to be honest , the only reason I have crb on myself is beacause Ime in the Fireservice , and one of my guys is a paramedic ,semi retired , so we already had it , I wouldn’t bother paying g fir it as it’s very rare that you are ever asked for it , heaving said that we do occasional work for a couple of children’s charity’s and they wanted it .

This is interesting as it goes to show how there is no fixed country wide policy regarding this.

In our case it was the school facilities manager who arranged things. I have always chatted with him ahead of time and arranged days we could clean.

We have always given a written quote but they have never asked to see insurance and we don't have a crb certificate as we are only on site when there are no pupils around. (The council was quite happy with us cleaning the local dots and spots nursery in their council offices as we always did the job over the weekend when everything was closed.)

Originally the school paid us by cheque from their funds, but the council started paying the bill directly 3 years ago. We have never been given an order number to do the job - we just present our invoice at the end of the job.

I did a comprehensive rams document but they never wanted it.

I didn't know about the £1000 limit. Our clean is just short of that amount.




I don’t know if the £1000 limit is country wide or just where I am , but that’s what the maintenance manager told me , they can authorise any work up to that figure without having to get it approved , we do lots of jobs for them under that price ??

 
We work outside of school hours but they wanted crb anyway , we were the only window cleaners that had crb I think that’s why we got the jobs to be honest , the only reason I have crb on myself is beacause Ime in the Fireservice , and one of my guys is a paramedic ,semi retired , so we already had it , I wouldn’t bother paying g fir it as it’s very rare that you are ever asked for it , heaving said that we do occasional work for a couple of children’s charity’s and they wanted it .

I don’t know if the £1000 limit is country wide or just where I am , but that’s what the maintenance manager told me , they can authorise any work up to that figure without having to get it approved , we do lots of jobs for them under that price ??
My biggest customer up here, a large care in the community provider, have an annual window cleaning budget per property of a £1000 and if I stay under the work doesn't have to go out on tender. I actually do 3 properties at £83 per month. 2 of which are £50+ an hour and the other is £35. Helps when you're pointed in the right direction ?

 
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