A Request for Proposal does one job: it makes every vendor answer the same questions in the same format, so you can actually compare them. Skip the structure and you get five proposals that look nothing alike — different scopes, different assumptions, different ways of hiding the gaps — and no honest way to score them.
Here's the structure that produces comparable bids, plus a simple scoring approach and the mistakes that most often derail an RFP.
The five sections every cleaning RFP needs
Whether you're a school, a clinic, or an office portfolio, these five sections cover what a vendor needs to bid accurately — and what you need to evaluate them.
- Facility profile. Square footage by building and area, floor types, restroom counts, hours of operation, and your daily and seasonal schedule. This is what lets a vendor price accurately instead of padding for the unknown.
- Scope of work. Exactly what you want cleaned, how often, and to what standard — nightly tasks, periodic specialty work, and anything explicitly out of scope. Vague scope is the root of most disputes later.
- Performance expectations. How quality will be measured, response times for issues, communication cadence, and who your point of contact will be. State what "good" looks like so it's contractual, not aspirational.
- Qualifications required. Insurance and bonding minimums, references in your sector, staffing model, and how the vendor handles coverage when someone is out. This is where you separate real operators from the lowest bidder.
- Pricing format and contract terms. Tell vendors exactly how to present pricing — recurring base separated from specialty work — plus term length, notice period, and what's included. Dictating the format is what makes the numbers comparable.
Score responses against the same criteria
Decide how you'll score before the proposals arrive, so you're not rationalizing a favorite after the fact. A simple weighted scorecard works: rate each vendor on a handful of criteria — reliability and staffing, references, insurance and bonding, communication, response time, and price — and total it up.
Notice that price is one line among several, not the whole sheet. The vendor who wins on price but scores poorly on staffing and references is the one you'll be re-bidding in six months.
The mistakes that quietly sink an RFP
- Writing a vague scope, then being surprised when bids vary wildly — the vagueness is the cause.
- Letting vendors present pricing however they like, which makes the numbers impossible to compare.
- Weighting price too heavily and ignoring staffing model and references.
- Forgetting to specify insurance and bonding minimums up front, then discovering a finalist can't meet them.
- Giving vendors too little time, or no walkthrough — both produce padded, defensive bids.
An RFP is upfront work that pays off the moment proposals land in comparable form. The structure above is the difference between choosing a vendor and being sold one.
