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How to bid on government cleaning contracts: federal, California state and local
Bidding on government cleaning contracts comes down to four moves: register where the agency buys, watch the right notice boards, read the solicitation for how it will judge offers, and price to the wage rules it attaches. Federal custodial work is posted on SAM.gov, California state work in the State Contracts Register, and local work on each agency’s own site. This guide explains how each level advertises, the dollar thresholds that change the process, and what a janitorial solicitation asks bidders to show, as of November 2026.
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Where government cleaning bids are posted
Each level of government advertises in its own place, so a firm that wants a steady flow of janitorial bids watches all three.
| Buyer | Where notices appear | What you need to bid |
|---|---|---|
| Federal agencies | SAM.gov Contract Opportunities, searchable without an account; SBA says agencies must use SAM to advertise contracts over $25,000 | An active SAM.gov registration from offer through final payment |
| California state departments | The California State Contracts Register (CSCR) inside Cal eProcure | A Cal eProcure bidder account for notices and vendor ads |
| Counties, cities and special districts | Each agency’s own website or the portal its pages name, under its own codes and ordinances | Whatever that agency’s solicitation asks for |
| School districts | A newspaper notice once a week for two weeks, and optionally the district website or an electronic portal (PCC 20112) | The district’s bid documents and required security |
Registration for the first two is covered in our guides to SAM.gov registration and Cal eProcure registration. A SAM.gov account through Login.gov also lets you save searches, follow notices and join interested vendor lists. SBA adds a research step: look at past federal contracts in FPDS-NG and USASpending.gov, read agency procurement forecasts and talk to agency small business offices (OSDBU or OSBP).
Federal notice types and what each one signals
The notice type tells you how far along a buy is. Besides Sources Sought, Presolicitation, Combined Synopsis/Solicitation and Solicitation, SAM.gov’s data carries special notices, justifications (J&A), DoD intent-to-bundle notices and the notice naming the winner.
- Presolicitation: generally published at least 15 days before the solicitation itself. For commercial services the contracting officer can shorten that or issue a combined synopsis/solicitation instead (FAR 5.203).
- Special notice: flags events such as business fairs and draft solicitations.
- Time to reply: the contracting officer sets a reasonable window for actions over $25,000; non-commercial actions expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold get at least 30 days after issue.
- Set-aside code: shows whether the buy is open to all or limited to small business, 8(a), HUBZone, service-disabled veteran-owned, WOSB or EDWOSB firms.
Thresholds that change how cleaning work is bought
Dollar thresholds decide whether a buy is advertised, set aside or formally bid. These are the figures as each source states them:
| Threshold | Figure | Source and date |
|---|---|---|
| Federal micro-purchase, general | $15,000 | FAR 2.101, FAC 2026-01, effective March 13, 2026 |
| Federal micro-purchase, services under the Service Contract Labor Standards statute | $2,500 | FAR 2.101, FAC 2026-01 |
| Federal simplified acquisition threshold | $350,000 | FAR 2.101, FAC 2026-01 |
| California state CSCR advertising | $20,000 or more, for at least 10 working days | State Contracting Manual, Volume 1, June 2026, section 5.75 |
| California school district competitive bidding for services | $119,100 | CDE letter of December 8, 2025, effective January 1, 2026 (PCC 20111) |
Contingency and emergency buys carry higher federal figures, the school figure is reset each year, and counties and cities set their own.
IFB, RFQ or RFP: three ways agencies buy
The solicitation’s form tells you whether price alone decides. Under the FAR, a request for quotations (part 13) collects quotes that are not offers: the government’s order is the offer, and the contract forms when the supplier accepts it. An invitation for bids (part 14) is sealed bidding, with public opening, no discussions and the contract going to the responsible bidder whose conforming bid is most advantageous on price and price-related factors alone. A request for proposals (part 15) is negotiated and judged under the source selection approach the solicitation states.
California state departments use the same split. Under the State Contracting Manual, an IFB states exact requirements and asks what the bidder will charge, while an RFP describes what the agency wants to achieve and scores proposals on objective criteria it publishes. State services contracts also need at least three competitive bids or proposals under Public Contract Code 10340, with listed exceptions such as emergencies and SB/DVBE Option contracts.
Agencies have adopted rewritten text for FAR parts 13, 14, 15 and 19 by class deviation since September 2025, while the official FAR remains at FAC 2026-01, so the solicitation states which rules and clauses govern it.
Best value, tradeoff and lowest price technically acceptable
FAR 15.101 treats best value as a continuum. When the requirement is clear and the risk low, price can dominate; when it is less definite or riskier, technical merit or past performance can weigh more.
- Tradeoff: the agency can choose someone other than the lowest price or the highest rating. The solicitation lists every evaluation factor, its relative importance and how non-price factors compare with price, and any premium paid has to be justified in the file.
- Lowest price technically acceptable (LPTA): the contract goes to the lowest-priced proposal that meets the stated acceptability standards, with proposals rated acceptable or not rather than ranked. Past performance, if it is a factor, is pass/fail; a small business found unacceptable on it is referred to SBA for a Certificate of Competency decision.
Outside the Department of Defense, LPTA is allowed only under listed conditions, including that minimum needs can be described in performance terms and exceeding them would add little or no value. Read the evaluation section before you write a word, and build the response around the factors it states. For lining up cleaning bids task by task, our guide to comparing janitorial bids shows the buyer’s side.
Small business set-asides in one paragraph
Federal buys above the micro-purchase threshold and up to the simplified acquisition threshold are set aside for small business unless the contracting officer expects fewer than two responsible, competitive small-business offers. Above it, the officer sets a buy aside when market research points to at least two responsible small businesses at fair market prices, and withdraws the set-aside if no acceptable small-business offer arrives. Program eligibility and the 50 percent limit on subcontracting are set out in the small business certification guide.
Reading a janitorial solicitation
Read the whole package once before pricing, marking every item that moves labor hours, wages or paperwork. In a cleaning solicitation that usually means:
- Scope and frequencies: the areas, tasks and how often each happens. Note any task whose frequency is missing or reads two ways, and ask about it.
- Wage rules: a federal service contract over $2,500 carries a Department of Labor wage determination, explained in our Service Contract Act guide. California state custodial contracts longer than 90 days carry the Government Code 19134 wage and benefit rule, and public works questions are covered in our guide to California prevailing wage.
- Incumbent workers: California’s Displaced Janitor Opportunity Act (Labor Code 1060-1065) applies to public and private buyers of janitorial and building maintenance services, and the agency or owner letting the contract puts its retention rule in the initial bid package. A covered successor keeps qualifying workers for a 60-day transition period.
- Insurance: for most state services the department sets it, and DGS recommends insurance on every contract (SCM Volume 1, June 2026, sections 3.12 and 7.40).
- State forms: the Contractor Certification Clauses, the Payee Data Record (STD 204), the Darfur and Iran Contracting Act certifications where they apply, and the TACPA preference form (STD 830S) on services over $100,000 where it is offered.
- Dates: site visit, question deadline and due date. The solicitation states each one.
Use the site visit to test the scope against the building, and send questions in writing by the deadline. Our page on janitorial RFPs and RFQs lists what to measure on a walk.
Past performance and CPARS
Federal buyers look up how you did last time. Agencies record evaluations in the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS), rating quality, cost control, schedule, management and small business subcontracting on a five-step scale from exceptional to unsatisfactory, with a narrative. The contractor is notified and has up to 14 calendar days to comment or rebut, and disagreements go one level above the contracting officer. Source selection officials use evaluations from within three years of contract completion, or six for construction and architect-engineer work.
Starting as a subcontractor to a prime
Subcontracting lets a firm that is not ready to hold a government contract take part in one. Some federal contracts require other-than-small primes to subcontract to small businesses, and contracts going to other-than-small firms above a threshold carry a small business subcontracting plan (FAR 52.219-9). SBA SubNet lists subcontracting opportunities that primes post, SBA publishes a directory of prime contractors with subcontracting plans, and primes search SBA’s Small Business Search (formerly DSBS) for small firms. On the state side, vendor ads inside each CSCR event serve the same purpose.
Help for first-time government bidders
APEX Accelerators (formerly PTACs) help businesses decide if they are ready to sell to federal, state and local governments, register in the right places and research past opportunities; SBA and SAM.gov both link to them. Agency small business offices answer questions about their own buys. For California state work, the DGS Office of Small Business and DVBE Services helps with registration and finding contracts. This guide is general information, not legal advice; each solicitation decides what applies.
Performance-based facility contracts, seen from the buyer’s side, are covered in our guide to facility management companies.
Run a public or private facility?
Continental supplies janitorial, porter, floor care, grounds and maintenance crews for commercial buildings, with Northern California roots and service nationwide. If you oversee a facility and need cleaning you can measure, request a quote and we will price the scope to your building.
A few useful answers
Common questions
Where can I find government cleaning contracts?
Federal janitorial notices are on SAM.gov Contract Opportunities, California state bids are in the State Contracts Register on Cal eProcure, and counties, cities, special districts and school districts post on their own sites or the portals they name.
Do I need SAM.gov registration to bid on federal cleaning work?
Yes. The FAR requires an active SAM.gov registration when you submit an offer or quote and when the contract is made, and you keep it through final payment. Searching notices on SAM.gov needs no account.
What is the difference between LPTA and tradeoff?
Under LPTA the lowest-priced proposal that meets the stated standards wins, with no extra credit for exceeding them. Under a tradeoff the agency weighs price against the non-price factors the solicitation lists and can pay more for a stronger proposal.
Can a small cleaning company start as a subcontractor?
Yes. SBA points small firms to SubNet, where primes post subcontracting opportunities, and to its directory of primes with subcontracting plans. Primes also search SBA’s Small Business Search to find small businesses.
What is the federal simplified acquisition threshold?
$350,000 in general, per FAR 2.101 at FAC 2026-01, effective March 13, 2026. Buys above the micro-purchase threshold up to that figure are set aside for small business when two or more competitive small firms are expected to offer.