Our SAM.gov first-steps guide covers registration and searching. Once you find a promising cleaning notice, use this five-part screen before investing in a response. Keep the current solicitation, attachments and amendments together.
1. Check whether you can compete
Confirm that the notice is accepting responses; an award notice is research material. Read the set-aside and certification requirements, place of performance and access conditions. Match them to your business’s actual status and capabilities. Registration alone does not establish eligibility for every opportunity.
If prime contracting is too large a step, SBA explains subcontracting as another route: you work for a prime contractor rather than directly for the agency. An award does not prove that subcontracting work is available.
2. Record three dates
Write down the question deadline, site-visit date and response deadline, including time zones. Mark any required visit or registration step. A missing date is a question to resolve, not permission to ignore the requirement. Recheck amendments before submitting.
3. Measure the work, not just the building
Extract the areas, cleaning frequencies, service windows, periodic tasks, supplies and inspection requirements. Separate daily cleaning from occasional floor work. Record anything the documents leave unclear and use the stated question channel.
Illustrative arithmetic: 4 cleaners × 3 hours × 5 visits equals 60 cleaning hours per week. This is a planning example, not a government staffing standard; travel, supervision, relief coverage and periodic work still need allowance.
4. Build a realistic cost floor
Price wages, applicable fringe benefits, payroll costs, supplies, equipment, transport and supervision before margin. For covered federal service contracts, the Department of Labor explains the wage and fringe-benefit requirements. Check the solicitation’s wage determination and applicable terms instead of assuming your usual commercial rate is sufficient.
5. Follow the buyer’s instructions
Make a checklist of required forms, references, pricing lines, file formats and submission steps. Where the uniform contract format applies, Section L contains response instructions and Section M identifies evaluation factors; other solicitations may use different headings.
Finish with one decision: bid, clarify or pass. A smaller, well-understood job can be a better first target than a large contract with unresolved costs.