Construction & commercial cleaning, priced right.

Builders work in sqm — every contract, every variation, every PCI defect list is measured that way. Quoting in sqm puts you in their language and makes side-by-side comparisons with competitors transparent. It also scales fairly across job sizes: a $5/sqm rate on a 100sqm flat and a 500sqm office both feel the same to the builder, which protects you from being bargained down on the larger job.

Final clean (the PCI-ready detail clean) typically lands between $4 and $7.50/sqm in capital cities for residential work in 2026, with commercial fit-outs at the upper end of the range. Rough cleans during fit-out are lower ($1.80–$3.20/sqm). Touch-up cleans after the defect period are the cheapest ($1.20–$2.40/sqm) because the bulk of the work has already been done. These are mid-market — boutique outfits charge more, hungry new entrants charge less.

Sticker removal off glazing adds about 15% (it's slow, manual work), paint over-spray or flicks ~12%, set-silicone trim cleanup ~10%, and concrete or render splatter ~18%. Multi-storey adds 8% (stair-fatigue, longer carry distances), high ceilings >3m adds 10% (ladder work, slower glass cleaning). Add multipliers; don't multiply them — each factor compounds the base, and stacking them naively inflates the quote unrealistically.

Quote ex-GST, then show GST as a separate line. Builders register for GST (turnover > $75k) and want to see the GST component clearly so they can reclaim it. Quoting inc-GST muddies their margin calculation and can lose you the job. The calculator shows both the ex-GST range and the inc-GST midpoint as a reference.

Regional sites are typically 10% cheaper because labour rates and competition are softer, but factor travel time honestly — a 90-minute drive each way to a regional site offsets the rate discount unless you batch multiple sites in the area. The location modifier in the calculator reflects 2026 Sydney as the high benchmark, with Brisbane as the mid-market reference.

The model handles the common 80% — flat or modestly storeyed sites with standard finishes. Beyond that, walk the site before quoting. Heritage builds, high-rise tower handovers, mining-camp cleans, and decontamination work follow specialised pricing curves that this calculator deliberately doesn't model. Always add 10–15% padding for site-walk unknowns.

No — end-of-lease (bond) cleaning prices by property type (1-bed flat through 5-bed house) plus add-ons (carpet steam, oven, walls). It's a fundamentally different model. Use the residential pricing calculator for bond work and this calculator for builders / commercial cleans.