Commercial pressure cleaning is quoted differently from residential work, and the difference is not simply scale. Most of the cost sits in access, timing and compliance rather than in the cleaning itself.
What gets cleaned
Typical scopes across Sydney commercial property:
- Carparks — decks, ramps, line-marked bays, oil-stained parking spaces, and basement soffits and columns
- Building facades — render, precast concrete, glass curtain wall, metal cladding
- Common areas — entries, footpaths, loading docks, bin rooms, stairwells
- Awnings, signage and shopfronts
- Hardstand and yard areas for industrial sites
- Strata common property, which has its own considerations — see strata exterior cleaning: a guide for committees
Indicative pricing
Commercial work is quoted per job after a site inspection, but as a rough guide:
Carparks and hardstand: commonly $2 to $6 per square metre, varying with contamination and access.
Facades: quoted on area and access method. Reachable from the ground is one price; an elevated work platform or rope access is a different exercise entirely.
Regular maintenance contracts — monthly or quarterly — price considerably better per visit than one-off work, because the contamination load is lower each time and mobilisation is routine.
Anyone quoting a commercial job without attending site is guessing.
Where the cost actually sits
Access and height. An EWP, scissor lift or rope access crew is often the single largest line. Basement carparks have headroom limits that rule out some equipment.
Out-of-hours work. Most commercial cleaning happens at night or on weekends, because the carpark has to be empty and the entry has to be usable during trading. That attracts penalty rates and it is the main reason commercial hourly costs exceed residential.
Traffic management. Closing a ramp or a section of carpark in stages, sometimes with a traffic controller, sometimes with a council permit for footpath work.
Trade waste. This is the one that separates serious operators. In a carpark the runoff carries oil, heavy metals and detergent, and it cannot go to stormwater. It has to be contained, collected and disposed of as trade waste, often under a Sydney Water agreement. The residential version of this argument is in where the dirty water goes, and commercially the consequences are larger.
Compliance documentation. SWMS, risk assessments, inductions, insurance certificates, licences for working at height and in confined spaces.
What a scope should state
If you are a facility or building manager putting this out, these are the points that make quotes comparable:
- Exact areas and square metres, with a marked-up plan
- Access method for each area, and who provides the equipment
- Working hours and any site restrictions
- Water source and power, and whether the contractor supplies their own
- Runoff containment and disposal method — ask explicitly
- Traffic management and staging
- Insurance levels required
- Documentation required before mobilisation
- Frequency, if it is a contract rather than a one-off
- Reporting — photos, completion sign-off, defects noted
Our general principles on quotes apply — what a fixed written quote should itemise.
Things worth flagging in a carpark
Concrete cancer. Basement soffits and columns are where it shows up, and pressure washing a spalling soffit creates falling debris. A contractor who agrees to wash one without comment is telling you something — see concrete cancer.
Line marking. High pressure strips paint. Marking should be identified in the scope, worked around, and remarked afterwards if it is at end of life.
Services. Fire equipment, electrical switchboards, EV chargers, lighting, sensors and card readers all need protecting — the principle is the same as the electrical check before anyone turns a hose on.
Drainage. Find out where the carpark drains before starting, including whether there is an existing oil separator and whether it works.
Frequency
Most commercial sites run quarterly or six-monthly for common areas, with carparks annually or six-monthly depending on traffic.
Regular cleaning costs less per visit and it also protects the asset. Oil and contamination sitting on a carpark deck degrades the sealer and then the concrete, and that is a capital cost rather than an operating one.
For a site inspection and scoped quote, see commercial pressure cleaning or strata pressure cleaning.
