Commercial cleaning in Melbourne typically costs $45 to $65 per hour ex GST in 2026, or from $700 a month for a weekly contract. This guide breaks down real 2026 contract rates for shops, gyms, warehouses and hospitality venues. It also covers the wage floor that explains why cheaper quotes fail, what consumables really cost, and the contract terms to read before you sign. Pure office pricing sits in our office cleaning cost guide; this guide covers everything else.
Written by Metecan Kalkan, founder of OneDrop FM (ABN 74 499 285 939), a Melbourne cleaning company. We clean shops, gyms, warehouses and venues across Bayswater, Dandenong and more than 20 other suburbs. Last updated: 27 October 2026.
The Short Answer: Melbourne Prices
Hourly (ex GST):
- Standard work: $45 to $65 per hour
- Specialist work: $60 to $85+
- Evenings: $50 to $65
- Saturdays: $60 to $80
- Sundays: $75 to $100
- Minimum call-out: $60 to $90
Monthly contracts (ex GST):
- Retail, gyms, general sites, 1 visit per week: from $700
- 2 visits per week: $1,000 to $1,400
- 3 visits per week: $1,500 to $2,200
- 5 days per week: from $3,000
- Restaurants, 3 visits per week: from $1,200
- Restaurants, daily: from $2,800
- Industrial sites: most pay $1,000 to $5,000+ per month
Per square metre, per visit:
- Warehouse, general: $1.10 to $3.20
- Warehouse, deep clean: $3.20 to $6.50
- Retail, standard: $3.50 to $5.50
- Retail, food or complex fitouts: $5.50 to $8+
- Shopping centre tenancies: add 10 to 20 percent (centre rules, security sign-in adds a further 10 to 15 percent at some centres)
Car dealerships and showrooms: no Melbourne operator publishes a rate, so treat any exact figure in other guides with care. Expect retail-band pricing driven by glass and floor area, with daily cleans the norm.
Why the floor is $45: the Cleaning Services Award casual rate for a level 1 cleaner is $33.85 per hour on weekdays ($47.39 Saturdays, $60.93 Sundays), plus 12 percent super. That puts the legal cost of one cleaner at $38 to $45 per hour before insurance, equipment, travel or margin. National marketplaces still advertise quotes of $30 to $40 per hour. Those sit below that floor.
Most Melbourne operators quote ex GST and many do not say so. Confirm the GST-inclusive total in writing before you compare two quotes.
What Is Included in a Standard Clean?
A standard contract clean covers floors (vacuum, mop, machine scrub where agreed), bins emptied and relined, bathrooms cleaned and restocked, and kitchenette surfaces. It also covers spot cleaning of entry glass and high-touch points like door handles, rails and lift buttons.
Not standard: machine scrubbing beyond the agreed scope, strip and seal of hard floors, external windows, carpet steam cleaning, and deep cleans. Those are scheduled add-ons, priced below.
Consumables: Restocking Is Not Supplying
This is the line item almost no guide explains. Restocking your bathrooms is in the standard clean. Supplying the stock is a separate cost, and operators handle it three ways: billed as used, itemised on the invoice; charged as a separate monthly line; or bundled into the hourly rate. Indicative adders run $8 to $25 per visit for retail consumables and $15 to $45 per visit for bathrooms.
Get the model in writing. “Consumables included” can mean any of the three, and the bundled version is not always the cheapest.
What Costs Extra?
- Carpet steam cleaning: $3 to $6 per sqm
- Strip and seal of hard floors: $6 to $15 per sqm
- Machine scrubbing: $2 to $5 per sqm
- Deep cleans: $5 to $12 per sqm
- External windows: $45 to $80 per hour, or $80 to $250 per visit for a retail storefront
- Kitchen exhaust hood cleans (hospitality): $250 to $650
- High-pressure exterior work: $3 to $6 per sqm
Contracts, Insurance and the Licence Check
There is no standard contract in this industry, and the spread matters:
- Lock-ins: month-to-month, 30-day notice and no-exit-fee contracts all exist in Melbourne. Other operators ask 30 to 90 days notice.
- Price: annual contracts run 8 to 12 percent cheaper than month-to-month. In exchange you give up the easy exit.
- Auto-renewal and one-sided price rises: the ACCC has treated these as unfair contract terms in cleaning industry cases. Read the renewal clause before signing, not at month eleven.
Checks that protect your business:
- Insurance: $20M public liability is the commercial expectation; $10M is the floor.
- People: police checks for after-hours staff, plus a written key and alarm protocol (who holds keys, how alarms are set, what happens when a cleaner cannot attend).
- Labour hire licence: in Victoria, a company supplying workers to clean commercial premises must hold a Labour Hire Licence. Fines run over $590,000 for businesses. Ask for the licence number.
- Safety: WorkSafe Victoria paperwork (safe work method statements, chemical safety data sheets) should exist and be produced on request.
Prices Across Melbourne
OneDrop FM is based in Taylors Lakes, near Watergardens. Commercial work concentrates in two kinds of area:
- Commercial cleaning Bayswater: retail strips, gyms and light industrial mixed together. Strip shops price at the retail band; the gyms run daily.
- Commercial cleaning Dandenong: the Dandenong South industrial precinct, warehouses, showrooms and hospitality. Warehouse amenities are cleaned daily even where floors are weekly.
The big shopping strips (Chapel Street, Bridge Road, Sydney Road) price like Bayswater retail, with centre-style loadings where security sign-in applies. The western industrial precincts (Laverton North, Truganina, Campbellfield) follow the Dandenong warehouse rates.
We also cover more than 20 suburbs across Melbourne. Every contract quote follows a site walk-through, with the scope in writing.
How Often Does Each Sector Need Cleaning?
- Gyms: daily, and twice daily at busy sites (change rooms and equipment cannot wait).
- Hospitality: daily, after close.
- Retail: 5 to 7 visits a week on busy strips, 1 to 3 on quiet ones.
- Warehouses: amenities daily, floors weekly or more.
- Showrooms: daily, because glass and floors are the product display.
Red Flags: How to Spot a Bad Operator
The complaints business owners report most:
- Standards slip after the first month. The single most common complaint in the industry. The deep standard of week one becomes a lick and a promise by month two.
- Missed bathrooms and kitchens. One Collins Street business was paying $420 a week to a cleaner who frequently missed both.
- Bins and dispensers left empty. The clean happened, the restock did not. Consumables are where scope quietly shrinks.
- Missed cleans with no message. No call, no replacement, no credit on the invoice.
- Rotating strangers. A different face every week, no supervisor you can reach, and no one who knows your alarm code protocol.
- Surprise billing and hard exits. Price rises without notice, then a contract that makes leaving expensive.
- Keys and alarm failures. Doors left open, alarms unset. The written protocol in the contract section above exists because of this one.
How to Choose a Commercial Cleaner
Before you sign, check these:
- A walk-through quote, not a per-sqm price given over the phone sight unseen.
- A written scope: rooms, tasks, frequency, consumables model, all named.
- The GST-inclusive monthly total in writing.
- Exit terms you can live with: notice period, renewal clause, price rise process.
- Insurance certificate ($20M public liability) and the Victorian Labour Hire Licence number.
- A checklist or reporting system, and a named supervisor with a phone number.
- Relief cover: who cleans when your regular is sick, and how you are told.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does commercial cleaning cost in Melbourne?
$45 to $65 per hour ex GST for standard work in 2026. Monthly, weekly contracts start from $700, 3 visits a week runs $1,500 to $2,200, and daily sites start from $3,000. Per square metre per visit, retail runs $3.50 to $5.50 and warehouses $1.10 to $3.20.
Why is commercial cleaning quoted ex GST?
Business-to-business convention: most Melbourne operators quote ex GST, and many guides do not state it at all. Your business claims the GST back as a credit, but for cash-flow and quote comparison you need the inclusive total. Ask for both figures in writing.
What is included in a standard clean?
Floors, bins emptied and relined, bathrooms cleaned and restocked, kitchenette surfaces, spot cleaning of entry glass, and high-touch points. Machine scrubbing, strip and seal, external windows, carpet steam cleaning and deep cleans are add-ons, priced per square metre.
Who supplies the toilet paper and consumables?
Either side can. Cleaners restock as part of the standard clean, but the stock itself is billed as used, charged as a separate line, or bundled into the rate. Indicative adders are $8 to $25 per visit for retail and $15 to $45 for bathrooms. Get the model in writing before you sign.
How often should my business be cleaned?
Gyms daily (busy sites twice daily), hospitality daily after close, busy retail strips 5 to 7 times a week, showrooms daily, and warehouse amenities daily with floors weekly. Quiet retail runs 1 to 3 visits a week. Bathrooms set the floor: if customers use them, daily is the honest answer.
Can I get out of a contract if standards drop?
It depends on what you signed. Month-to-month and 30-day notice contracts exist in Melbourne, while other operators require 30 to 90 days. Annual contracts are 8 to 12 percent cheaper but harder to leave. Auto-renewal clauses and one-sided price rises can be unfair contract terms. Check the exit wording before signing, not after.
Why is one quote half the price of another?
Usually the wage floor. A level 1 casual cleaner costs $33.85 per hour plus 12 percent super from the Award. That is $38 to $45 per hour before insurance, equipment or margin. A quote at $30 to $40 per hour cannot cover legal wages. The gap comes out in skipped tasks, unpaid penalty rates, or no insurance.
Do cleaners work after hours, and does it cost more?
Yes, most commercial work happens after close or before open. Award-based rates run $50 to $65 per hour for evenings, $60 to $80 Saturdays and $75 to $100 Sundays ex GST. Some operators fold penalty rates into ongoing contract pricing instead of surcharging, so ask how yours handles weekends.
Book Your Commercial Clean With OneDrop FM
Fixed contract quotes after a site walk-through, with the scope and consumables model in writing. Get in touch with OneDrop FM to get a fixed quote.
We are local. Based in Taylors Lakes, cleaning workplaces across more than 20 Melbourne suburbs.
Call 0402 160 946 for a fixed quote.