Square-metre rates are how facility managers compare cleaning quotes across sites, and they are the most misquoted numbers in the industry. Here is the honest version for Melbourne in 2026, built from the same inputs we quote with, so you can sanity-check any proposal on your desk.
The arithmetic is simple. Mid-market commercial cleaning labour runs $45 to $75 per cleaner hour excluding GST; premium specialist operators, including Oscar White, sit above that band, rising past $110 for specialist medical. A cleaner covers roughly 150 to 300 square metres per hour depending on density and scope — an open-plan floor with minimal desks cleans much faster than a fitted-out office with kitchens and meeting rooms. Divide one by the other and a mid-market visit costs between about 15 and 50 cents per square metre; premium specialist scopes run roughly 25 to 75 cents.
Per month is where frequency takes over. Compounded monthly, the two tiers separate cleanly. The general market band for professional PAYG operators lands at $3.00 to $8.00 per square metre per month for a standard office fitout. The premium specialist band, with continuity of cleaner, TGA-listed chemistry, colour-coded equipment and per-visit photo sign-off, runs $5.00 to $14.00 per square metre per month for corporate, coworking and member-facing scopes, and $8.00 to $18.00 for medical. The spread inside each band is set by density, scope and access — not by who shouts "premium" loudest.
A worked example: a 500 square metre fitted office, cleaned three evenings a week, needs a little over two hours per visit. At mid-market rates (say $60 an hour) that is roughly $130 per visit, about $1,730 per month, around $3.50 per square metre. Run at premium specialist market rates, with sign-off, inspection and documentation inside the price, the same scope lands nearer $4.50 to $5.50 per square metre per month across the market. Oscar White does not price by the square metre: a floor like this is quoted after a walkthrough as a fixed monthly package. If a quote for a comparable site is wildly outside either shape, something in the scope is different, and you want to know what before you sign.
Below about 200 square metres, per-sqm maths breaks down. Travel, setup and minimum visit times dominate small sites, which is why small offices and studios are quoted per visit, typically $120 to $250 in Melbourne, rather than by area. If a bidder quotes a tiny office by the square metre, they have not thought about your site.
Density is the variable most comparisons miss. A hundred workstations shed more crumbs, cups and bin liners than a hundred square metres of lobby. Two sites with identical floor areas can carry legitimately different prices, so give every bidder the same headcount and usage picture, not just the floor plan.
Scope moves the number as much as area does. Consumables management, periodic deep cleans, internal glass, carpets and waste streams are either inside the rate or they are variations later. A low per-sqm rate with a thin scope is not a saving; it is a schedule of future extras.
After-hours access, security inductions and Melbourne CBD parking add real cost per visit, and they affect small frequent cleans more than big weekly ones. If your building requires inductions and after-hours access, expect the top half of the band and treat anything dramatically cheaper with suspicion.
To sanity-check any quote: take the annual total, divide by 52 for the weekly cost, divide by visits per week for the per-visit cost, divide by the cleaner-hour rate ($45 to $75 mid-market, $75 to $110+ premium specialist) for hours per visit, then divide your area by those hours for the implied productivity. Above about 1,200 square metres per hour on routine maintenance, the operator is either underquoting to win the job or planning to cut corners. If the productivity looks reasonable but the implied hourly rate sits below $40, ask which cost line (wage, super, WorkCover, insurance, licence) is being trimmed.
Our own quotes work the other way around. We do not sell hours, so there is no hourly rate to compare: an office is a monthly package against a written scope, from $1,400 a month ex GST for two nights a week. The line-item schedule still shows the scope, the frequency and the per-square-metre equivalent, so you can run exactly the sanity-check above on us. If a client wants to see the timesheet maths behind it, we open the timesheet.
If you would rather skip the spreadsheet, our cost calculator runs this maths for your floor area and frequency in about a minute, or a 15-minute call and a walkthrough gets you an itemised quote with a real number on it — see what a systemised office clean includes first if you want the scope detail.
Frequently asked questions
What does office cleaning cost per square metre in Melbourne?
The general market band is $3.00 to $8.00 per square metre per month for professional PAYG mid-market operators. The premium specialist band is $5.00 to $14.00 per square metre per month for corporate, coworking and member-facing scopes, and $8.00 to $18.00 for medical. Choice between tiers depends on scope, sector, and the cost of standard drift.
Why do small offices cost more per square metre?
Travel, setup and minimum visit times dominate sites under about 200 square metres, so they are quoted per visit, typically $120 to $250 in Melbourne, rather than by area. Per-sqm rates only make sense at scale.
Is a lower rate per square metre always better?
No. A low rate with a thin scope becomes a schedule of variations. Compare written scopes and inclusions across bidders, and use the per-sqm rate only as a sanity check on the total.
When is a premium specialist rate worth paying?
When standard-under-audit matters: medical clinics, partner-facing corporate offices, member-facing coworking and fitness spaces, or any site where the cost of a compliance event or client-facing embarrassment sits far above the cleaning contract itself. For routine suburban office scopes without those pressures, a competent mid-market operator delivers the standard the client actually needs.