Daycare cleaning contracts: licensing rules, safe disinfectants, schedules and pricing

Who buys daycare cleaning, and why do they outsource it?

Daycare cleaning is bought by the people who run child care centers: owner-operators of independent centers, directors at regional and national chains, church and nonprofit preschools, Head Start programs and employer-sponsored centers. They outsource because their staff spend the day sanitizing as they go and have nothing left for floors, restrooms and a real nightly clean, and because the licensing inspector will judge all of it.

Child care is a licensed activity in every state. California’s Department of Social Services, for example, describes the mission of its Child Care Licensing Program as ensuring the health and safety of children in care by making sure licensed facilities meet established health and safety standards through monitoring. Every state has an equivalent agency, and its inspection checklist is the real customer requirement behind a childcare cleaning contract.

Family child care homes (a provider caring for children in their own home) rarely hire cleaners, so focus on centers. For the general process of walking, bidding and signing commercial accounts, see commercial cleaning contracts; this page covers what child care adds.

What do state childcare rules require for cleaning?

State childcare rules require a written routine for cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting specific surfaces at specific frequencies, with approved products, and inspectors check both the surfaces and the paperwork. The details are in each state’s regulations, and most of them follow the national standards in Caring for Our Children.

Caring for Our Children (4th edition), the national health and safety performance standards for early care and education programs, has a standard on routine cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting (3.3.0.1) and two appendices that are effectively the contractor’s spec: Appendix J, Selecting an Appropriate Sanitizer or Disinfectant, and Appendix K, Routine Schedule for Cleaning, Sanitizing, and Disinfecting. Appendix K lists, surface by surface, what gets cleaned, sanitized or disinfected: floors are swept or vacuumed and then damp mopped, drinking fountains are cleaned and disinfected, door and cabinet handles are cleaned and disinfected, computer keyboards are cleaned and sanitized with wipes, and machine-washable cloth toys and dress-up clothes are laundered.

Three words that mean three different things

• Cleaning removes dirt with detergent and water. Always the first step; a sanitizer or disinfectant on a dirty surface does not work.
• Sanitizing reduces germs to a safe level. Used on food-contact surfaces, tables where children eat and toys that go in mouths.
• Disinfecting destroys nearly all germs. Used on diaper changing surfaces, toilets, restroom fixtures and surfaces with body fluids.

Appendix J stresses the mixing recipe and the required contact time (how long the solution must stay wet on the surface), and notes that the recipe and contact time are usually different for sanitizing and disinfecting. It also tells programs to apply products when children are not present, ventilate, let surfaces air dry or wipe after the contact time before children return, and store all chemicals securely out of reach.

Your state’s rules may add frequencies (for example, how often cots and cribs are cleaned) and record-keeping requirements. Read the licensing regulations for child care centers in your state before your first quote, and say in your proposal which standard your schedule follows. Directors notice.

Which cleaning products can you use around children?

Use EPA-registered sanitizers and disinfectants, fragrance-free where possible, applied exactly as the label says and only when children are out of the room. Many centers specify the products or at least approve your list, so bring it, with safety data sheets, to the first meeting.

• EPA registration. Any product sold as a sanitizer or disinfectant in the US must be registered with the EPA, and the EPA’s page on registered disinfectants explains how to read a registration number and links to lists of products registered against specific pathogens such as norovirus. Caring for Our Children tells programs to use products that are EPA-registered and to check for the registration number.
• Bleach or alternatives. Diluted bleach is the traditional choice, mixed fresh daily at the concentration on the product label for sanitizing or disinfecting. Appendix J notes some programs use hydrogen peroxide products instead; either way, follow the label for dilution and contact time.
• Fragrance-free and asthma-aware. Centers avoid scented products and aerosols because of children with asthma and sensitivities; a spray that smells clean to you can be a complaint from a parent.
• Food-contact surfaces. Tables, high chair trays and kitchen counters need a sanitizer rated for food contact, rinsed if the label says so.
• Never mix chemicals. Bleach with ammonia or with acidic cleaners releases toxic gas. One product per surface, per the label.
• Safety data sheets. OSHA’s Hazard Communication standard requires that workers have access to safety data sheets for the chemicals they use; keep a binder at each center for your crew, and give the director a copy. Many licensing inspectors ask to see it.
• Storage. Locked, labeled, out of reach, and never in a classroom cabinet. Bring your own locked caddy if the center has no janitor closet.

Write the product list and dilutions into your agreement. When a director can hand an inspector your schedule, product list and SDS binder, you are no longer a vendor; you are part of their compliance.

What does a nightly daycare clean include?

A nightly daycare clean covers every classroom, the diapering and restroom areas, the kitchen and eating areas, the nap room and the entrance, with the sanitizing and disinfecting steps the standards require for each. Staff handle the in-the-moment work during the day (diaper surfaces after each change, tables after each meal, mouthed toys); your crew resets the whole building at night.

By area

• Classrooms: trash, tables and chairs cleaned and sanitized, shelves and cubbies wiped, door handles and light switches disinfected, floors swept and damp mopped or vacuumed, carpets vacuumed.
• Diapering areas and restrooms: changing surfaces, sinks, faucets, toilets and potty chairs cleaned and disinfected, floors mopped, supplies restocked, trash with soiled diapers removed.
• Kitchen and eating areas: food-contact surfaces cleaned and sanitized, appliance exteriors, floors, high chairs if included in scope.
• Nap room: floors, and cots or cribs on the schedule the center sets (often weekly and whenever soiled, with linens laundered by staff).
• Entrance, hallways, office: glass, floors, sign-in counter, handles.
• Toys: usually staff responsibility, but many contracts include a weekly toy wash in a sanitizing solution or dishwasher; agree on it explicitly.

The free daycare cleaning checklist lays out what to clean, sanitize or disinfect by area and how often; use it as the scope attached to your contract. Add a quarterly deep clean (walls, vents, blinds, carpet extraction, floor finish) and a response plan for illness outbreaks, when the director may ask for an extra disinfecting visit on short notice.

When do daycare cleaners work, and how does access work?

Daycare cleaning happens after the last child leaves, often in the early to mid evening, and must be finished with surfaces dry and the building aired before the first child arrives in the morning. Ask each director for the exact closing and opening times. There is no daytime window: you cannot disinfect a room with children in it, and nap time is off limits.

• Closing time varies. Get each center’s posted hours; some close earlier than others. Staff often stay a while to close, which can be your handoff.
• Keys and alarms. Expect a key or code per named cleaner, an alarm procedure and a rule that only listed people enter. Centers take this seriously because of the children’s records and photos inside.
• Ventilation and drying. Follow the contact time, then let surfaces air dry and ventilate the rooms. Plan the route so disinfected rooms are left to dry while you work elsewhere.
• Leave it as found. Classrooms are set up for the morning (chairs, mats, cots). Cleaners who move the room set-up create work for teachers, and teachers talk to directors.
• Early-morning option. Some centers prefer a clean in the hours before opening; make sure the chemicals are dry and the air is fresh before opening.
• Weekends and holidays. Centers close on fewer days than schools; get the calendar and schedule deep cleans on the closures.

A fixed evening route of three or four centers within a few miles is efficient, since each center of a few thousand square feet takes a one- or two-person crew two to three hours. Scheduling software with a named crew per site and a record of each completed visit gives the director the log an inspector may ask for.

What background checks and insurance do childcare centers require?

Expect a background check for every cleaner, even though you work after hours, plus general liability and workers’ compensation with the center named as additional insured. Chains and publicly funded programs add a vendor agreement and sometimes a bond.

• Background checks. State licensing rules require checks for staff and often for anyone with unsupervised access to the facility; directors commonly extend that to contractors who hold keys. Some states require fingerprint checks through the licensing agency itself if your crew could be present with children (for example, a day porter). Ask the director what the state requires in your case and build the cost and time into the quote.
• Insurance. General liability at the limit the center asks for, and workers’ comp; our guide to cleaning business insurance covers what each policy costs.
• Bond. A janitorial bond is sometimes required by chains and public programs and is cheap enough to carry anyway.
• Confidentiality. Children’s files, photos and medical notes are everywhere in a center. A short confidentiality clause in your agreement reassures directors and parents.
• Health rules for your crew. Some centers ask that cleaners not work while ill and that you report any crew member with a contagious illness; it mirrors the rules for staff.

This is not legal or insurance advice; the licensing agency in your state and your broker have the final word.

How much should you charge for daycare cleaning?

Price per center per night from timed hours, because child care takes longer per square foot than an office: many small restrooms, diapering areas, kitchens and floors that need a damp mop every night. Then add quarterly deep cleans, carpet and floor care as separate lines.

A worked quote (hypothetical numbers)

• Center: 6,000 sq ft, six classrooms, three children’s restrooms, two diapering areas, a kitchen, an office and a lobby. Open Monday to Friday.
• Labor: two cleaners for 1.5 hours each night, 3 labor hours, at $17 per hour plus 20% for taxes and workers’ comp: about $61 per night.
• Products and supplies: sanitizer, disinfectant, microfiber, liners, mop heads replaced often: $6 per night.
• Drive time, key handling, SDS binder, background checks spread across the year: $7 per night.
• Supervision and overhead: $10 per night. Cost: about $84 per night.
• At a 20% margin: about $105 per night, roughly $2,280 per month over 21.7 nights, or about $0.38 per square foot per month.

That per-square-foot figure is higher than typical office work because of the restroom and sanitizing load; it is not a mistake, and a director who has priced cleaning before expects it. Three nights a week instead of five lowers the monthly price but each visit takes longer, so do not simply divide by five and multiply by three.

What moves the price

• Infant and toddler rooms (more diapering, more floor time, more sanitizing) versus preschool rooms.
• Whether toy washing, cot cleaning and laundry are in scope or stay with staff.
• Who buys the sanitizer and disinfectant, and whether the center specifies a brand.
• Carpet versus hard floors, and how much floor must be damp mopped nightly.
• Extra outbreak disinfecting visits, priced per visit in advance so nobody argues during a stomach bug.

Use the commercial cleaning calculator to build the quote and the market ranges in commercial cleaning prices as a sanity check.

A step-by-step plan to get your first daycare contracts

Directors buy from the cleaner who sounds like their licensing inspector. The plan is to learn the rules, show up with a schedule that follows them, and make the first center a reference for the rest. Expect four to twelve weeks from first visit to first contract at an independent center, and a quarter or two at a chain.

1. Week 1: learn the standard. Read your state’s child care center regulations and the cleaning appendices of Caring for Our Children. Build your product list with EPA registration numbers and SDS, and a schedule that mirrors Appendix K.
2. Week 1 to 2: list centers. Your state licensing agency publishes a searchable list of licensed centers with capacity; larger centers are the best first targets. Note chains and their area managers.
3. Week 2 to 4: visit at the right time. Mid-morning after drop-off, or around 1 p.m. during nap time, when directors are at their desks. Ask who cleans now, when the last inspection was and what it flagged. Leave a one-page sheet: your schedule by area, your product list, your checks and insurance.
4. Offer a paid trial week. Five nights at your quoted rate, with a walkthrough on the Monday morning after. Directors can see a difference in a week.
5. Document the first center. A nightly log, a product list on the wall of the janitor closet, and a monthly report the director can file with inspection records. Ask for a reference letter after 60 days.
6. Go up the chain. With one center cleaned to standard, ask the director for the area manager, and ask for the chain’s vendor onboarding.
7. Keep listening. Directors’ associations, early childhood conferences and the local child care resource and referral agency are where directors trade vendor names.

The direct outreach approach in how to get cleaning clients applies; the difference is the proof. In child care, the proof is a schedule that passes inspection. Keep the visit records, product list and crew roster for each center in one place: Broombook stores job history and client notes per site, which is what a director asks for when the inspector is in the building.