Website for Cleaning Companies: Win Contracts and Staff

Commercial cleaning is rarely bought by private individuals. According to the industry report of the national guild association, customers are, as a rule, companies and public institutions (BIV industry report 2025): the office manager looking for a new contractor, the practice owner before opening day, the property manager with a portfolio of residential buildings. These readers compare soberly. They want to know whether the business knows their kind of premises, whether it works in their area and how to get a quote. Next to them is a second group with entirely different questions: people looking for a job, often alongside family or another job, who first want to know when and where they would work and what the hourly pay is.

Both groups land on the same home page. That is why two equally large entry points belong right below the header: “Quote for your premises” and “Jobs with us”. Equally large is meant literally. A “Careers” link tucked away in the footer tells applicants they are an afterthought – in a trade where every new contract needs additional working hours, that is the wrong message. One industry figure shows how much weight staff carries: wage costs make up 85 per cent of the price on average (BIV industry report 2025), while for other business services the share is 31 per cent according to the Federal Statistical Office (BIV industry report 2025 citing Destatis). Whoever wins contracts therefore needs people to carry them out almost in the same breath.

Property managers are a customer type of their own. They often award several buildings at once and want to pass the costs on to the residents through the service charge statement. Under the German Operating Costs Ordinance, the costs of building cleaning include the costs of cleaning the parts of the building used jointly by the residents, such as entrances, hallways, stairs, cellars, attics, laundry rooms and the lift car (Section 2 no. 9 BetrKV). For the website this means: the page for residential buildings shows that each building gets its own record of work and its own invoice line, that a cleaning schedule hangs in the hallway and who residents can contact with questions. These are the points at which a property manager sees that the business understands their billing.

For applicants a different question comes first: does the job fit into my day? The industry report explains why this question weighs so heavily. Businesses often organise their work so that most people notice little of the service, which is why cleaning is often done by part-time staff in the early morning or late evening hours (BIV industry report 2025). A vacancies page that only promises “flexible working hours” leaves the question open. A vacancies page that says “Monday to Friday, 5:30 to 8:00 am, office building in the city centre” answers it. The association also sees daytime cleaning as an opportunity for recruitment, because more people would be interested in a cleaning job if continuous, family-friendly working hours during the day were possible. If you look after such premises, put them first on the vacancies page.

The type of job has shifted too. Between 2014 and 2023 the number of employees subject to social insurance in building cleaning rose by 23.7 per cent, while the number of mini-jobs fell by 24.4 per cent (BIV industry report 2025 citing Destatis). If you offer part-time or full-time jobs subject to social insurance, do not hide them behind mini-jobs. For each job, say whether it is part-time, full-time or a mini-job, and how many hours per week are meant.

The second point is pay. Building cleaning has generally binding sector minimum wages: in 2026 they are €15.00 per hour in pay group 1 and €18.40 in pay group 6 (German Customs). According to the association, pay group 1 covers interior and maintenance cleaning, pay group 6 covers glass and facade cleaning as well as qualified journeymen; the association contrasts the entry wage with the statutory minimum wage of €13.90 (BIV). State the hourly wage on the vacancies page in euros, not as “fair pay”. Because the sector minimum wage applies to every business, it is not yet an argument for yours. An argument is what you offer beyond it, such as fixed rounds, continuous shifts or a company vehicle.

The collectively agreed framework belongs on the page in figures as well. Under the generally binding framework collective agreement there are, among other things, 30 days of holiday, a 30 per cent supplement for night work and an 80 per cent supplement on Sundays and public holidays (BIV industry report 2025). If you train apprentices, say so too: building cleaning is a state-recognised training occupation, and the apprenticeship takes three years (BIV). And a note on upkeep: the minimum wages for 2026 apply from 1 January to 31 December 2026 (German Customs). If the rates change, a vacancies page nobody maintains shows an amount that is no longer correct. Put the check at the turn of the year in your calendar, or hand it over with website maintenance.

For the application itself a short route is enough: name, phone number, preferred working hours and a free text field. CV and references are often not what decides suitability for a job in regular cleaning; a conversation on site says more. Legally, applicants count as employees within the meaning of the Federal Data Protection Act (Section 26(8) BDSG), so the website’s privacy notice needs its own section on applications. And a job must not be advertised in breach of the ban on discrimination (Section 11 AGG). How a careers page for small businesses is structured overall is shown in Careers page: attract applicants through your own website.

Clients hand a cleaning company keys, alarm codes and rooms holding confidential documents. Accordingly, they check carefully whom they entrust with that. The website supplies verifiable details for this instead of a wall of seals. One example is the master craftsman’s certificate: the building cleaning trade is listed among the crafts that require no licence (Annex B Section 1 no. 33 HwO), so a business does not need a master craftsman to be founded. If you have one, name it – with the name of the person. The same goes for guild membership, business liability insurance and, if it really exists, a certificate with its number and issuer. The word “certified” without these details is best left out.

Customer testimonials only belong on the page if they are genuine and the clients have agreed to their publication. With cleaning companies there is the added point that not every client wants to be named publicly as a customer. Honest alternatives are a list of the types of premises with location, such as “medical practices and offices across the city”, or reviews in the business profile that the website links to. What is allowed and where warning letters loom is covered in Customer reviews: build trust with ratings.

Some cleaning companies serve private households as well as commercial clients, for example with window cleaning or regular cleaning of the home. Different rules apply to these customers. Anyone offering services to consumers or advertising them with prices must state total prices (Section 3(1) PAngV), meaning the price including VAT (Section 2 no. 3 PAngV). A price table with net prices meant for commercial clients therefore does not belong on a page for private customers. Separate the two areas visibly, and on the private page state gross prices or the steps to a quote. Whether prices belong on the page at all is weighed up in Show prices on your website.

For private customers a tax note is also useful. For household-related services, income tax is reduced on application by 20 per cent of the expenses, up to a maximum of €4,000 (Section 35a(2) EStG). Only the labour costs qualify, and the conditions are an invoice and payment into the provider’s bank account (Section 35a(5) EStG). If your invoices show labour costs separately, this sentence belongs on the page for private customers – as information, not as tax advice.