Cleaning RFP / Tender Template for Irish Procurement Officers

Last updated: 4 May 2026 · By Shepherd Nyakudya, Founder, Optus Glean

What is the legal framework for an Irish cleaning RFP?

The framework depends on the buyer:

• Public-sector buyers (government departments, HSE, local authorities, ETBs, universities, semi-state bodies) procure under S.I. 284/2016 implementing EU Directive 2014/24/EU. Above the EU thresholds (€143,000 central government / €221,000 sub-central) the full EU regime applies; below threshold, Circular 05/2023 from the Department of Public Expenditure governs.
• Office of Government Procurement (OGP) publishes guidance and operates a multi-supplier framework agreement for commercial cleaning services worth approximately €88 million per year. Public bodies can call off cleaning services from approved framework suppliers without running individual tenders.
• Private-sector buyers are not bound by S.I. 284/2016 but typically follow similar processes for the same reasons: defensible decision-making, value for money, and risk management.

What does a defensible cleaning RFP specify?

A complete cleaning RFP has eight sections. Missing any one creates either tender risk for you or scope risk for the contract.

Section 1: Site description and scope

• Site name, address, Eircode, ownership context (owner-occupied / leased).
• Floor area in square metres by zone type (office, clinical, retail, public, kitchen, plant, etc.).
• Surface materials by zone (carpet, vinyl, hardwood, ceramic, concrete).
• Opening hours and access protocol.
• Workforce / occupancy profile.
• Sector-specific risk profile (healthcare / food / education / construction-adjacent).

Section 2: Cleaning specification by zone

For every zone, specify:

• Daily / weekly / monthly / quarterly / annual frequency table.
• Tasks at each frequency.
• Equipment and chemistry expectations (e.g. healthcare-grade disinfectant, colour-coded mops, microfibre).
• Performance standards (visual quality criteria, audit pass rate, KPIs).
• Working hours and access constraints.

This is the spine of the RFP. Vague specifications produce vague bids; precise specifications produce comparable bids.

Section 3: KPIs and SLAs

Procurement officers should define both service-level objectives (the baseline cleaning standard expected) and service-level agreements (the response times for ad-hoc events). A typical set:

Section 4: Compliance and accreditation requirements

Specify the floor explicitly:

• Insurance: minimum €6.5 million public liability; minimum €13 million employer's liability; minimum €1.3 million professional indemnity for any advisory or specialist scope. Certificates required at tender and renewable annually.
• Garda vetting: confirm the requirement (mandatory for healthcare, education, residential care, vulnerable-persons settings under the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012). Verification before deployment, refreshed every 3 years.
• Tax clearance: from Revenue; mandatory for public sector and recommended for private sector.
• Payroll compliance: explicit statement of compliance with the Contract Cleaning Joint Labour Committee Employment Regulation Order with 2026 rates of €13.30/hr operative and €15.06/hr supervisor as the minimum floor.
• Quality management: ISO 9001 strongly preferred; ISO 14001 environmental and ISO 45001 H&S as further evidence.
• HSA chemical safety compliance: COSHH data sheets retained on site per HSA Chemical Agents Regulations.
• Sector-specific evidence: HACCP awareness for hotel/food contracts, Safe Pass for construction-adjacent, IPC training for healthcare.

Section 5: Audit cadence and reporting

• Monthly contractor-led internal audit with documented results.
• Monthly performance report submitted by 7th of following month covering: audit pass rate, complaint log, completed scheduled tasks, exceptions and corrective actions.
• Quarterly joint audit (contractor + buyer representative).
• Annual third-party audit (optional, but recommended for high-value or high-risk contracts).
• Quarterly review meeting in person or video.
• Real-time fault reporting via documented channel (email, ticketing system, WhatsApp).

Section 6: Pricing and payment

• Fixed monthly base price covering scheduled scope.
• Hourly rate for ad-hoc work (specify separately for daytime, evening, weekend).
• Out-of-hours premium structure.
• Outbreak / biohazard response pricing (typically included up to a defined hours threshold, hourly rate beyond).
• Annual price review tied to ERO and CPI movement.
• Payment terms (typically 30 days net for public sector).
• Penalty clauses for sustained KPI failure (escalating from credit note to termination right).

Section 7: Insurance, indemnity, and risk

• Insurance minimums and renewal evidence requirement.
• Indemnity terms covering damage, theft, injury arising from contractor activity.
• Data protection / GDPR clause if contractor staff have access to personal data areas (e.g. open-plan offices with sensitive documents, medical practices).
• Health and safety responsibilities under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005.
• Sub-contracting policy: who, under what oversight, with what notification.

Section 8: Exit terms and TUPE

• Notice period (typically 3-6 months for established contracts).
• Performance termination triggers (sustained KPI failure, material breach).
• Data return obligation.
• TUPE position under European Communities (Protection of Employees on Transfer of Undertakings) Regulations 2003 (S.I. 131/2003) — whether staff transfer to incoming contractor on contract end.
• Handover protocol to incoming contractor (typically 4-week parallel running period).

What scoring matrix should an RFP use?

Public-sector cleaning tenders use the Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT) evaluation criteria. The lowest price does not automatically win. Typical weightings:

Quality criteria typically split as:

Price scoring formula (standard OGP): (lowest compliant bid / your bid) × price weight. The lowest compliant bid gets full marks; each other bid is scored as a ratio.

What are the most common procurement mistakes in cleaning RFPs?

1. Vague scope. “Daily cleaning” means very different things to different bidders. Specify operative-hours per week, frequency by area, and explicit task lists.
2. No KPIs. Without measurable performance criteria, the buyer has no objective basis to challenge underperformance.
3. Specifying the lowest insurance minimum. Many tenders specify €2.5 million public liability when industry standard is €6.5 million; this excludes serious bidders and elevates underbidding.
4. Not specifying ERO compliance explicitly. Without an explicit ERO clause, contractors who underpay staff can underbid and win on price.
5. Underweighting quality vs price. A 50/50 weighting on a healthcare contract typically delivers a worse outcome than a 70/30 weighting because quality differences materially affect compliance risk.
6. No outbreak / biohazard SLA. Healthcare, education, and food-environment contracts need explicit response-time commitments for unplanned events.
7. Open-ended sub-contracting permissions. Without limits on sub-contracting, the contractor you evaluate may not be the team you receive.
8. No exit / TUPE clause. End-of-contract transitions can be chaotic without a defined handover protocol and a clear TUPE position.
9. Insufficient mobilisation period. A 1-week mobilisation between contract award and contract start is rarely realistic for a large contract; 4-8 weeks is industry standard.
10. Pricing schedule errors. A pricing schedule that mixes fixed-monthly and hourly without clear distinction creates billing disputes.

What about the abnormally-low-price test?

Under Regulation 69 of S.I. 284/2016, contracting authorities must investigate tenders that appear abnormally low. There is no fixed percentage threshold, but anything below the ERO-compliant labour-cost floor plus statutory on-costs is a red flag. The 2026 floor:

• ERO operative rate: €13.30/hr.
• Plus PRSI 11.05%, holiday pay 8%, sick pay, supervision, materials, overhead, margin.
• Fully loaded floor: approximately €17.50–€18.50/hr.

If a bidder's hourly equivalent priced rate falls below this, the contracting authority should issue a Regulation 69 notice. The bidder has 5-10 working days to justify the pricing in writing; failure to justify means exclusion. See our detailed ERO contract cleaning guide and eTenders & OGP framework guide.

Where can I find existing public-sector cleaning RFPs to reference?

• eTenders.gov.ie — the official Irish government procurement portal. Search by CPV code: 90910000 (cleaning services), 90911200 (building cleaning), 90919200 (office cleaning), 90919300 (school cleaning).
• OGP publishes guidance documents and historical tender notices on their website.
• TED (Tenders Electronic Daily) publishes EU-threshold tenders including Irish public-sector cleaning contracts.

Internal links

• eTenders & OGP framework guide
• OGP commercial cleaning framework
• ERO contract cleaning guide
• Cleaning company insurance
• Cleaning company certifications
• How to win cleaning contracts