Submira for facility and cleaning providers: winning multi-year contracts
Updated: 2026-09
On cleaning and FM awards the service is labour-intensive and the contract multi-year. Two things therefore decide it: the site visit as the basis for costing, and the employment-law evidence that must stay demonstrable across the whole term.
Cleaning and facility services differ from construction or consulting in two ways that shape the whole submission process. First the service is labour-intensive: costing hangs on areas, frequencies, performance requirements and the personnel hours that follow. Second the contracts are multi-year, often with extension options — an award ties up capacity for years, and a missed procedure shuts you out for years.
The basis for costing is not produced at a desk. Site visits are regularly scheduled in these procedures and are sometimes a condition of participation — on their own, early date, easily overlooked. Costing without a visit means costing blind, or being excluded.
The third point is employment-law evidence. On labour-intensive services, public buyers regularly require evidence of compliance with the applicable working and pay conditions and with social insurance obligations. This evidence carries validity dates and must often stay demonstrable across the contract term, not only at submission.
How it works
- 01
Record the site-visit date immediately as its own deadline
On first review, check whether a site visit is scheduled and whether it is a condition of participation. That date falls early and cannot be made up later.
- 02
Extract area, frequency and performance requirements structured
Pull from the specification the areas by room type, the required frequencies and the quality requirements — that is the entire basis for costing.
- 03
Keep employment-law evidence with validity dates
Hold evidence on working and pay conditions and social insurance in the knowledge base, so that before each submission it is visible what must be supplied afresh.
- 04
Set contract term and options against capacity planning
Capture base term, extension options and termination rules and test them against your own multi-year staffing plan before costing.
- 05
Map reference sites by property type
Administrative buildings, schools, hospitals and sports facilities impose different requirements. Store references structured accordingly, because suitability criteria ask along those lines.
- 06
Check price risk across the term
Look for provisions on indexation, pay adjustment and scope changes — on multi-year labour-intensive contracts, that decides the margin.
Why it fits here
Continuous monitoring makes sure early site-visit dates are not missed — on these procedures the most common cause of exclusion before any substantive review.
Extraction with source references opens up area, frequency and quality requirements from large specifications without anyone reading hundreds of pages in full.
The knowledge base carries employment-law evidence with validity dates — on labour-intensive services, the body of evidence that most often expires and is noticed latest.
FAQ
Is the site visit mandatory?
The individual tender governs it. Sometimes it is explicitly a condition of participation, sometimes recommended. Since the date falls early and cannot be made up, it belongs in the schedule either way.
Which employment-law evidence is required?
On labour-intensive services, public buyers regularly require evidence of compliance with the applicable working and pay conditions and with social insurance. The specific list is in the documents.
How do I cost a multi-year term?
What governs are the indexation and pay-adjustment provisions in the contract documents. On labour-intensive services they matter more than on most other contract types.
Do private-sector references count?
Often yes, provided they are comparable in property type and volume. The requirement depends on the procedure and is set out in the suitability criteria.
Can Submira do the costing?
No. Submira supplies the structured basis — areas, frequencies, requirements, deadlines and evidence status. Costing stays in your tools and in your responsibility.
Submira
Continuous monitoring makes sure early site-visit dates are not missed — on these procedures the most common cause of exclusion before any substantive review.
Extraction with source references opens up area, frequency and quality requirements from large specifications without anyone reading hundreds of pages in full.
The knowledge base carries employment-law evidence with validity dates — on labour-intensive services, the body of evidence that most often expires and is noticed latest.