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Budget and prices · 2 August 2026 · 8 minutes

What commercial cleaning costs in Dubai: a 2026 breakdown

Every procurement conversation starts with “how much a month?” — and the honest answer is that the figure depends on which of three pricing models you’re buying, and on five cost drivers that most quotations never spell out.

Three pricing models

1 Staff supply — per cleaner per month You pay a fixed monthly rate for each person; the contractor covers the visa, medical insurance, accommodation, transport and wages. Market guides for 2026 put the range at roughly 2,200–3,200 AED per cleaner per month, depending on skill level, shift pattern and whether supervision is included.

The model is easy to budget for, but the management load sits with you: you’re buying hours, not outcomes. If nobody on your side has defined the routes, the areas and the checklists, you’ll pay for eight hours and see four hours’ worth of results.

2 By area — per square foot per month Typical for large sites. Published market ranges sit at roughly 0.30–1.20 AED per sq ft per month. The spread is wide because the density of detail matters more than the floor area: an open warehouse sits at the bottom of the range, an office with kitchens, meeting rooms and glass partitions at the top.

3 Outcome-based contract — a fixed price for a standard You buy the outcome: standards by area, frequencies, response times — and the contractor decides how many people that takes. This is the model serious property managers use: it moves the staffing risk onto the contractor and makes the contract auditable. It needs a proper scope and SLA up front — which is exactly why cheap contractors avoid it.

Five drivers that really move the price

Operating hours and shift structure. An office running 9 to 6 is one thing; a mall with a pre-opening clean, daytime patrolling and deep work at night is another price bracket. Round-the-clock cover and public holidays carry a premium.

Footfall. The labour comes from people, not from square metres. Entrances, washrooms and food areas need continuous attention rather than scheduled visits.

Work beyond the daily clean. Floor care, carpet extraction, facades and high-level glazing are priced separately. A quotation that looks as though it includes them usually doesn’t.

Consumables. Paper, soap, liners, dispensers — either a separate line or “included” at an inflated blended rate. Ask which it is.

Supervision and reporting. On-site supervisors, checklists, photo reports and a single point of contact cost money and are worth it: an unsupervised crew is the most expensive kind of cheap.

Where cheap turns expensive

In the Dubai market, quotations well below 2,200 AED per cleaner per month should raise a flag: at that level it’s hard to cover a visa, insurance, accommodation and wages through the Wage Protection System (WPS) legally. The saving usually comes out of one of three places: the workers — turnover and no-shows; your compliance risk — undocumented staff on site; or the service itself — one cleaner stretched across three clients’ worth of work.

The second hidden cost is replacement time. Everyone has absences; the difference is whether the missing person is replaced in two hours or two weeks. Ask for the replacement commitment in writing, and ask what reserve actually stands behind it.

What a realistic budget conversation sounds like

A serious contractor won’t quote from floor area alone. Expect questions about operating hours, peak periods, footfall, the number and use of washrooms, floor types, glass, consumables and reporting requirements. A site visit before pricing is a good sign; a same-day price for a 20,000 sq ft site with no visit is not.

The quotation should arrive as: scope by area, frequencies, a staffing plan by shift, an approach to consumables and a fixed monthly price with no hidden charges. That document is also your protection: it’s what you’ll audit against in month three.

The market ranges come from published 2026 Dubai pricing guides; your own quotation will depend on the specifics of the site.

Estimate your budget range Interactive

Set the area and tick what applies to your site. We calculate from published Dubai market ranges for 2026.

Site area, sq ft

Indicative monthly figure

Need a figure for your site?

Send us the basics about the site on WhatsApp and we’ll come back with a structured quotation rather than a number out of thin air. We price from area, schedule and scope, with no hidden charges.

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