How to find federal cleaning and grounds contracts
Federal agencies buy janitorial and grounds work every week, from one-building custodial contracts at a VA clinic to mowing at an Army Reserve center. Most of it is posted in one place, but searching it well takes some knowledge of the codes, the notice types and the gaps. This page covers where to look and what you will miss if you only look there. Once you have found one, see how to bid on federal janitorial contracts.
It explains how the process works. It is not legal advice; your state's free APEX Accelerator can help with a specific solicitation.
1. SAM.gov is where most of them are posted
Agencies must publicize proposed contract actions expected to exceed $25,000 by synopsizing them in the governmentwide point of entry (FAR 5.101(a)(1)), which is the Contract Opportunities section of SAM.gov. Searching it is free and needs no account; bidding needs an active SAM registration.
Smaller jobs are different. Between $20,000 and $25,000 the agency only has to display the notice in a public place or by electronic means, for at least 10 days (FAR 5.101(a)(2)). Below that, small one-off cleanings and seasonal work are often bought without a posted notice at all, which is one reason to introduce yourself to the contracting office at bases and federal buildings near you.
2. Search by the industry codes, then by words
Every notice carries a NAICS code. The two that cover most of this work:
- 561720, Janitorial Services: custodial, floor care, window cleaning inside buildings.
- 561730, Landscaping Services: mowing, grounds maintenance, tree and shrub care.
Many notices also carry a product and service code (PSC). For these trades, look at S201 (custodial and janitorial) and S208 (landscaping and groundskeeping). Codes are entered by people and are sometimes wrong; a combined facilities contract may sit under a facilities support code instead. Run a keyword search too ("janitorial", "custodial", "grounds maintenance", "mowing") and filter by the place of performance near you.
With a free SAM.gov account you can save a search and have SAM.gov email you when new notices match it. Check the notice itself rather than the email: dates and attachments change by amendment.
3. What each notice type tells you
A search result is not always an open bid. The notice type tells you where the buy stands:
- Sources sought: market research. The agency is asking who can do the work. Answering is free and can affect whether it is set aside for small businesses (see how set-asides work).
- Presolicitation: advance notice. Outside the commercial exceptions, it must be published at least 15 days before the solicitation is issued (FAR 5.203(a)).
- Solicitation or combined synopsis/solicitation: the live bid, with a due date. Cleaning and grounds work is usually bought as commercial services, and the combined form puts the notice and the solicitation in one posting (FAR 12.603).
- Award notice: who won and for how much. Useful for pricing research and for knowing when the contract will come up again.
4. Response times can be short
For non-commercial buys over the simplified acquisition threshold, agencies must allow at least 30 days to respond (FAR 5.203(c)). Commercial services are exempt from that minimum; for them the contracting officer sets a response time based on the complexity and urgency of the buy (FAR 5.203(b)), and a combined synopsis/solicitation skips the 15-day advance notice (FAR 12.603(c)). So a cleaning solicitation can be due well under 30 days after you first see it. A site visit may fall in the first week (see site visits). Checking once a month is not enough; check at least weekly.
5. What never shows up as an open bid
The synopsis rule has exceptions (FAR 5.202). The ones that matter most for cleaning and grounds:
- Orders under existing contracts, such as task orders under an indefinite-delivery contract (FAR 5.202(a)(6) and (a)(11)). Only the holders of that contract can compete for them.
- Required sources, including work that must go to nonprofit agencies for people who are blind or severely disabled (the AbilityOne program), and contracts awarded through SBA's 8(a) program (FAR 5.202(a)(4)).
If a building's cleaning is on the AbilityOne list, it will not be competed, however long you wait. That is worth checking before you plan around a nearby site.
6. Find rebids before they are posted
Most federal cleaning contracts run a base year plus option years and then are competed again. Past awards are public on USAspending.gov: filter by NAICS 561720 or 561730 and by place of performance, and look at the period of performance end dates. A contract ending in the next six to twelve months will usually reappear first as a sources sought or presolicitation notice. Agency procurement forecasts, many collected on GSA's Acquisition Gateway forecast tool, list planned buys by quarter, though they are for planning only and change.
We do this search for each state: the recompetes by state pages list federal cleaning and grounds contracts with end dates coming up, plus what is open on SAM.gov now.
Where we fit
The free weekly list does sections 1 to 6 for you: every open federal janitorial and grounds solicitation, plus rebids coming up, your state first, every Monday. The bid desk ($149 a month, 14-day trial) adds a go/no-go note on each one, and we can draft the response when you decide to bid.
Checked October 20, 2026 against the linked FAR pages (FAC 2026-01). The notice on SAM.gov is the authority on dates and requirements.