Free calculator
Cleaning staff requirement from area, frequency and productivity.
The calculator derives how many work hours a site needs per month and how many full-time equivalents that translates into. It is the foundation for quoting, dispatching and capacity planning.
Starting values reflect market benchmarks. Adjust them to your site; the result recalculates live.
Cleaning staff requirement
Formula: hours/month = m² / productivity × cleanings/month. FTE = hours/month / productive hours/month.
All values entered? Result in seconds.
How the calculator works
The approach is deliberately simple and transparent. Every value is visible and editable.
1. Hours per cleaning
Area in m² divided by productivity in m² per hour. Productivity depends on cleaning type, occupancy and quality level. For maintenance cleaning, 220 m²/h is a common starting value.
2. Hours per month
Hours per cleaning multiplied by cleanings per month. That is the on-site requirement, without travel and admin.
3. Full-time equivalents
Hours per month divided by productive hours per full-time worker and month. 135 productive hours per month corresponds to around 1620 productive hours per year, realistic for full-time cleaning.
4. Personnel cost per month
Hours per month multiplied by hourly rate. The rate should cover full personnel cost. If you don't have a clean fully loaded rate, use the hourly billing rate calculator first.
What to watch out for in practice
The most common mistakes in staff requirement pricing:
- Productivity set too high. With heavy furniture, high occupancy or quality levels like healthcare or cleanroom, real values sit well below the starting value.
- Setup and travel time missing. The calculator shows on-site need only. Setup, site-to-site travel and handovers must be added in dispatching.
- Productive hours per FTE set too high. Assuming 2028 target hours ignores vacation, sickness and public holidays.
- Only baseline cleaning planned, no specials. Window cleaning, deep cleaning and winter service have their own productivity values and should be planned separately.
- Sick reserve missing. For a realistic staff plan, 5 to 10 percent reserve for absences should be added depending on region.
Staff requirement FAQ
How many cleaners do I need for 1000 square metres?
For maintenance cleaning at 220 m²/h, 1000 m² gives about 4.5 hours per cleaning. At 20 cleanings per month that is 90 hours. With 135 productive hours per FTE per month, that equals roughly 0.7 full-time equivalents.
How many productive hours does a full-time cleaner have per month?
At 39 hours per week, target hours are 2028 per year, around 169 per month. After vacation, sickness and holidays, roughly 130 to 140 productive hours per month remain. The calculator uses 135 as a starting value.
What productivity is realistic?
Starting values reflect market benchmarks. Realistic values sit between 150 and 300 m²/h for maintenance cleaning and 60 to 120 m²/h for glass. Furniture, frequency and quality level are the main drivers.
Do I need to include a sick reserve?
Not for the pure requirement calculation. For capacity planning, 5 to 10 percent reserve should be added depending on region and site type. That reserve is often covered by floaters or subcontractors.
How does the requirement differ for healthcare or hotels?
Healthcare cleaning, housekeeping or cleanroom have significantly lower productivity values because quality levels, proof of service and hygiene requirements consume more time. Adjust the productivity field accordingly.
Can I hand off the result to Taskey?
Yes. One click hands the calculated requirement to Taskey. From there it feeds quotes, dispatching and capacity planning.
Related
Cleaning cost calculator
Site quote with labour, materials, travel and target margin.
Hourly billing rate calculator
Full-cost calculation of the billing rate per productive hour.
Dispatching for cleaning companies
Crews, sites, floaters and reserves in daily operation.
Capacity planning
See whether available headcount actually covers the sites.
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