Your first federal contract: a guide for cleaning and grounds companies

If you run a cleaning, landscaping or facilities company in Virginia, Maryland, DC, Delaware or Pennsylvania, there's a good chance the federal government is buying the kind of work you already do, somewhere near you. VA medical centers, military bases, Army Corps of Engineers lakes and dams, national parks and federal office buildings all need cleaning, mowing and upkeep. Most of these contracts run a base year plus option years, so a single win can keep a crew busy for up to five years.

Getting there takes some paperwork and a careful first bid, but small firms do it all the time. This guide goes through it in the order you'll actually do it.

Small firms win most of this work

We looked at 740 competed federal awards in seven facilities trades with work in VA, MD, DC, DE and PA over the last 24 months, using public data from USAspending.gov. Small businesses won 80% of them. The typical award drew three bids, and more than a quarter (27%) drew only one.

Get registered on SAM.gov

To bid on a federal contract yourself, you need a full entity registration on SAM.gov. A Unique Entity ID on its own isn't enough. GSA says firms with only an ID can't bid directly as prime contractors.

Registration is always free. According to GSA it can take several days to complete and validate, and longer if your name, address or ownership details don't match what the IRS and SBA have on file. Start a few weeks before you want to bid. Once you're registered, you'll need to renew every 365 days.

When you register, list the NAICS codes for the work you do. For our trades the main ones are 561720 for janitorial services, 561730 for landscaping and 561210 for facilities support. Our guide to which NAICS codes to list covers the rest, and why one code isn't enough.

Check that you count as small

The SBA sets a size limit for each NAICS code, based on your average annual revenue. If you're under the limit, you count as small for contracts under that code.

* Only for contracts that combine three or more separate services where none makes up half the value. Otherwise the contract uses the code of its main service. Source: SBA size standards, 13 CFR 121.201. The SBA proposed new size standards in August 2026; they aren't final.

This matters because most contracts in our trades are set aside. When a contracting officer expects offers from at least two capable small businesses, the contract must be set aside for small businesses. Some set-asides are narrower still.

Learn where the bids are posted

Most open contracts worth more than about $25,000 are posted on SAM.gov Contract Opportunities. Search by your NAICS codes, your state and the set-asides you qualify for.

You'll see a few kinds of notices:

• Sources sought notice or request for information. The agency is still checking who could do the work. These are worth answering, because GSA notes that if capable small businesses don't respond, the contract may not be set aside.
• Presolicitation. A heads-up that a bid is coming.
• Solicitation. The bid itself, with the work statement, forms and deadline.
• Award notice. Who won and for how much. This is some of the best pricing research you'll find.

Some work never shows up as an open notice, such as orders placed under existing GSA Schedule or multiple-award contracts. Your first bid will almost certainly be an open notice on SAM.gov.

Pick a first bid you can win

The best first contract is rarely the biggest one. Look for something close to home. Site visits are common, and you'll want to manage the crew in person. Check the hours, frequency and square footage in the work statement and make sure the job fits the crew you have. A set-aside you qualify for helps too, because fewer firms can bid.

Competition varies a lot by trade. Over the last two years in our region, grounds awards drew a median of 6 bids and janitorial awards a median of 13.5. Smaller, specialized or out-of-the-way jobs often draw fewer. Try to give yourself at least two weeks before the deadline.

One thing to rule out early: some custodial and grounds work is reserved for nonprofits that employ people who are blind or have significant disabilities, through the AbilityOne program. If the work is on the Procurement List, it isn't open to you.

Read the bid closely

A lot of first offers fall down on details rather than price. Our guide on how to read a government contract bid covers where to look first. Start with the wage determination. The Service Contract Act covers federal service contracts over $2,500, and you must pay at least the wages and fringe benefits in the wage determination attached to the bid (Department of Labor).

Then write down the dates:

• The site visit, and whether you have to attend.
• The deadline for questions, which is usually well before the bid is due.
• The bid deadline itself, including the time zone and how to submit (email, portal or paper).

Check what insurance, licenses and bonding you'll need. Herbicide or pest work, for example, often needs a state applicator license.

Finally, find out how offers will be judged. Some bids go to the lowest price among acceptable offers. Others weigh price against quality. Either way, you'll usually be asked about past performance, and commercial work counts. Federal rules let you cite federal, state, local and private contracts, and in a formal evaluation a firm with no relevant record is rated neither favorably nor unfavorably. Our past performance guide covers how to present it.

Build the price from the wage determination up

Many cleaning and grounds contracts weigh price heavily, so your number has to be sharp and still pay. Build it in this order:

1. Labor hours. List every task, how often it's done and how long it takes.
2. Hourly pay. Use a rate for each job title at or above the wage determination.
3. Required benefits. Add the fringe benefits, holidays and vacation the wage determination requires.
4. Payroll costs. Add payroll taxes and workers' comp.
5. Running costs. Add supplies, equipment and supervision.
6. Overhead and profit.

Price every option year, not just the first. Wage rates can be updated when an option year starts, and the contract includes a price adjustment clause to cover the required increase. To sanity-check your number, look up what similar contracts nearby sold for in the award notices on SAM.gov and USAspending, or see what contracts in our region have been worth. For a full worked example, read our guide to reading a wage determination.