Condo boards receive proposals that are not comparable because each bidder scoped the property differently. Fix that first: issue one written scope with the same surfaces, areas, and requirements to every bidder. Then compare method fit, access plan, protection, exclusions, insurance, and documentation, and treat price as the final tiebreaker rather than the first filter.
Key Takeaways
- Bids differ mostly because the scope was left to each bidder to invent
- Issue one written scope to everyone, or comparison is not possible
- Exclusions are where a cheap bid usually hides
- Boards have a documentation duty; require photo and method records
- Insurance naming the association as additional insured is not optional
Compare Scope Before Price
A board collects three exterior cleaning proposals and finds a spread of two or three times between the lowest and highest. The natural conclusion is that one contractor is overcharging. The usual reality is that the three are quoting different work.
One included the rear elevations and one did not. One priced lift access for the third and fourth floors and another priced ground and pole. One included balcony undersides and railings and another excluded them without saying so. One is soft washing the EIFS and another is pressure washing everything.
None of those differences is visible from the price. They are only visible if every bidder responded to the same written scope, which is the single most valuable thing a board can do before requesting proposals.
This matters more for a condo board than for a commercial owner, because the board is spending other people's money and is accountable for the decision. A documented, apples-to-apples comparison is a defensible one.
Build a Like-for-Like Proposal Checklist
Issue one document to every bidder containing:
- The property and building list, with addresses and unit counts
- A zone list naming every surface: elevations by building, entrances, breezeways, stairwells, walkways, balcony undersides and railings, amenity areas, trash enclosures, carports, garage decks, signage
- Approximate areas per zone, even rough
- Materials per zone, as far as the board knows them
- Current condition and known problem areas, photographed
- What is explicitly in and out of scope
- Required response format: pricing by zone, method per zone with a reason, access plan per elevation, exclusions listed
- Insurance requirements, with limits
- Documentation requirements
- Resident notice and scheduling requirements
- A single site walk date with all bidders present
That last item does more work than anything else on the list. One walk with everyone present means every bidder heard the same answers to the same questions, and it takes a morning.
If the association does not have an exterior asset list, this exercise produces one. See building a commercial exterior asset inventory.
Evaluate Surfaces, Access, and Methods
Method fit. For each zone, does the proposed method suit the material? EIFS, stucco, painted masonry, and coated siding need low-pressure soft washing; concrete walkways and carport decks take pressure. A proposal specifying one method for the whole property has not assessed the property. This is a damage-risk question, not a preference.
Access plan. Which elevations need lift, rope, scaffolding, or aerial access, and does each bidder agree? Where they disagree, one has misread the building and it is worth resolving before award. Access is also the largest single cost driver, so a bid that is cheaper because it assumed easier access is not actually cheaper.
Coverage. Does the bid cover every elevation, or only the street-facing ones? Rear and courtyard elevations are frequently the shadiest and the dirtiest, and they are also the easiest to omit quietly.
Balconies and railings. A common ambiguity. Undersides, railings, and balcony ceilings should be explicitly in or out.
Roof and gutters. Usually separate, but should be stated rather than assumed.
Realistic outcome. Which stains will not fully clear? Rust bleed, efflorescence, and long-established staining on porous surfaces frequently do not. A bidder who says so is more credible, not less.
Check Scheduling, Communication, and Site Protection
For a residential association these are not soft factors. They are what determines whether the board spends the following month handling complaints.
- Resident notice. Does the bidder provide notice language, and what lead time do they work to? Two weeks general, one week building-specific, 48-hour reminder is a reasonable standard
- Scheduling by building, so residents get a defined window rather than intermittent disruption
- Quiet hours compliance, which most associations have contractually
- Parking management. How many spaces are released at a time and are they restored daily
- Balcony instructions and what happens when a resident does not comply
- Landscaping protection, since associations typically carry significant landscape investment
- Pedestrian routing and wet-surface marking
- Rain-delay policy in writing, given that a reschedule means reissuing notices to every resident
- A named point of contact reachable during the work
Our guide on multifamily exterior cleaning notices and schedules covers what good looks like here.
Compare Exclusions, Assumptions, and Change Orders
This is where a low bid usually lives.
Require an explicit exclusion list from every bidder. A proposal with no exclusions has not defined its boundaries, and undefined boundaries get asserted after the work when the board has no leverage.
Compare the assumptions. Water source, staging access, number of mobilizations, working hours, and whether the price assumes uninterrupted access.
Compare mobilization structure. A bid assuming one continuous mobilization is cheaper than one assuming three, and on an occupied residential property three is often what actually happens.
Change order process. How is an unexpected finding priced, who approves it, and does work stop pending approval? For a board, an unapproved change order is a governance problem as much as a cost one.
Warranty and callback. What is covered, over what period, and what triggers a return visit.
Payment terms. Deposit, progress billing, and whether final payment is conditioned on a completion walk. Boards should retain a completion condition.
Questions to Ask Each Contractor
- Can you provide a current insurance certificate naming the association as an additional insured, and does it run through the full contract term?
- What comparable residential associations have you worked on, and can we speak to them?
- Which elevations are you soft washing and which are you pressure washing, and why?
- What is your access plan for the upper floors, and what does it do to our parking?
- What will you provide for resident notice, and what lead time do you need from us?
- What is on your exclusion list?
- Which stains do you expect will not fully clear?
- What documentation do we receive when the job is finished?
- What is your rain-delay policy in writing?
- If a resident reports damage, what is the process?
Question three is diagnostic. A contractor who can answer it elevation by elevation walked the property. One who answers generally did not.
Request a Scope Review
If the board does not have a written scope to issue, that is the place to start. WashLabs Exteriors will walk the property, document it zone by zone, and return a scope the board can issue to every bidder, not only to us. Boards that do this typically find the bid spread narrows substantially.
Call (610) 665-3995 or request a free scope review. See our HOA and condo exterior cleaning service and our guide on HOA exterior cleaning and property values.