A fictional comparison of in-house versus outsourced cleaning separates additional expenditure from the allocation of existing personnel costs.
Oldenburg, 9 October 2026. When comparing in-house cleaning with an external cleaning contract, the calculation threshold influences the outcome. Labour time that has already been paid for and is actually available results in a different additional payment requirement than labour time that must be newly procured. Nevertheless, its expense does not disappear from a cost analysis. Jonas Gebäudereinigung explains this distinction using an independent fictional example, building on its existing public technical article on in-house cleaning.
The hypothetical facility requires 120 productive cleaning hours per month. Of these, 80 hours of existing, already paid-for capacity are actually available. In this example, this time is not otherwise scheduled; the remaining 40 hours must be procured additionally. The necessary scope of services remains the same in the comparison. All hours and amounts are freely chosen model assumptions, not actual Jonas data, tariff rates, or market prices.
Two questions, two calculation thresholds
For allocation to the cleaning division, the 80 available hours in the example are each valued at 24 euros. This results in 1.920 euros of allocated costs. Added to this are 40 additional hours at 30 euros each, i.e., 1.200 euros, and assumed additional material expenses of 300 euros. A total of 3.420 euros is thus allocated to the cleaning division.
The question of new payments results in a different sum here: 1.200 euros for the additional hours plus 300 euros for material, making a total of 1.500 euros per month. The 1.920 euros for existing capacity are already included within the personnel costs, which continue to be paid unchanged. Adding them again to the total existing personnel expenditure would result in double counting.
Existing payments remain even with an external contract
For the other model variant, a freely chosen external monthly price of 1.800 euros is applied. It is intended to cover the same scope of services including materials. In this variant, too, the previous personnel payment in the example remains unchanged. Neither a reduction in staff nor any other use of the freed-up time is assumed.
If B denotes the entire previous personnel payment that persists in both variants, the considered payment requirement is therefore B + 1.500 euros for in-house cleaning and B + 1.800 euros for the external contract. Under exactly these assumptions, the difference is 300 euros in additional monthly payments. The 1.920 euros allocated to the cleaning division are not personnel expenses saved by the external contract.
Three figures for a reliable comparison
Anyone wishing to apply this model calculation to their own facility must replace the assumptions individually. First, it must be clarified which paid hours are actually available for cleaning. Then, it must be checked which additional expenses arise and whether an external offer includes the same tasks and materials. Finally, it must be established whether the previous personnel payment persists in both variants. Only these three separate figures determine which totals are comparable. A lower allocated amount alone does not answer the payment question.
Check assumptions before making a decision
Comparing 3.420 euros in allocated division costs with 1.800 euros as an external price answers a different question than comparing additional payments. This does not result in a proven reduction in total company expenditure. If freed-up capacity is used elsewhere or if personnel payments change, the calculation must be reconstructed with these verified consequences.
Existing capacity should be evidenced by realistic deployment times. Unpaid overtime or the displacement of necessary tasks is not treated as free time in the example. Further costs, risks, and quality differences remain outside this simplified calculation and must be examined separately in a concrete decision. The article therefore does not recommend a specific contracting variant and does not describe any automatic function of a calculation tool.
Technical source:Jonas technical article on in-house cleaning
About the sender
Jonas Gebäudereinigung is a cleaning company based in Oldenburg with a public service offering for commercial clients.
Contact
Jonas Gebäudereinigung
Alexanderstraße 101 B, 26121 Oldenburg, Germany
Phone: 0441 24923021
E-mail: info@jonas-gebäudereinigung.de
Editorial note: The technical article was created with AI assistance based on the cited public source and an independent fictional model calculation.