While many challenges facing contract cleaning professionals remain unchanged from a year ago — labor pressures, wage growth, and rising operating costs — the 2026 Building Service Contractor Market Study, conducted jointly by Contracting Profits and BSCAI each year, suggests contractors are changing how they respond.
Compared to 2025, contract cleaning professionals are showing new interest in technology, expanding into new service categories, and looking for ways to demonstrate value beyond traditional cleaning.
“The continued pressure around finding and retaining good people while customer expectations continue to rise,” Mac Hennessey, regional vice president for the Southeast region at CCS Facility Services, says of the report’s overall findings. “That makes a great company culture, strong leadership, and the right technology more important than ever.”
Technology Adoption Is Accelerating
The strongest shift between the two reports is the industry's growing embrace of automation, AI, and digital tools.
In 2025, just 25% of contractors expected demand for automation and technology in contracts to increase. In 2026, that figure climbed to 38%, a 13-point increase year over year.
Actual technology adoption is growing as well:
- Planned use of AI for office, marketing, and back-office functions increased from 29% in 2025 to 41% in 2026.
- Planned adoption of robotic floor equipment doubled from 16% in 2025 to 32% in 2026.
Technology is no longer an experimental investment. Contract cleaning professionals increasingly see it as a practical solution to workforce challenges, operational efficiency, and customer demands for accountability.
Customers Want More Than a Clean Appearance
The industry's focus on health and safety remains remarkably consistent.
In 2025, 45% of respondents said customers’ top priority was a healthy, sanitary, and safe environment for building occupants. In 2026, that figure increased slightly to nearly 47%.
What has changed is how customers want that delivered and documented.
In 2026, contract cleaning professionals are moving from the perception of clean to proof of clean, aided by the use of data, AI, and IoT-enabled systems. At the same time, 41% of contract cleaning professionals expect client scrutiny of cleaning services to increase moving forward.
“Technology has changed the level of visibility customers expect today. They want to know what is being done, when it is being done, and have the ability to verify performance,” Mac Hennessey, regional vice president of the Southeast region at CCS Facility Services, says. “We have been very successful in providing that visibility to our customers. Our technology is simple, reliable, and user-friendly, and most importantly, our teams actually use it. It has become a valuable tool for our customers and a real differentiator for us in the marketplace.”
Diversification Is Becoming a Growth Strategy
The 2025 report found that 33% of contractors expected diversification of service offerings to increase. By 2026, that figure has climbed to 47%, representing one of the largest year-over-year shifts in the study.
The data suggests contractors are actively looking beyond traditional cleaning services to drive growth.
“The framing that resonates most is the evolution from janitorial contractor to facility-services provider, that’s been our exact playbook,” Kristina Thayer, director of business development at MSNW Group, says. “Clients aren’t just buying clean floors anymore. They’re buying one accountable partner, measurable outcomes, and fewer vendors to manage.”
Particularly notable increases include:
- Contractors planning to offer composting services jumped from 28% in 2025 to 68% in 2026.
- Planned recycling services increased from 28% to nearly 38%.
- Pest control and pest-management services emerged as a major growth category, with 41% planning additions in 2025 compared with 65% planning pest-management offerings in 2026.
Contract cleaning companies are positioning themselves as broader facility-service providers rather than solely janitorial contractors. “Many of our clients prefer working with one trusted provider for multiple facility-related services rather than managing several vendors,” Laila Saadeh, vice president of operations at Celestial Cleaning Service, says. “That creates opportunities to better support our clients while also creating new growth opportunities for our team. In addition to routine janitorial services, we’ve completed projects such as floor stripping and waxing, window cleaning, and handyman work, and we’re continuing to expand our service offerings based on the evolving needs of our clients.”
Sustainability Is Becoming More Operational
Green cleaning still ranks relatively low among customer priorities. Only 2% of contract cleaning professionals in 2025 and 2026 said customers viewed environmentally friendly cleaning programs as their top priority. Yet other findings suggest sustainability is gaining traction in a different way.
- The percentage of contract cleaning professionals expecting client demand for sustainable initiatives to increase rose from 16% in 2025 to 28% in 2026.
- Composting and recycling showed some of the strongest growth intentions among all specialty services.
- Nearly 40% of 2026 respondents reported that 50% or more of their cleaning products and equipment are already considered green.
Rather than focusing exclusively on green chemicals, contract cleaning companies are increasingly supporting broader sustainability, waste-diversion, and environmental goals.
“We’re in California, so sustainability tends to be a bigger focus for many of our clients. People here are generally more conscious about green cleaning products and environmentally responsible practices,” Saadeh says. “We’ve even had clients specifically ask us to make sure all cardboard boxes are being recycled. We’ve been happy to support those initiatives by using green cleaning products whenever possible and helping clients meet their recycling and composting goals.”
Rising Costs Continue to Shape Business Decisions
Despite growth opportunities, contract cleaning professionals remain concerned about costs.
In 2025:
- 81% expected the cost of supplies and doing business to increase.
- 74% expected overall cleaning costs to increase.
- 70% expected wage demands to rise.
In 2026:
- 82% expect the cost of supplies and doing business to increase.
- 69% expect overall cleaning costs to increase.
- Nearly 73% expect wage and salary demands to rise.
At the same time, optimism remains strong:
- Nearly 88% of contractors reported 2025 sales were either slightly or significantly higher than 2024.
- More than 80% expect 2026 sales to be higher or significantly higher than 2025.
- Approximately 79% expect profits to increase in 2026.
While cost pressures are a reality, contract cleaning professionals are confident that technology, operational improvements, and service diversification can help offset those challenges.
An Industry With Evolving Sophistication
The 2025 report largely portrayed the contract cleaning industry focused on navigating labor pressures and maintaining steady growth. The 2026 report reveals a more proactive mindset.
Contract cleaning professionals are investing in technology, expanding service portfolios, and developing ways to prove value through data and measurable results. Taken together, the findings suggest the contract cleaning industry is evolving from a labor-intensive service business into a more sophisticated facility-services sector.
“The contract cleaning industry is evolving from delivering clean facilities to delivering measurable outcomes,” Kristy Elmore, vice president of commercial operations and marketing at Harvard Maintenance, says. “The companies that lead will combine great people, smart technology and operational expertise to create value customers can see, measure and trust.”
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