# Getting Commercial Landscaping Contracts: 11 Bids

> You get commercial landscaping contracts by picking a buyer type, clearing its paperwork gate and pricing the renewal, not just the first year. Public bids are won on complete submissions as much as price: one Michigan college got 11 bids from $92,850 to $246,196 and disqualified the lowest. Margin lives in enhancements and irrigation, not mowing.

- Canonical URL: https://www.pavadotech.com/blog/how-to-get-commercial-landscaping-contracts
- Author: Om Patel
- Published: 2026-09-13
- Topic: Growth

In March 2026, Henry Ford College in Dearborn, Michigan opened sealed bids for landscape maintenance at three campus locations for one growing season. [Eleven companies bid](https://www.hfcc.edu/sites/hfcmain/files/board/2026/03.16.26-board-reports.pdf). The prices ran from $92,850 to $246,196.

The lowest bidder did not win. The college disqualified it for "an inadequate submission that did not include the requested information," then noted that when invited to interview anyway, the company "arrived late and unprepared." The contract went to the second lowest price, $92,960. The gap between winning and losing was $110 and a complete proposal.

That board report is a better guide to commercial landscaping contracts than most of what ranks for the question. It shows three things the generic advice skips. Prices on the same scope can differ by more than 2.5 times. Buyers read the paperwork before they read the number. And the most sophisticated national competitor in the room, BrightView, was the fourth-lowest qualified bidder at $151,607.

This guide covers commercial landscape maintenance specifically: HOAs and the managers who run them, commercial property firms, and public bids. If you are a trade other than landscaping, the [five doors into commercial work](https://www.pavadotech.com/blog/how-to-get-commercial-contracts-as-a-contractor) article is the broader version.

- **Commercial landscape bids spread wide.** Eleven bids on one 2026 college contract ranged from $92,960 to $246,196 for qualified bidders, and the lowest bid was thrown out for an incomplete submission.
- **Incumbents lose at the rebid, not mid-contract.** A village in Illinois dropped a landscaper it had used since 2017 after the incumbent bid about 16% above its own previous year's price.
- **Sell to the manager, not the board.** There are about 373,000 community associations in the US but only 9,000 to 10,000 management companies.
- **Mowing wins the contract, enhancements pay for it.** Benchmark data puts enhancement gross margin at 65% against 51% for maintenance, with enhancements equal to 30% of maintenance revenue.
- **Read the renewal clause before the price.** Florida HOAs can renew a competitively bid contract without rebidding if it includes a 30-day cancellation right.
- **Never bid all-inclusive irrigation blind.** One contractor who took over a supposedly maintained system replaced around 40% of the heads.

## Who actually buys commercial landscape maintenance

There are four buyers, and each one has a different gate. Treating them as one market called "commercial" is why so many residential companies spend a season handing out cards and get nothing. One Massachusetts owner with four years of commercial maintenance experience [described exactly that in r/landscaping](https://www.reddit.com/r/landscaping/comments/nbvo5t/anyone_know_how_to_get_commercial_landscape/): hundreds of cards handed out door to door, and the only response was a request for a snow plowing quote.

| Buyer | Who decides | How they buy | What triggers a rebid | What usually wins |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| HOA and condo associations | Volunteer board, shortlisted by the community manager | Bids gathered by the management company, sometimes required by statute | Complaints, budget pressure, contract term ending | References from nearby communities, responsiveness, a clean proposal |
| Commercial property management firms (office, retail, industrial) | Property or facility manager, often not the owner | Registered vendors, work order platforms, direct RFPs | Tenant complaints, owner cost cuts, manager turnover | Documentation, response times, insurance already on file |
| Owner-occupied and corporate campuses | Facilities department or owner | Direct relationship, informal quotes | Poor service, new facilities manager | Access to the decision maker |
| Municipal, school district and college | Purchasing office and council or board vote | Public bid or request for proposals | Fixed contract term | Low responsive bid or best value scoring, complete paperwork |

The Foundation for Community Association Research counts [373,000 community associations in the US in 2025](https://foundation.caionline.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/2025StatisticalReviewFoundation.pdf), housing 78.1 million residents. The same review estimates 60,000 to 65,000 community association managers and 9,000 to 10,000 management companies, and says 30% to 40% of associations are self-managed.

Do the division. There are roughly 37 to 41 associations for every management company. A single relationship with one management company's regional office can put your name in front of dozens of boards. A single relationship with one board puts you in front of one.

## Door 1: HOAs and community association managers

Get on the management company's vendor platform first, then earn a board presentation. Boards pick the vendor, but managers pick who the board sees.

The large management companies have outsourced vendor vetting to credentialing services, and the fees and rules are published. FirstService Residential's Illinois office uses a service called VIVE, which [charges each vendor $250 a year](https://www.fsresidential.com/illinois/contact-us/vendor-registration/) to verify insurance and licensing, and in return makes your company visible to managers "covering over 500 associations." Its Florida operation uses Business Credentialing Services at [$90 a year](https://www.bcscoi.com/fsresidential/fl/), with two tiers:

- **Certified Gold** vendors carry additional insured wording that names "FirstService Residential and any of its managed Associations." Any manager can put you in front of any board without further paperwork.
- **Certified Silver** vendors meet the minimums but name specific associations, so every new community requires its own endorsement before a manager can present you.

That distinction is worth a phone call to your broker before you register. Silver means every opportunity starts with a delay the Gold vendor does not have. The general version of this, including RealPage's vendor-funded model, is in the [property manager vendor list guide](https://www.pavadotech.com/blog/how-to-get-on-a-property-manager-vendor-list); the landscape-specific point is that HOA management companies use their own networks, so being credentialed with an apartment operator does nothing for you here.

### The statute that forces the rebid

In some states the law creates your opening. Florida's homeowners association statute [requires competitive bids](https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/0720.3055) whenever a services contract requires payment exceeding 10% of the association's total annual budget including reserves. For condominiums the trigger is [5% of the budget](https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/0718.3026). Landscape architect services are exempt; landscape maintenance is not. Neither statute requires the board to accept the lowest bid.

The clause that matters most to you as the incumbent is buried in the HOA section: a contract awarded under the competitive bid procedure can be renewed without another bid "if the contract contains a provision that allows the board to cancel the contract on 30 days' notice." A 30-day cancellation right sounds like a risk. In a Florida HOA it is the thing that keeps you from being rebid every term.

Read termination clauses from the other side too. In one [r/HOA thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/HOA/comments/1qw6i9t/board_president_role_sfh_wa/), a new board president described a previous board firing its landscaper on the manager's advice that the contract had a 30-day termination clause. It did not; it could only be terminated for nonperformance. The association ended up with two full-service landscapers under contract through July.

### How boards actually choose

Boards do not score proposals the way procurement officers do. In an [r/HOA discussion about finding a good landscaping company](https://www.reddit.com/r/HOA/comments/13jbv1w/how_do_you_find_a_good_landscaping_company/), one former board member described the process: the companies that responded "had to list the neighborhoods they took care of, so board member went and took photos." The same user said the board had been burned by a low bidder a complaining resident recommended, one "so bad that we ended up having to sue them," and that the process was so grueling they would now stay with the current company "until they fold or completely screw up."

That is the HOA market in two sentences. Your existing sites are your sales deck, because board members will drive past them. And once a board settles, the switching cost is emotional, not contractual, which is why incumbents last. Another commenter pointed boards to their local Community Associations Institute chapter's vendor trade show, which tells you where to spend a booth budget.

HOAs carry liability that a single commercial owner does not. One r/lawncare commenter [warned that](https://www.reddit.com/r/lawncare/comments/1ae34ir/estimate_thoughts/) a friend's 75-person crew stopped taking HOA work after being named in a lawsuit over water damage to a unit caused by a plumbing issue that had nothing to do with their work. Price the paperwork and the insurance, not just the acreage.

Price the residents as well. One r/HOA poster who fields homeowner complaints for a community wrote that a landscaper [raised its renewal price by 27%](https://www.reddit.com/r/HOA/comments/1in8cbe/ncall_this_is_why_homeowners_should_not_talk_to/) because it was tired of a few homeowners confronting the crew. Put a single point of contact in the contract so complaints route through the manager, and you can price the account at what it really costs to serve.

## Door 2: commercial property managers and multi-site retail

Commercial property work goes to vendors who are documented, fast and easy to manage, because the person hiring you usually is not the person paying. Terry Delany of ServFM told Landscape Leadership that in commercial work your contact is probably not the decision maker, could be replaced at any time and has little say in what gets approved, and that [locally owned properties are the best targets](https://www.landscapeleadership.com/blog/how-to-get-commercial-lawn-accounts-and-landscaping-contracts) because you can deal with the owner directly. He named hotels, restaurants, low- to mid-income apartment complexes and nursing homes as the accounts to avoid, and recommended a contract clause giving you the right to pause work until paid: "If you don't have that in your contract and you stop working, you've breached it first."

Multi-site retail is a different animal again. ServiceChannel says "many of today's top brands" use its platform to build and manage their provider networks, and when a chain works that way, the platform's rules become your contract. ServiceChannel's provider terms say work orders arrive with a scope, a service level agreement and a [not-to-exceed amount](https://servicechannel.com/tools/growth-opportunities-for-providers/), that providers should respond within 30 minutes, and that it charges a 5% commission on approved invoices for customers acquired through the platform. It evaluates "cost per invoice, not just your hourly rate." The same page claims brokers "often take as much as 40%," which is ServiceChannel's framing of its competitors, but it is a useful reminder to ask any middleman what share of the invoice you keep.

You are also competing with a sales machine. BrightView's [2025 annual report](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1734713/000119312525288109/bv-20250930.htm) describes more than 275 business developers and a typical maintenance branch serving 25 to 150 customers across 50 to 250 sites. You will not outsell that. You can out-respond it, and you can win the properties inside the tight route where your crews already are.

## Door 3: municipal, school district and college bids

Public contracts are the only commercial landscape work where you can see the incumbent's price, the rules and the scoring before you bid. Almost nobody uses that.

### What an incumbent losing looks like

The Village of Itasca, Illinois rebid its 2026 to 2028 landscape maintenance program covering 82 locations. According to the [public works memo](https://www.itasca.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/11815?fileID=14104), seven firms picked up the bid documents and two submitted bids. The incumbent, Allscape, had served the village since 2017 and charged $58,476 in 2025.

| | BrightView | Allscape (incumbent) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Year 1 price | $57,955 | $67,717 |
| Three-year total | $177,366 | $203,151 |
| Weekly mowing, 38.64 acres, per visit | $1,165.15 | $1,030.00 |
| Annual mowing lines combined | $55,400 | $53,354 |
| Bed, shrub and leaf lines combined | $2,556 | $14,363 |
| Annual escalator | About 2% built in | Flat |

Three lessons sit in that tab. First, the incumbent bid roughly 16% above what it had been charging, and the challenger came in 0.9% under the old price. The rebid was the incumbent's contract to lose. Second, BrightView was more expensive on mowing, the biggest line item, and won on the bed, shrub and leaf lines, which it priced at a fraction of the incumbent's. Third, BrightView built a 2% annual increase into its per-visit rates ($186.36, $190.09, $193.89 for the twice-weekly mowing), so its low first year does not lock it into a flat price for three years.

### What the solicitation tells you before you price

Public documents publish the conditions that private buyers keep in their heads. Four 2026 solicitations show the range:

- **Troy, Illinois** ([2026 mowing and landscape RFP](https://troyil.us/DocumentCenter/View/2068/2026-RFP-Contracted-Mowing-Landscape)): general liability of $2 million per occurrence and $5 million aggregate, 10% bid security, an "onsite visit made by" line on the bid form, lump sum prices for one, two or three seasons, callbacks within one hour, on-site response to complaints within 24 hours, eight equal payments from April to November, and a minimum $25 deduction for each area missed in a week.
- **Smithfield, Virginia** ([RFP 26-005](https://smithfieldva.gov/DocumentCenter/View/1955)): a three-year term with two renewal years, a mandatory pre-proposal meeting on September 3, proposals due September 18, a Commercial Pesticide Applicator Certificate in categories 3A, 3B and 6 plus Certified Fertilizer Applicator status, flagger certification for right-of-way work, and even errors and omissions coverage. Cost is fourth of five evaluation criteria, behind commercial or municipal experience, qualifications and past performance.
- **Half Moon Bay, California** ([median maintenance RFP](https://www.halfmoonbay.gov/DocumentCenter/View/7907)): one year with up to four one-year renewals, a licensed pest control applicator working under a licensed pest control advisor, monthly pesticide use summaries, prevailing wage, three IPM references, and insurance that names the city as additional insured on a primary and noncontributing basis.
- **Pensacola, Florida** ([airport airside fertilizer and herbicide bid](https://cityofpensacola.com/DocumentCenter/View/29061)): a five-year term, a bid bond of 5% of the first year's cost, evidence of at least five years' commercial landscape maintenance experience, and contractor's pollution liability covering gradual as well as sudden releases.

If you cannot meet the gate on the day the bid is posted, you cannot meet it at all. Pesticide certifications, pollution coverage and bonding capacity take weeks to arrange, which is why the companies that win public work keep them in place between bids.

### Use the rules that favor small firms

Texas raised its competitive bidding threshold for cities to [$100,000 effective September 1, 2025](https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/LG/htm/LG.252.htm). Below that line, for spending between $3,000 and $100,000, a Texas city must contact at least two historically underutilized businesses on a rotating basis from the state comptroller's list. If your company qualifies for that certification, it puts you on a call list for exactly the size of mowing contract a small crew can handle. The same chapter opens competitive sealed proposals to public inspection after award, trade secrets excepted, so you can request the winning proposal on the contract you want next time.

The informal side matters too. One r/landscaping commenter said a city sent him a [request for quote because it found him on Google Maps](https://www.reddit.com/r/landscaping/comments/1jdghj3/how_to_get_city_contracts/), and advised listing yourself explicitly as a commercial provider. Small public buyers under the formal threshold still search.

Commercial landscape work is won by being findable before the rebid and credible when the manager checks you. Pavado builds [done-for-you lead generation](https://www.pavadotech.com/) for local service businesses: a commercial page that shows your managed properties and credentials, a qualifying form that captures property type and acreage, and tracking from first enquiry to signed contract so you know which channel produced the account.

## The bid walk: what the spec sheet will not tell you

Walk the site more than once and measure the work that is not mowing, because that is where commercial bids go wrong. An r/lawncare commenter who bids commercial work said it takes him [three weeks to a month](https://www.reddit.com/r/lawncare/comments/1ae34ir/estimate_thoughts/) to submit a bid: he walks the property with his technicians multiple times, knows trimming a bush takes about six minutes, and says "most of our time is spent blowing and sweeping." His method adds four hours to the estimated weekly hours, then 20% to labor for profit.

Other operators flag the costs that do not appear in a scope. In an [r/landscaping thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/landscaping/comments/1uk3tno/) on a first annual commercial contract, one said you will spend an hour each visit picking up trash. In the HOA estimate thread, a commercial maintenance contractor singled out the detention pond: steep slopes, mud at the bottom and saplings that need controlling.

Irrigation is the biggest unknown. In a [LawnSite thread on an HOA irrigation bid](https://www.lawnsite.com/threads/all-inclusive-hoa-irrigation-bid.484022/), one contractor said a commercial site they took over, supposedly maintained by the original installer for 15 years, needed around 40% of its heads replaced and about 10 of roughly 50 valves located and brought back online. His advice was a paid walkthrough before pricing anything.

Questions worth asking at every pre-bid meeting or walk:

1. How long has the current contractor been here, and why is this being rebid now?
2. What is the current contract price? On public work, ask for the last bid tabulation.
3. Who scores the proposals, and is price weighted or pass-fail?
4. How many mowing visits per year, and in which months?
5. Where does irrigation responsibility start: after the backflow, at the controller, or only inspections?
6. What is the approval process and dollar limit for extra work?
7. What are the response-time requirements and deductions for missed service?
8. What are the payment terms, and how many equal installments?

## Per-visit or annual: structuring the price

Commercial maintenance is priced by the visit and billed by the month, and confusing the two is how new bidders lose money. BrightView's annual report says [contracted landscape maintenance is "typically billed on an equal monthly basis,"](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1734713/000119312525288109/bv-20250930.htm) while enhancements are billed as performed.

The clearest worked example on Reddit came from an operator who says he has 34 years in horticulture and sells more than $3 million a year in landscape contracts. In the [first-commercial-contract thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/landscaping/comments/1uk3tno/), he said his maintenance contracts start at $850 a month, covering lawn maintenance including fertilizer, bed care, pruning, leaf pickup and blowing across roughly 39 visits: weekly from April to October and every other week from November to March, billed the same amount each month on a one-year contract. That minimum buys about one hour of site time for a crew of three including travel. His burdened labor rate is $38 an hour and he runs contracts at a minimum 45% gross margin, while charging $48 to $60 an hour at 55% gross margin for irrigation, arbor, enhancement and construction work.

The math: $850 times 12 is $10,200 a year, or about $262 per visit averaged across 39 visits. The equal billing means you are paid the same in December as in May, so you carry the cost of the heavy spring months and recover it in winter. Price that timing in.

| Structure | How it bills | Who carries the risk | Where you see it |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Annual fixed price, 12 equal payments | Same invoice every month | You carry extra visits in a wet year | Most private HOA and commercial contracts |
| Seasonal equal payments | Equal invoices over the growing season | You carry the dry spells and wet surges | Troy, Illinois: eight payments, April to November |
| Per-visit unit prices | Visits times rate, with deductions for misses | The buyer carries visit count | Itasca, Illinois bid tab |
| Time and materials | Hours and parts as performed | The buyer carries scope | Enhancements, irrigation repairs |

Two rules follow: build an annual escalator into any multi-year price, and separate anything weather-driven. Snow is its own risk calculation, covered in the [snow removal bidding guide](https://www.pavadotech.com/blog/how-to-bid-snow-removal-contracts); do not bury it inside a grounds number.

## Enhancements and irrigation: where the margin lives

The maintenance contract gets you on the property. The work sold after you are there is what makes the account worth having.

The Wilson 360 benchmark group, which covers commercial and residential companies from $3 million to $54 million in revenue, published its [2024 same-company results](https://www.lawnandlandscape.com/article/wilson-360-2024-landscape-industry-benchmark/) in Lawn & Landscape. Maintenance ran a 51% gross margin. Enhancement work ran 65%. Enhancement revenue equalled 30% of maintenance revenue, flat on 2023. Company-wide net operating income was 7% of net revenue. An older Lawn & Landscape [benchmarking feature](https://www.lawnandlandscape.com/article/13-key--benchmarks-november-2015-new/) quoted consultant Bill Arman targeting 30% to 35% of recurring revenue in enhancements for a commercial maintenance business, and Jim Huston setting gross margin targets of 35% for maintenance against 50% for irrigation.

Put the 2024 benchmark numbers on a $100,000 maintenance book. Maintenance at 51% produces $51,000 of gross profit. Add enhancements at 30% of maintenance revenue, $30,000 at 65%, and you add $19,500. Enhancements are 23% of revenue and about 28% of gross profit. They are also the first thing cut when budgets tighten: BrightView's report warns that in a downturn customers reduce spending "in particular enhancement services."

In a 2026 NALP feature, account managers at Visterra, Bland Landscaping, Pacific Landscape Management and Munie Greencare described their enhancement playbooks. Visterra presents enhancement budgets for the following year in August and September so property managers can budget them. About 25% to 30% of enhancement work comes directly from customer requests. Pacific Landscape Management's account manager said HOAs are harder to sell than professionally managed commercial properties, "because it's their money."

Per the [NALP article](https://blog.landscapeprofessionals.org/selling-smarter-how-enhancements-can-drive-growth-and-retention/), safety items, tree work, drainage, erosion control and plant replacement are the easiest approvals, and Visterra even sells enhancements that shrink the maintenance contract, such as replacing mulch beds with rock.

### Structure irrigation so one bad year does not erase the account

Irrigation is high margin as repair work and a trap as a fixed promise. In the LawnSite thread, an estimator was asked by an HOA to price all irrigation maintenance after the backflow, including mains, laterals, wires, valves, controllers and heads, for three years. One contractor called it "a Vegas casino bet." Another pointed out that a single lightning strike could mean hand-digging 1,500 feet of control wire. The alternatives contractors in that thread actually use:

- A startup fee, a mid-season adjustment fee and a shutdown or blowout fee, with repairs extra.
- A set number of head replacements included per season, with anything beyond billed.
- Scheduled system checks priced by zone, with one contractor estimating about seven zones per man hour.
- A pre-authorized repair limit so small fixes do not wait for a board meeting.
- Written exclusions for lightning, other contractors' excavation, vehicle and snowplow damage.

Document everything with photos. In one [r/HOA thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/HOA/comments/1ohzk26/txcoop_hoa_management_company_quit/), a board member who is a CPA said the association's landscaper was damaging sprinkler heads while charging for the repairs and not performing the fertilizer and irrigation inspections in the contract. Whether or not that was true, it is the suspicion every irrigation invoice has to overcome.

## Insurance and compliance: the gate in numbers

The limit gets you considered; the endorsement wording gets you approved. Here is what 2026 buyers actually published:

| Buyer | General liability | Other requirements |
| --- | --- | --- |
| City of Troy, Illinois | $2M per occurrence, $5M aggregate | Auto $1M/$2M, employer's liability $1M/$2M, 10% bid security, performance bond |
| Town of Smithfield, Virginia | $1M per occurrence and aggregate | Auto $1M combined single limit, employer's liability $1M, errors and omissions policy, pesticide and fertilizer certifications |
| City of Half Moon Bay, California | $1M per occurrence | City as additional insured, primary and noncontributing, prevailing wage |
| City of Pensacola, Florida airport | $1M per occurrence with umbrella as needed | Contractor's pollution liability, city as additional insured, 30 days notice of cancellation, 5% bid bond |
| FirstService Residential Florida | Per its credentialing requirements | $90 a year; Gold tier names the company and all managed associations |
| FirstService Residential Illinois | Per its credentialing requirements | $250 a year through VIVE |

Three moves close most gaps. Ask your broker for a blanket additional insured endorsement where required by written contract, so each new client is not a separate request. Add pollution coverage if you apply herbicides on public land. And get a bonding line quoted before a bid requires one, because a surety wants your financials, not your enthusiasm.

## The renewal is the real sale

Keeping a commercial landscape contract is worth more than winning a new one, and the renewal is decided months before the paperwork. When BrightView filed to go public, it reported a [commercial maintenance contract renewal rate of 85%](https://www.landscapemanagement.net/13-things-we-learned-from-brightviews-sec-filing/) in 2016 and 2017. Its current annual report says recurring maintenance contracts typically run one to three years and are "generally cancellable by the customer with 30-90 days' notice." A contract term is less protection than it looks.

Itasca and the 27% HOA increase show how renewals are lost: a price jump with no explanation. The alternative is the one C. Caramanico & Sons described to Landscape Management: when it passed along [some of the largest increases in company history](https://www.landscapemanagement.net/how-c-caramanico-sons-prepared-for-2023/), it showed customers documents on the input costs behind them rather than just sending a new number.

A retention calendar that follows the evidence:

- **Monthly:** a site inspection report with photos, sent before the manager walks the property with the owner.
- **August and September:** next year's enhancement budget, so it lands in the client's budget cycle.
- **90 days before term end:** the renewal conversation, with your cost story and any price change explained line by line.
- **Every rebid:** assume a competitor will undercut your old price, because on public work they can see it.

Underpricing to win is not a retention strategy either. An r/HOA poster described a landscaper whose [quote came in far below the previous company's](https://www.reddit.com/r/HOA/comments/1lwcyn2/ncsfh_board_not_adhering_to_approved_budget/) after a survey-to-quote miscommunication; it honored the price, did "a really crappy job" and was not brought back. The [guide to not competing on price](https://www.pavadotech.com/blog/how-to-stop-competing-on-price-for-landscaping-jobs) covers the alternative.

## A 90-day checklist to your first commercial landscape contract

1. **Pick one buyer type** from the table above and ignore the other three for a quarter.
2. **Fix the gate first:** general liability, auto, workers comp, additional insured wording, pesticide and fertilizer licenses for your state, and a bonding quote.
3. **Register** with the credentialing platforms the big HOA management companies in your area use, and on every city, county, school district and college purchasing list within your route.
4. **Pull three recent public bid tabulations** for landscape maintenance near you and study the spreads and line items.
5. **Build a commercial page** listing properties you maintain by type, so managers and board members can drive past them.
6. **Build your estimating sheet** around visits, hours per visit and burdened labor rather than acres. Software such as [LMN or Aspire](https://www.pavadotech.com/blog/lmn-vs-aspire-for-landscaping-companies) helps once you have volume; a spreadsheet is fine for the first bids.
7. **Write your irrigation and enhancement terms** before you need them: startup and shutdown fees, repair authorization limits and exclusions.
8. **Bid a contract you can lose,** and request the tabulation afterward either way.

Commercial work also changes your cash cycle and your margins. If you have not run those numbers, read [residential vs commercial profitability](https://www.pavadotech.com/blog/residential-vs-commercial-which-is-more-profitable) first, and keep residential demand steady in the meantime with the levers in [how to get more landscaping leads](https://www.pavadotech.com/blog/how-to-get-more-landscaping-leads).

## Sources

- Public bid documents: [Henry Ford College board report, March 16, 2026](https://www.hfcc.edu/sites/hfcmain/files/board/2026/03.16.26-board-reports.pdf); [Village of Itasca bid memo](https://www.itasca.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/11815?fileID=14104); [Troy, Illinois RFP](https://troyil.us/DocumentCenter/View/2068/2026-RFP-Contracted-Mowing-Landscape); [Smithfield, Virginia RFP 26-005](https://smithfieldva.gov/DocumentCenter/View/1955); [Half Moon Bay RFP](https://www.halfmoonbay.gov/DocumentCenter/View/7907); [Pensacola Bid 26-025](https://cityofpensacola.com/DocumentCenter/View/29061).
- [BrightView Form 10-K, fiscal 2025](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1734713/000119312525288109/bv-20250930.htm) and [Landscape Management on its S-1](https://www.landscapemanagement.net/13-things-we-learned-from-brightviews-sec-filing/).
- [Foundation for Community Association Research, 2025 Statistical Review](https://foundation.caionline.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/2025StatisticalReviewFoundation.pdf).
- Statutes: [Florida 720.3055](https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/0720.3055), [Florida 718.3026](https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/0718.3026), [Texas Local Government Code 252](https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/LG/htm/LG.252.htm).
- Vendor platforms: [FirstService Residential Illinois](https://www.fsresidential.com/illinois/contact-us/vendor-registration/), [FirstService Residential Florida via BCS](https://www.bcscoi.com/fsresidential/fl/), [ServiceChannel](https://servicechannel.com/tools/growth-opportunities-for-providers/).
- Industry data: [Wilson 360 2024 benchmark](https://www.lawnandlandscape.com/article/wilson-360-2024-landscape-industry-benchmark/), [Lawn & Landscape benchmarks](https://www.lawnandlandscape.com/article/13-key--benchmarks-november-2015-new/), [NALP on enhancements](https://blog.landscapeprofessionals.org/selling-smarter-how-enhancements-can-drive-growth-and-retention/), [Landscape Leadership](https://www.landscapeleadership.com/blog/how-to-get-commercial-lawn-accounts-and-landscaping-contracts), [LawnSite irrigation thread](https://www.lawnsite.com/threads/all-inclusive-hoa-irrigation-bid.484022/).
- Practitioner threads: [r/landscaping](https://www.reddit.com/r/landscaping/comments/1uk3tno/), [r/lawncare](https://www.reddit.com/r/lawncare/comments/1ae34ir/estimate_thoughts/), and the r/HOA threads linked above.

## FAQ

### How do I get my first commercial landscaping contract?

Pick one buyer type and clear its gate before you knock on doors. A Massachusetts owner in r/landscaping handed out hundreds of cards at commercial properties and got one snow quote request back. Buyers already have a vendor, so openings come from rebids, statutory bid requirements and incumbent failures. Register on your local public bid portals, get on community association management company vendor platforms, and have insurance endorsements ready before the rebid appears.

### Where are commercial landscaping contracts put up for bid?

Public contracts from cities, villages, school districts and colleges are advertised on their purchasing pages, in local newspapers and on bid aggregators. Texas cities must use competitive sealed bids or proposals above $100,000 and contact at least two historically underutilized businesses on a rotating basis for purchases between $3,000 and $100,000. Private HOA and commercial property contracts are rarely public; they go to vendors already registered with the management company.

### How much should I charge for an HOA common area maintenance contract?

Build it from hours, not acres. Estimate the hours per visit for mowing, trimming, blowing, trash pickup and bed work, multiply by your burdened hourly cost plus margin, multiply by the number of visits, and divide into equal monthly payments. One r/landscaping owner with 34 years in the trade says his maintenance contracts start at $850 a month for roughly 39 visits a year and run at a minimum 45% gross margin.

### Do HOAs have to accept the lowest landscaping bid?

Usually not. Florida's homeowners association statute requires competitive bids when a contract exceeds 10% of the association's total annual budget including reserves, and the condominium statute sets that trigger at 5%, but both say the association is not required to accept the lowest bid. In Florida HOAs, a competitively bid contract that lets the board cancel on 30 days notice can also be renewed without rebidding.

### What insurance do I need for commercial landscaping contracts?

Plan on at least $1 million per occurrence general liability, commercial auto, workers compensation and employer's liability, with the client named as additional insured. Some buyers go much higher: the City of Troy, Illinois 2026 mowing bid required $2 million per occurrence and $5 million aggregate plus 10% bid security. An airport herbicide contract in Pensacola required contractor's pollution liability covering gradual as well as sudden releases.

### How are commercial landscape maintenance contracts billed?

Most are billed in equal payments regardless of how many visits fall in a given month. BrightView's annual report says its contracted maintenance is typically billed on an equal monthly basis while enhancements are billed as performed. Some public contracts spread the price over the season instead: Troy, Illinois pays its mowing contractor in eight equal payments from April to November and deducts at least $25 for each area missed in a week.

### What are landscape enhancements?

Enhancements are extra work sold to an existing maintenance client that the contract does not already specify: plant replacements, drainage and erosion fixes, tree work, mulch-to-rock conversions, smart irrigation controllers, seasonal color. In the Wilson 360 benchmark group's 2024 results, enhancement work ran a 65% gross margin against 51% for maintenance and equalled 30% of maintenance revenue.

### Should I bid an all-inclusive irrigation maintenance contract for an HOA?

Only with heavy exclusions and a paid walkthrough first. In a LawnSite thread on exactly this bid, contractors called fixed-price, all-repairs-included irrigation a casino bet, because one lightning strike or a system nobody maintained can wipe out three years of margin. The common alternatives are separate startup, mid-season and shutdown fees, a set number of included head replacements, and repairs billed above that with written authorization.

### How long do commercial landscaping contracts last?

Typically one to three years, with renewal options on public work. BrightView says its recurring maintenance contracts typically run one to three years and are generally cancellable with 30 to 90 days notice. The Town of Smithfield, Virginia's 2026 landscape RFP is three years plus two, and Half Moon Bay, California offered one year with up to four one-year renewals.