When quotes for the same 240-unit property come in at $16 and $26 per unit, the difference is not margin. It is scope. Here is what typically gets left out of the cheap number, and why it matters to a property manager rather than just to a vent.
What Gets Omitted
The middle of the duct. The fastest way to cut cost is to clean what is reachable — the last few feet at the termination and the connection at the dryer — and leave the mid-run alone. That is precisely where compacted lint sits. The vent looks clean at both visible ends and remains restricted where it matters. Airflow barely improves.
The photographs. Photographing every unit before and after adds time. Dropping it saves real money. It also removes the entire compliance benefit of the exercise — you have paid for cleaning but cannot demonstrate to a fire marshal, an insurance carrier or a court that it happened.
Airflow verification. Measuring restored airflow at every unit is the only way to know the work actually worked. Skipping it means nobody knows.
Deficiency reporting. Crushed ducts, disconnected runs, foil transitions in concealed spaces, failed dampers — a low bidder has no incentive to find them, because finding them means documenting them, and documenting them invites a conversation about repairs they are not being paid for.
Resident coordination. Notices, entry protocols, no-entry re-attempts. Cheap vendors clean what is easy to access and skip the rest, then bill the full unit count.
The Arithmetic That Actually Matters
Take a 240-unit property. The cheap quote saves you $2,400. In exchange you receive: mid-run lint left in place, no photographic evidence, no airflow proof, no deficiency list, and an unknown number of units never actually entered. Your NFPA 211 compliance position is unchanged from before the work — you spent $3,840 and can prove nothing.
Then a dryer fire happens somewhere on the property. The investigator finds lint loading in the duct. Your maintenance file contains an invoice and no photographs. That $2,400 saving is now the least interesting number in the room.
Four Questions That Separate the Quotes
- Do you clean the full duct run from dryer connection to exterior termination?
- Do you photograph every unit before and after, and do I receive those photos?
- Do you verify airflow at every unit after cleaning?
- What is your documented process for units you cannot access on the first attempt?
Ask every bidder. The answers will move the quotes closer together than the prices suggest — and where they do not, you will know exactly what you are not buying.
The Standard to Buy Against
NFPA 211 requires annual inspection and cleaning as necessary. The evidence that you met that standard is the documentation, not the invoice. Buy the documentation.
Get a quote that includes all of it — every unit photographed, airflow verified, deficiencies logged.