The verdict in three sentences
Scheduling and clock-in software for 150 to 600 cleaning operatives costs 15 to 20 % of its build price a year to support, plus hosting. The contract must set tiered fix times, from 4 hours when clock-in fails at 5 am to 72 hours for a cosmetic bug, and keep an upgrade budget separate from support. Without that, every new client contract, wage uplift or Home Office rule change turns into an urgent and expensive quote.
What support costs, line by line
A London contract cleaner serving offices in the City and Canary Wharf, schools, retail and healthcare relies on its software from early morning: rotas, GPS or NFC clock-in, absence cover, overtime and the payroll export. Many London clients also require the London Living Wage, which is uplifted every year, and you must keep right to work evidence for every operative, with civil penalties of up to 60,000 GBP per illegal worker. Take a tool built for 40,000 GBP.
| Line | Content | Annual budget (2026 estimate) | Monthly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corrective support | Bug fixes with guaranteed response times | 2,500 to 3,500 GBP | 210 to 290 GBP |
| Preventive support | Security patches, dependency updates, tested backups | 1,800 to 2,200 GBP | 150 to 185 GBP |
| Compliance updates | Wage rate uplifts, right to work document rules, payroll export changes | 1,500 to 2,300 GBP | 125 to 190 GBP |
| Hosting and monitoring | UK servers, database, 24/7 monitoring | 480 to 3,000 GBP | 40 to 250 GBP |
| Upgrades | 2 to 4 per year, quoted separately | 3,500 to 10,000 GBP | 290 to 835 GBP |
| Total excluding upgrades | 6,280 to 11,000 GBP | 525 to 915 GBP |
The first three lines together come to 15 to 20 % of the build cost. Upgrades follow your business: a new facilities management client with its own audit app integration is enough to justify one.
Service levels to write into the contract
Clock-in is the critical function. If operatives cannot clock in at 5 am, you lose proof of service, the client disputes the invoice and payroll for the month gets messy. Classify incidents by severity.
| Level | Example incident | Response time | Fix time | Intervention frequency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Critical | Nobody can clock in | 30 minutes, 5 am to 9 pm | 4 hours | Immediate |
| Major | A site's rota unavailable, payroll export wrong | 2 business hours | 24 hours | Within 1 day |
| Minor | Badly formatted report, broken filter | 1 business day | 72 hours | Weekly batch |
| Upgrade | New client with its own quality checks | Quote within 5 days | As scheduled | 2 to 4 a year |
| Preventive | Updates, restore test | Scheduled | Not applicable | Monthly and quarterly |
Also require a monthly incident report, a quarterly backup restore test, and a service credit when the critical fix time is repeatedly missed. Under UK GDPR, the support contract must also include data processing terms, since the system holds passport and visa data for right to work checks.
Comparing support plans
| Plan | What it covers | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Corrective only | Reported bugs, no strong time commitment | Under 150 operatives, few sites |
| Corrective + preventive | Bugs with fix times, security, tested backups | 150 to 350 operatives |
| Full with upgrade allowance | Everything plus 10 to 20 upgrade days a year | 350 to 600 operatives, several key accounts |
| Time and materials | Pay as you go | Stable tools that rarely change |
Kolonell offers three support tiers at 25,000, 50,000 and 75,000 FCFA a month (about 38, 76 and 115 EUR) for applications it has built, with upgrades quoted separately before work starts.
Mini case study
Need a professional website?
Kolonell builds websites that attract clients, optimized for the Sénégalese market. Free quote in 2 minutes.
Illustrative example: Daniel, operations director of a London contract cleaner with 380 operatives across 210 sites, had his tool built for 48,000 GBP. He budgets 17 % for support, or 8,160 GBP a year, 180 GBP a month for hosting, or 2,160 GBP, and 3 upgrades at 2,800 GBP, or 8,400 GBP. Total: 18,720 GBP a year, about 1,560 GBP a month.
On the other side, the tool saves the payroll officer 3 days a month of manual timesheet checks, about 5,400 GBP a year, and cuts disputed hours from 0.6 % to 0.2 % of billed hours on 6 million GBP of revenue, about 24,000 GBP. The gain comfortably covers the support budget.
FAQ
What percentage should we budget for software support?
Plan 15 to 20 % of build cost a year for corrective, preventive and compliance support. Upgrades come on top, typically 3,500 to 10,000 GBP a year for 2 to 4 changes.
What fix time should we demand for clock-in?
Four hours maximum for a full outage, with response from 5 am. Beyond that you lose proof of service for an entire shift across every site.
How much does hosting cost?
Around 40 to 250 GBP a month depending on headcount, redundancy and monitoring. For 600 operatives clocking in on mobile, plan for the upper end and UK hosting.
Who updates the software when the London Living Wage changes?
Compliance support should cover the yearly rate update and any changes to right to work document rules. Budget 1,500 to 2,300 GBP a year for this line.
Can we switch support provider?
Yes, if you hold the source code, documentation and hosting credentials. A handover audit by a new provider usually takes 3 to 8 days.
Let's scope your project. Send us your headcount, number of sites and last 12 months of incidents, and we will propose a support contract with service levels and a monthly budget. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
