# How to win landscaping and grounds maintenance contracts in BC

> BC municipalities, school districts, health authorities, housing providers and federal sites contract out mowing, landscape maintenance, irrigation and tree work, often on multi-year terms tied to the growing season. Tenders list sites, frequencies and standards. Anyone applying pesticides commercially in BC needs certification. Win with realistic production rates, local crews and a clear seasonal plan.

By James DeGreef. Updated 2026-10-24. Facts checked 2026-10-24. Source page: https://crewbid.tech/guides/grounds-maintenance-contracts-bc

Grounds maintenance is natural public work for a landscaping crew. Cities, schools, care homes, social housing and federal sites all have lawns, beds, boulevards and trees to look after, and many contract it out for several seasons at a time. Tenders tend to come out before the growing season, so the time to get ready is winter.

## Who buys grounds maintenance in BC?

- **Municipalities and regional districts:** parks, boulevards, medians, civic buildings, cemeteries and sports fields.
- **School districts:** school grounds and fields, often with work concentrated in summer when students are away.
- **Health authorities and care facilities.**
- **BC Housing and non-profit housing providers.**
- **Federal buyers:** RCMP detachments, federal buildings and other sites.

_Live bid numbers for this topic are on the web page: https://crewbid.tech/guides/grounds-maintenance-contracts-bc_

## What does a grounds maintenance tender ask for?

- **Sites and maps**, with areas of turf, shrub beds, hard surfaces and sometimes inventories of trees.
- **Frequencies:** mowing cycles, edging, bed maintenance, leaf collection, litter pick-up, seasonal clean-ups.
- **Standards:** mowing heights, weed tolerance, plant health. Some specifications reference the Canadian Landscape Standard published by the landscape architects' and nursery and landscape associations.
- **Irrigation:** start-up, shut-down, repairs and monitoring.
- **Equipment** and how you'll get it between sites.
- **Pesticide use:** often restricted or banned on public land, with integrated pest management (IPM) required.
- **WorkSafeBC, insurance and a safety program.** Traffic control may be needed on boulevard work.

## Do I need pesticide certification?

If you apply pesticides as part of the work, generally yes. BC requires certification under its pest management rules to apply pesticides in landscaped areas commercially. The **Landscape** pesticide applicator certificate is earned by writing a three-hour exam through Service BC: a mark of 75 percent or more gives a five-year certificate, and 60 to 74 percent gives a one-year certificate. Businesses may also need a pest control service licence, so check with the Province.

Many municipalities restrict cosmetic pesticide use on their land anyway. Read the tender's IPM section: it may require mechanical weed control, which takes more labour and changes your price.

## How do I price a grounds contract?

1. **Measure the work:** turf area per mowing cycle, linear metres of edging, number of beds, hours per site visit.
2. **Use realistic production rates** for your equipment and the site conditions (slopes, obstacles, travel between small sites).
3. **Count the cycles** across the season, including the shoulder seasons when growth is slow but clean-ups are heavy.
4. **Add travel**, which on multi-site contracts can be a big share of hours.
5. **Add equipment, fuel, disposal of green waste, irrigation parts, supervision and overhead.**
6. **Price each year of a multi-year term** for rising wages and fuel. See [how to price a multi-year contract](https://crewbid.tech/guides/price-multi-year-service-contract).

## How do I make my proposal stand out?

- **A seasonal work plan** showing what happens when, by site.
- **Crew and equipment:** how many crews, what each one carries, where they start their day.
- **Response to the unexpected:** storm clean-up, vandalism, irrigation breaks.
- **Records:** how you'll log visits, with photos, so the buyer can see the work was done.
- **Local presence:** closer crews mean faster response and less travel cost.

## Turning a summer contract into year-round work

Many grounds contractors pair summer maintenance with winter snow and ice contracts for the same kinds of buyers, keeping crews and equipment busy all year. See [how to win snow removal contracts](https://crewbid.tech/guides/snow-removal-contracts-bc) and [stacking seasonal contracts into year-round work](https://crewbid.tech/articles/year-round-work-seasonal-contracts).

## Where to start

Set up free CrewBid alerts for landscaping in your area, check the [renewal calendar](https://crewbid.tech/renewals?trade=landscaping) for contracts likely to come back out, and get on your local municipality's and school district's supplier lists before spring.

## Sources

- [Landscape pesticide applicator certificate (Province of BC)](https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/pesticides-pest-management/certification-training/certificate-training-categories/landscape)
- [Canadian Landscape Standard (Canadian Nursery & Landscape Association)](https://cnla.ca/training/canadian-landscape-standard)
- [Why a clearance letter is needed (WorkSafeBC)](https://www.worksafebc.com/en/insurance/why-clearance-letter)