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Selected Quarterly Financial Data (Unaudited) - Footnote Disclosure (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Oct. 31, 2017	Jul. 31, 2016	Oct. 31, 2017	Oct. 31, 2016	Oct. 31, 2015
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Tax benefit related to lapse of statute of limitations		$ 19.0	$ 19.7	$ 21.9	$ 5.2
Tax benefit effect on diluted earnings per share (usd per share)		$ 0.33
GCA
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Transaction expenses	$ 22.0
Transaction expenses per diluted share (usd per share)	$ 0.38

X

- Definition

Business Acquisition, Acquisition Related Costs, Per Share, Diluted

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	abm_
Data Type:	num:perShareItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Tax Benefit Effect on Earnings Per Share, after tax

+ References

No definition available.

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Namespace Prefix:	abm_
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X

- Definition

This element represents acquisition-related costs incurred to effect a business combination which costs have been expensed during the period. Such costs include finder's fees; advisory, legal, accounting, valuation, and other professional or consulting fees; general administrative costs, including the costs of maintaining an internal acquisitions department; and may include costs of registering and issuing debt and equity securities.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 10
-Section 25
-Paragraph 23
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84229725&loc=d3e1043-128460

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- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

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No definition available.

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- Definition

Amount of decrease in unrecognized tax benefits resulting from lapses of applicable statutes of limitations.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 15A
-Subparagraph (a)(4)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=SL6600010-109319

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