Preliminary Purchase Price and Related Allocations (Parenthetical) (Detail) (TEGG, USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	May 01, 2012
TEGG
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash paid at closing, cash acquired	$ 160

Amount of cash held by the acquiree as of the acquisition date.

No definition available.

Name:	abm_BusinessAcquisitionCashAcquired
Namespace Prefix:	abm_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant