Acquisitions - GCA Pro Forma Financial Information (Details) - GCA Holding Corp. - USD ($) $ in Millions	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
Jul. 31, 2017	Oct. 31, 2017
Business Acquisition, Pro Forma Information, Nonrecurring Adjustment [Line Items]
Pro forma statutory tax rate (percent)	41.00%
Business combination, acquisition related costs		$ 24.2
Pro forma revenue		6,293.0
Pro forma income from continuing operations		$ 95.5

Business Acquisition, Pro Forma Statutory Tax Rate

No definition available.

Name:	abm_BusinessAcquisitionProFormaStatutoryTaxRate
Namespace Prefix:	abm_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- 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.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionProFormaInformationNonrecurringAdjustmentLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount after tax of pro forma income from continuing operations as if the business combination had been completed at the beginning of a period.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (h)(2)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=79982066&loc=d3e1392-128463

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (h)(3)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=79982066&loc=d3e1392-128463

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionsProFormaIncomeLossFromContinuingOperationsBeforeChangesInAccountingAndExtraordinaryItemsNetOfTax
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The pro forma revenue for a period as if the business combination or combinations had been completed at the beginning of the period.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionsProFormaRevenue
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- 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://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 10
-Section 25
-Paragraph 23
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=116868678&loc=d3e1043-128460

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessCombinationAcquisitionRelatedCosts
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis=abm_GCAHoldingCorp.Member
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: