Vendor insurance
What Insurance Should a Commercial Cleaning Company Carry?
Cleaning crews work in your building after hours, with your keys, on your floors. The right policies decide who pays when something goes wrong.
The short answer
Commercial cleaning company insurance requirements should include commercial general liability, California workers' compensation with employer's liability, commercial auto covering hired and non-owned vehicles, an umbrella or excess policy, and third-party crime coverage for theft of client property. Your risk manager or broker should set the limits. Require the endorsements that protect you, such as additional insured status and a waiver of subrogation, and verify them, because a certificate of insurance only shows what existed on the day it was issued.
Commercial cleaning company insurance requirements: five core policies
Each policy answers a different question: who pays if a tenant slips, if a cleaner is hurt, if a crew vehicle crashes, if a claim is larger than the primary limits, or if something goes missing from a desk overnight. A vendor missing any one of them leaves that question with you.
| Coverage | What it pays for | Why it matters in cleaning |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial general liability | Injury to third parties and damage to their property | A wet floor, a knocked-over display, a scratched elevator door |
| Workers' compensation and employer's liability | Injuries to the contractor's own employees | Mandatory for California employers under Labor Code section 3700; cleaning is physical work |
| Commercial auto, including hired and non-owned | Accidents in vehicles used for the work | Supervisors and crews drive between sites, often in personal cars |
| Umbrella or excess liability | Claims above the primary policy limits | A serious injury can exhaust a primary limit quickly |
| Third-party crime (client coverage) | Theft of client money or property by the contractor's staff | Night crews work with keys and badges and little oversight |
The gaps general liability does not close
Standard general liability forms exclude damage to the particular part of property the contractor is working on and to property that must be redone because the contractor's own work was faulty. In cleaning terms, a floor ruined during stripping or a carpet shrunk by extraction may fall into exactly that gap. Ask the vendor's broker how the policy responds to damage caused by the cleaning itself, and whether an endorsement addresses it.
Theft is the second gap. General liability does not pay for stolen laptops or petty cash, which is why third-party crime coverage, written to protect clients rather than only the contractor, belongs on the list. Contractors doing biohazard cleanup or heavy chemical work may also need contractor's pollution liability, since general liability usually excludes pollution.
How to read a certificate of insurance from a cleaning vendor
The standard ACORD 25 certificate states on its face that it is issued as a matter of information only and confers no rights on the holder. It summarizes coverage; the endorsements and policies are what actually protect you. Read the certificate line by line, then ask for the endorsements it refers to.
- Named insured matches the legal entity signing your contract, not just a trade name
- Policy periods cover the start date and are tracked for renewal
- Per-occurrence and aggregate limits meet what your contract requires
- Additional insured is marked, and the endorsement itself is attached
- Waiver of subrogation is shown for the policies your contract lists
- Description of operations names your property or contract
- Certificate holder is your exact entity name and address
- Each insurer is named, so your broker can check its rating
Contract language that makes the coverage work
Write the insurance requirements into the contract as an exhibit rather than leaving them in the RFP. State the policies, the minimum limits your risk manager chose, and the endorsements: additional insured for ongoing operations on general liability, auto and umbrella; primary and noncontributory wording, so the vendor's policy responds before yours; and waivers of subrogation on general liability, auto and workers' compensation.
Add a duty to keep coverage in force for the full term, to send renewal certificates before expiration and to notify you of cancellation. Require the same coverage from any subcontractor the vendor brings in for windows, floors or pressure washing.
Checking janitorial workers' comp in California
Workers' compensation deserves its own check because cleaning is labor-heavy and lapses happen. The WCIRB's California Workers' Compensation Coverage Inquiry website shows which insurer wrote a policy for an employer on a given date. Legally self-insured employers do not appear there; their status is confirmed through the Department of Industrial Relations Office of Self Insurance Plans.
There is a second checkpoint. Janitorial employers must register annually with the Labor Commissioner under the Property Service Workers Protection Act, and the application calls for proof of workers' compensation coverage. A vendor that cannot show both is not ready to clean your building.
Insurance documents and EBS proposals
EBS Maintenance is licensed and insured, and its more than 100 employees are trained, vetted, uniformed and background-checked before they are assigned to a building. List your required policies, limits and endorsements in the RFP or at the walkthrough, ask for current insurance documents with the proposal, and have your broker review them. That way every bidder, EBS included, is measured against the same requirement.
Related questions
Still not sure? A supervisor can answer at the walkthrough.
Request a walkthroughAll questionsWhat insurance limits should we require from a janitorial vendor?
Limits should come from your risk manager or broker, based on the building's value, occupancy and exposure. Many owners match the limits they already require of other on-site service contractors and add an umbrella for larger sites. The important part is writing the same limits into every bid package so proposals are priced on equal terms.
Is a janitorial bond the same as insurance?
No. A bond is a surety arrangement, and the bonding company generally expects the contractor to repay any claim it pays. Third-party crime insurance is a policy that pays covered losses directly. They overlap on employee theft, but they work differently, so read our separate answer on bonds before treating one as a substitute.
Won't our own property insurance cover damage the cleaners cause?
It may, but then your insurer can pursue the contractor to recover what it paid, and your loss history takes the hit. Primary and noncontributory wording points the claim to the vendor's policy first, and a waiver of subrogation settles in advance whether insurers may chase each other afterward.
How often should we collect certificates of insurance?
At contract signing and at every policy renewal, which may fall on different dates for different policies. Track expiration dates in a calendar or certificate-tracking tool, and pause new work orders, not routine cleaning, while a lapsed certificate is being replaced.
Do subcontractors need the same insurance?
Yes. Ask each bidder whether it subcontracts any work, such as exterior windows, floor restoration or pressure washing, and require the same coverage and endorsements to flow down. Collect the subcontractor's certificate before that crew first comes on site.
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