Hiring a commercial cleaner isn't like hiring most vendors. You're handing a company keys to your building, alarm codes, and unsupervised access to desks, files, and equipment — usually at night, when nobody's there to watch. The cost of getting it wrong isn't a dirty lobby. It's a liability claim, a security incident, or three months of chasing someone to do what they said they'd do.
The good news is that vetting a janitorial vendor is genuinely straightforward if you know what to ask. Here's the checklist.
Why this hire is different
Most cleaning companies will show you a price. Fewer will show you a scope. Almost none volunteer their insurance limits, their turnover rate, or whether the person walking your floor tonight is actually their employee. Those three things determine whether this relationship works, and they're all knowable before you sign.
Work through the ten points below with every bidder. It takes about twenty minutes per vendor and it will filter the field fast.
1. Insurance and bonding
Start here, because it's the fastest disqualifier. Ask for:
- General liability insurance — covers property damage and injury claims. Ask what the limits are, not just whether they have it.
- Workers' compensation — covers their people if someone is hurt in your building. Without it, that injury can become your problem.
- Janitorial bonding — protection against employee theft. Especially relevant if the crew works unsupervised after hours.
Don't accept a PDF the salesperson emails you. Ask for a certificate of insurance sent directly from their agent, with your business named as an additional insured. It costs the vendor nothing, takes a day, and a company that stalls on it is telling you something.
Take the agent's name and number off the certificate and call them. Confirm the policy is active and the limits are real. It takes five minutes and it's the only verification that actually verifies anything.
2. Employees vs. subcontractors
Ask directly: are the people cleaning my building your employees, or subcontracted?
Subcontracting isn't automatically a red flag — plenty of legitimate companies use it for specialty work like floor care or window cleaning. But for routine janitorial, employee-based companies generally give you clearer accountability: the company is responsible for training, screening, supervision, and workers' comp. With subcontracted labor, ask who screens those workers, who insures them, and whether you'll get the same people each visit.
If the answer is vague, or the vendor can't tell you who will actually be in your building, that's the answer.
3. Background checks and training
Anyone with after-hours access to your building should be background checked. Ask what the check covers, how recent it is, and whether it's run on everyone — including anyone brought on for coverage when the regular crew is out.
Then ask about training. A cleaner who doesn't know that a disinfectant needs dwell time to work, or that the wrong product will haze a sealed floor, will cost you more than they save. For medical, dental, or food-service spaces, ask specifically what protocol training the crew has for your facility type.
4. An in-person walkthrough
Be skeptical of any firm quote given over the phone or email without seeing the space. Square footage alone doesn't tell anyone how many restrooms you have, what your floors are, where the choke points are, or how bad the current condition is.
A vendor who walks the building is doing two things: pricing accurately, and showing you they take the work seriously. A vendor who quotes blind is guessing — and a guess that comes in low tends to be corrected later, either with a price increase or with quietly reduced service.
5. A written scope of work
This is the single most important document in the relationship. It should list every task and how often it's performed:
- Every visit: trash and recycling, restroom cleaning and restocking, break room, vacuuming, mopping, high-touch disinfection, entry glass.
- Weekly: detail dusting, edge vacuuming, interior glass partitions.
- Monthly / quarterly: vents, baseboards, blinds, high dusting, floor buffing.
- Annual or as-needed: carpet cleaning, strip and wax, window cleaning.
Anything not on this list will not happen — not because anyone's being dishonest, but because it wasn't priced. Get it in writing, and make sure every vendor is bidding the same list so you're actually comparing prices. Our commercial cleaning cost guide walks through how scope and frequency translate into the monthly number.
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Request a Commercial Quote6. Crew consistency and turnover
Janitorial is a high-turnover industry, and turnover is what you feel as a customer. A crew that's been in your building for six months knows which conference room gets used, which door sticks, and where the problem spots are. A new face every three weeks re-learns your building every three weeks.
Ask: Will the same crew service us regularly? What happens when someone is out? How do you handle turnover? You want to hear about assigned teams and a real coverage plan, not "we'll send whoever's available."
7. Quality control and communication
Every cleaning vendor misses something eventually. What separates the good ones is what happens next. Ask how issues get reported and how fast they respond, whether there's a named point of contact you can actually reach, and whether anyone inspects the work — a supervisor walkthrough on a schedule, not just when you complain.
Also ask about the communication loop in the other direction: if the crew notices a leak, a broken lock, or a burnt-out light, does anyone tell you? A vendor in your building five nights a week is your best early-warning system for the whole facility, if they're set up to report.
8. Keys, alarms, and after-hours access
Get specific about security before day one:
- Who holds keys or access cards, and how are they tracked?
- Who has the alarm code, and what happens when staff changes?
- What's the protocol if an alarm goes off — who gets called, and who pays the false-alarm fee?
- Are there rooms the crew shouldn't enter — server closets, records rooms, secure labs?
Write the answers into the agreement. It's a five-minute conversation that prevents a genuinely bad night later.
9. Contract terms and the exit clause
Read the term and the cancellation language before anything else in the agreement. What you want to see:
- A reasonable term. Twelve months is normal. Three-year lock-ins with no out are a structure that benefits one party.
- A 30-day cancellation notice for either side. This is the most important line in the contract.
- No automatic multi-year renewal that requires you to remember to cancel in a narrow window.
- Clear price-change terms — when rates can change, how much notice you get.
- A defined trial or review period so you can course-correct in the first 60–90 days.
A vendor confident in their work doesn't need to trap you. The short notice period is what keeps them earning the account every month.
10. References from similar buildings
Ask for two or three current clients with facilities like yours — similar size, similar type, similar hours. A reference from a 40,000 sq ft warehouse tells you nothing about how they'll handle a six-room dental office.
When you call, skip "are you happy with them" and ask the questions that surface reality: How long have they cleaned for you? Has the crew changed much? What happened the last time something was missed? Has the price changed since you started?
The questions to ask on the call
If you take one thing from this guide, take this list. Run it on every vendor:
- Are your cleaners employees or subcontractors?
- What are your general liability limits, and do you carry workers' comp?
- Can your agent send a certificate of insurance naming us as additional insured?
- Is everyone entering our building background checked?
- Will you walk the space before quoting?
- Can I get the scope of work in writing, by task and frequency?
- How many labor hours per visit is this quote based on?
- Will the same crew service us, and what's your coverage plan when someone's out?
- Who's my point of contact, and how do I report an issue?
- What's the term, and what notice do I need to give to cancel?
Ten questions, ten minutes. Any vendor who answers all ten clearly is worth a walkthrough. Any vendor who dodges three of them has saved you a year of frustration.
FAQ
What insurance should a commercial cleaning company carry?
At minimum, general liability coverage and workers' compensation for anyone working in your building. Ask for a certificate of insurance sent directly from the vendor's insurance agent, and request that your business be named as an additional insured. If a company cleans overnight or handles keys and alarm codes, janitorial bonding is worth asking about as well.
Should I hire a company that uses employees or subcontractors?
Employee-based companies generally give you more accountability, more consistent crews, and clearer insurance coverage, because the company is responsible for training, background checks, and workers' compensation. Subcontracted labor isn't automatically a problem, but you should ask who screens and insures those workers and whether the same people will be in your building each visit.
What should a commercial cleaning contract include?
A written scope of work listing every task and how often it's performed, the monthly price and what's excluded, the service window, how supplies and consumables are handled, insurance obligations, how issues are reported and resolved, and the notice period required to cancel. Avoid multi-year terms with no reasonable exit clause.
How long should a commercial cleaning contract be?
Twelve months is common, but what matters more than the length is the exit clause. Look for a 30-day cancellation notice for either party. A vendor confident in their work doesn't need to lock you into three years, and a short notice period keeps them focused on the service instead of the signature.
