Questions to ask a cleaning vendor about insurance

Before you sign a commercial cleaning contract, ask for a current certificate of insurance naming your company as additional insured, confirm general liability and workers' comp are actually in force, and ask about bonding if the scope touches secure or high-value areas. Here's how to check each of those, and what to watch for.

What insurance should a commercial cleaning vendor carry?

Two coverages matter most: general liability, which covers damage or injury the vendor's work causes on your property, and workers' compensation, which covers the vendor's own employees if they're hurt on the job. Beyond that, some facilities also want umbrella coverage or auto liability if the vendor's crews are driving between sites. Limits vary by facility size, risk, and what's in your contract: a distribution center with heavy equipment and a small office suite don't need the same coverage, so don't assume a single dollar figure is the industry standard. Ask what the vendor carries and compare it against what your risk manager or insurance broker recommends for your specific building.

How do you verify a certificate of insurance is current?

A certificate of insurance (COI) is a one-page summary the vendor's insurance broker issues, listing the policy type, carrier, policy number, and effective dates. Don't just accept a PDF and file it. Check the expiration date against your contract term. A COI that expires mid-contract means you'll need a renewed one before that date, not after. Call the carrier or broker listed on the certificate to confirm the policy is active; COIs can be issued for policies that later lapse or get cancelled, and the document itself doesn't update automatically. Ask to be listed as an "additional insured," not just a certificate holder. Those are different things, and only the former extends the vendor's liability coverage to claims involving your property.

What registration or licensing applies to janitorial companies in California?

California doesn't have a statewide contractor-style license specifically for janitorial or commercial cleaning work. What does exist is a registration requirement for janitorial employers, administered by the state's Labor Commissioner, that's separate from insurance and separate from any local business license. If you're vetting a vendor operating in California, ask directly whether they're registered and ask to see proof. Don't assume registration and insurance are the same thing, because they're not. For vetting a cleaning company more broadly, insurance, registration, and references are three separate checks, and a vendor passing one doesn't mean they've passed the others.

What should you ask about bonding and workers' comp?

Workers' compensation isn't optional for California employers. It's a legal requirement, and a vendor without it is a liability risk you're taking on by association. Ask to see proof it's active, not just referenced on a COI. Bonding is a different tool: it protects you against theft or dishonest acts by a vendor's employees, which matters most if your scope includes after-hours access, secure areas, cash-handling zones, or anything valuable left unattended. Not every contract needs bonding. A nightly office cleaning account in a shared building has a different risk profile than a facility with restricted access and expensive equipment. Ask the vendor whether bonding is something they carry and whether it applies to the crew that would actually be in your building, not just a corporate umbrella policy.

What happens if a vendor's coverage lapses mid-contract?

This is the scenario most facility managers don't ask about until it's too late. Put a notification requirement in the contract itself: the vendor has to tell you within a set number of days if their GL or workers' comp policy is cancelled, non-renewed, or materially changed. Without that clause, you might not find out until you go looking for the COI at renewal and discover it expired months earlier. Also build re-verification into your own calendar rather than relying on the vendor to volunteer an update; insurance lapses are rarely announced.

What red flags show up on a COI?

Some things worth checking every time you review a certificate:

• The additional insured line doesn't name your company, or the field is blank
• The policy effective dates don't cover your full contract term
• The certificate holder and the additional insured are different entities, and it's unclear why
• The limits listed are unusually low for the scope of work described
• The broker or carrier listed can't be reached, or won't confirm the policy when you call
• The COI is more than a year old with no renewal on file
• Workers' comp is missing entirely, or the vendor claims all workers are "independent contractors" with no coverage

Any one of these is worth a direct follow-up call before you sign anything, not after.

Where Nexara fits

These are the same questions we expect any facility manager to ask, and we're glad to walk through them on-site rather than over email. If you want to go through your insurance and vetting checklist as part of a walkthrough, along with the scope of work for your building, contact us and we'll set a time.