JANITORIAL SERVICES INSURANCE
Your crews work inside client buildings, carry keys, move equipment between jobs, and meet contract requirements before service begins. BLIS helps you bring general liability, workers compensation, commercial auto, bonds, and equipment coverage together around the way your cleaning business actually runs.
Certificates
Client certificates handled
BLIS helps you obtain the additional insured and waiver documents required by your cleaning contracts.
Email us for a certificateStart here
Share your contact information and a few basics about your business. A licensed BLIS representative will review your request.
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Submitting this request does not bind coverage or guarantee a quote. BLIS is licensed in California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Florida. CA License 0M74955.
Sending this form does not start coverage or guarantee a quote, price, or coverage result. BLIS will review what you send and may ask for a few more details before discussing available options.
Your business
A growing cleaning company has more to protect than the work itself. Building type, crew size, schedules, chemicals, vehicles, and client contracts all affect which policies belong in the program. BLIS helps you sort those pieces so the coverage can keep pace as you add employees and accounts.
General liability can address injuries to other people and damage to client property. For cleaning companies, the practical questions are familiar: a visitor slips on a wet floor, a fixture breaks, or a product discolors a specialty surface. We explain how the policy treats those situations, including limits that may apply while your crew is working directly on client property.
Keys, codes, and unsupervised access come with the job. If a key disappears, the client may expect the building to be rekeyed. Key-and-lock coverage and a janitorial dishonesty bond address different problems, and either may be required before a property manager awards the contract.
Workers compensation helps protect employees who are injured on the job. Cleaning businesses should keep payroll organized by the work people actually perform, especially when crews handle floor care, windows, medical facilities, or other specialized services. Clear records also make the year-end policy review easier to manage.
Clients often ask for certificates, additional insured endorsements, waivers of subrogation, or umbrella limits before a crew can start. BLIS helps you compare those requirements with the policy and supports certificate requests as accounts go live.
Businesses we help
Choose the business type closest to yours to see the everyday risks, coverage choices, and information that may matter when you request a quote.
GL, workers comp, cleaning bonds, and key/lock coverage for office, retail, and building cleaning crews.
GL, workers comp, and employee dishonesty bonds for house cleaning and maid service crews working inside clients' homes.
Coverage for crews in hospitals, clinics, and dental offices — where infection-control protocols and healthcare certificate demands raise the bar.
GL and workers comp for final-clean and cleanup crews — debris, hazardous-material contact, and the certificate demands general contractors impose.
Coverage for interior and exterior window work, including the added insurance considerations that come with high-rise crews.
Coverage
These are common coverages to consider, not a one-size-fits-all package. What makes sense depends on how you operate, your contracts, state requirements, and the policy options available.
General liability can cover third-party injury and property damage from cleaning work, including certain wet-floor slip-and-fall claims. Commercial contracts often require specific limits and additional insured endorsements. Review the policy's care, custody, and control terms because they can affect claims involving client property in your possession.
Workers compensation can help employees with medical care and lost wages after a covered work injury. Cleaning crews face slips, lifting and repetitive-motion injuries, chemical contact, and, for some window crews, work at height. Keeping payroll and job duties organized helps the policy reflect the work and makes the annual review easier.
A cleaning dishonesty bond, also called an employee dishonesty or fidelity bond, can protect against covered theft of client property by an employee. It is separate from GL. Commercial and healthcare clients may require it, with limits based on the contract.
Carry building keys and you carry a cost most GL policies skip: rekeying after one goes missing. Some endorsements pick it up; others need a separate add. Service several buildings and the risk stacks across clients at once. Confirm your GL handles key replacement before the day you need it.
Crews move between sites hauling chemicals, equipment, and supplies. Commercial auto can cover the vehicles the business owns. Send staff in their own cars — carrying gear, running between jobs — and hired and non-owned risk appears even with no fleet. Personal auto policies tend to exclude steady business use.
Healthcare, property management, and government clients increasingly write umbrella limits into the contract. It sits above the primary GL and responds once those limits are spent. The number required usually comes straight from the client. Read the contract before you quote, so the certificate confirms the limit they expect.
Coverage examples
A few situations to make coverage concrete. These are illustrations only — not actual claims, and not a guarantee of any coverage outcome.
Example scenario: A cleaning crew mops a hallway in a commercial office building during business hours. A building tenant walks through before the floor is dry and sustains an injury. The injured party files a claim against both the property manager and the cleaning company. The cleaning company's GL policy is pulled in as the responsible party.
Having the additional insured endorsement in place and confirming GL limits met contract demands before work started is how you manage this risk before an incident, not after.
Example scenario: A cleaning employee on an overnight shift takes equipment from a client's workstation. The client files a claim against the cleaning company. GL typically does not respond to employee theft of client property. That's addressed by a cleaning dishonesty bond, if one is in force. A cleaning company relying on its GL for employee dishonesty claims may find the claim excluded at the time it matters most.
Bond demands in client contracts exist because property managers and commercial clients have already encountered this risk.
The claim scenarios above are illustrative examples only. They do not represent actual clients, actual claims, or guaranteed coverage outcomes. Coverage for any specific situation depends on the policy terms, conditions, exclusions, and the facts of the claim.
After coverage starts
Once coverage is in place, BLIS can help with certificates and policy changes. A certificate only summarizes policy information; the policy and insurer-issued endorsements determine the actual coverage.
FAQ
Start with GL, Workers' Comp when you have employees, and a cleaning dishonesty bond when clients require one. Company vehicles may need commercial auto. The buildings you clean, crew size, contracts, chemicals, and work at height help determine whether umbrella or other coverage belongs in the plan.
No. A cleaning dishonesty bond can protect against covered theft of client property by an employee. GL covers certain third-party injury and property damage but usually excludes employee dishonesty. Commercial clients, property managers, and healthcare facilities may require the bond. Limits and terms vary by bond and contract.
Wet-floor claims are among the most common in the trade. Who gets named — the cleaning company, the building owner, or both — turns on the facts and the contracts. GL often covers third-party bodily injury from the work. Contracts routinely set GL limits and name the owner as an additional insured, so the policy can extend to the client on a covered claim.
Workers compensation can cover medical care and lost wages for covered on-the-job injuries, including slips, chemical contact, repetitive motion, and equipment-related incidents. Night work does not change the basic purpose of the policy, but clear reporting matters when fewer supervisors are present. Keep payroll and job duties organized by the work each crew performs so the annual review reflects the business accurately.
Most want a certificate before you start. The usual list: a GL limit — often $1M or higher for healthcare and government work — workers comp confirmation, additional insured status, and sometimes umbrella or waiver of subrogation. Some healthcare contracts add primary and non-contributory language. Read the insurance exhibit before you bind.
From the insights library
Compare workers' compensation requirements, job classifications, payroll, audits, owner treatment, and claims history across BLIS's five licensed states.
Turn a contract's insurance section into a practical checklist for limits, certificates, additional insured status, payment order, and recovery rights.
Learn how to protect your cleaning company from damaged client property, missing keys, employee theft, workplace injuries, and contract problems.
Tell us how your business works and what you want help with. We'll review what you share and let you know what else may be needed.
Coverage availability, pricing, terms, conditions, limits, and eligibility depend on the insurer, state, details of the business, claims history, and policy terms. Nothing on this site guarantees coverage, pricing, approval, or savings.
Illustrative claim scenarios are examples only and do not represent specific claims, predicted outcomes, or coverage guarantees. Whether a specific claim is covered depends on the policy terms, conditions, exclusions, and the facts of the specific situation.
