10 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Commercial Cleaning Company

Updated 2026-06-11 · by JSM Commercial Services

The fastest way to vet a commercial cleaning company: confirm insurance in writing, demand a written scope of work, ask who actually shows up (employees or subcontractors, same crew or rotating), verify there's a documented inspection process, and refuse long-term contracts. The ten questions below cover each of those — with the red flags that should end the conversation.

Most commercial cleaning relationships don't fail on price — they fail on accountability. The company starts strong, quality drifts, and complaints take a week to fix. These ten questions surface that risk before you sign.

The 10 questions

• 1. Are you insured, and can you name my company as additionally insured? (General liability and workers' comp, in writing.)
• 2. Are your employees background-checked — and are they employees or subcontractors?
• 3. Will I have the same crew every visit, or rotating staff?
• 4. What does your inspection process look like, and is it documented?
• 5. Can I see the written scope of work before I sign?
• 6. What happens when a visit misses the mark — is there a re-clean guarantee?
• 7. How fast do you respond to a service issue, and who do I call?
• 8. Do you require a long-term contract? (Month-to-month means they have to keep earning it.)
• 9. Who supplies consumables — paper, soap, liners — and is that in the price?
• 10. Can you give me two references from facilities like mine?

Red flags

Walk away, regardless of price, if you see any of these:

• A quote given without ever seeing your facility
• No written scope of work — "we clean everything" is not a scope
• Multi-year contracts with steep cancellation penalties
• Vague or evasive answers about insurance
• No named point of contact — just an answering service

The bottom line

A professional cleaning company will answer all ten questions in one conversation and follow up with the scope and insurance certificate the same week. If getting answers feels like work now, imagine getting a missed clean fixed in month six.