The commercial cleaning industry in Pennsylvania has a low barrier to entry. The variation in quality between cleaning companies is significant — and the consequences of a poor choice are felt every working day. Here is how to evaluate properly.
1. Verify Insurance
Every commercial cleaning company should carry general liability insurance (covering damage to your property) and workers compensation insurance (covering their staff if injured on your premises). Ask for certificates of both, verify they are current. A company that cannot produce these immediately should not be in your building.
If a company quotes significantly below competitors, missing insurance is frequently the reason — and the liability for an uninsured worker's injury on your premises falls to you.
2. Ask About Staff Vetting
Your cleaning team has access to your building, often outside business hours, often unsupervised. Ask directly: do you conduct background checks? Are staff direct employees or subcontractors? The distinction matters — subcontractors may not be covered by the company's employer liability insurance.
3. Insist on a Written Scope
Your contract should specify: every area to be cleaned and the tasks for each, frequency of each task, products to be used, team composition, and the escalation process if work falls short. "Office cleaning as discussed" is not a contract — it is an invitation to dispute.
4. Question the Pricing Model
Commercial cleaning is labour-intensive with real costs: staff wages, insurance, equipment, products. A quote dramatically below market is achieving that price by cutting one of these — most commonly insurance, staff pay, or cleaning time. Ask for a breakdown. A legitimate company can tell you exactly how many hours your clean takes, how many staff, and what products are used.
5. Test Communication Before You Sign
How a cleaning company communicates during quoting predicts how they will communicate when something goes wrong. Slow responses, vague answers, or defensiveness during the bidding process will intensify after the contract is signed — not improve.
Key Takeaways
- Professional commercial cleaning reduces sick days and protects client impressions.
- Daily sanitisation of high-touch surfaces is essential regardless of full clean frequency.
- Always verify insurance, written scope, and staff vetting before signing a cleaning contract.
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