Commercial Cleaning Contract: What to Put in Writing

A commercial cleaning contract is the written agreement that says exactly what your cleaning company will clean, how often, with whose supplies, for what price and for how long. The strongest contracts also cover keys and alarm codes, proof of insurance and bonding, quality checks and how either side can end the deal. If it isn't written down, it's a favor, not a service.

We sign cleaning agreements with offices, churches, daycares and medical practices around Warren and Youngstown, and most problems we hear about from new clients trace back to a vague contract with their last cleaner. "General cleaning, three nights a week" leaves too much room. Below is what to put in writing, section by section, so you know what you're paying for. If you're still comparing prices, start with our guide to commercial cleaning costs in Warren.

What Should a Commercial Cleaning Contract Include?

A commercial cleaning contract should include nine parts: scope of work, frequency and schedule, supplies, keys and access, insurance and bonding proof, term and notice, pricing, quality checks and a way to handle problems. Each one answers a question that otherwise gets settled by argument after something is missed or a bill looks wrong.

How Detailed Should the Scope of Work Be?

The scope of work should be detailed enough that a new crew member could follow it on night one. That means a task list for each area (entry, offices, restrooms, break room, floors) and a note on which surfaces get cleaned and which get disinfected afterward. "Clean restrooms" is not a scope. "Clean and disinfect toilets, sinks, handles and dispensers, restock paper and soap, mop with disinfectant" is.

The easiest way to do this is to attach a checklist to the contract as an exhibit. Our janitorial checklist lays out the nightly, weekly and monthly tasks for a typical office, and you can mark it up for your building.

Name a quality level, too. APPA, the facilities management association for schools and universities, describes five levels of clean, from Level 1 "Orderly Spotlessness" to Level 5 "Unkempt Neglect," as summarized by College Planning and Management in 2018. Level 2, "Ordinary Tidiness," allows up to two days of dust or streaks in corners. Writing "Level 1 in restrooms, Level 2 elsewhere" tells both sides what clean means.

One line we add to every scope: what the crew does not touch. We don't move papers on desks, we don't open personal drawers, and we don't unplug equipment. Writing that down protects your staff's privacy and saves us both an awkward phone call the morning after.

How Should the Contract Handle Frequency and Schedule?

The contract should name the exact days of service, the time window the crew works, and which deeper tasks rotate weekly, monthly or quarterly. "Three times a week" is not enough. "Monday, Wednesday and Friday after 6 p.m., with baseboards weekly and fridge clean-out monthly" leaves nothing to guess.

Also write down what happens on holidays and closures. If you close the week of Christmas, do you pay for missed nights, get a credit, or move them? If your building hosts a weekend event, is a Monday morning touch-up included? Those questions come up every year, so settle them once on paper.

Who Supplies the Cleaning Products and Paper Goods?

The contract should say who buys each category of supply: cleaning chemicals and equipment, and consumables like toilet paper, paper towels, hand soap and trash liners. Most cleaning companies bring their own chemicals and equipment. Paper goods and soap go either way, so get it in writing, along with the markup if the cleaner buys them for you.

Chemicals come with a federal rule attached. Under OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard, 29 CFR 1910.1200, employers must keep safety data sheets readily accessible during each work shift. When a contractor brings chemicals onto your site, paragraph (e)(2) covers how safety data sheets and precautions are shared between employers. Ask your cleaner to keep a binder or digital link to its safety data sheets at your building.

• Chemicals and equipment: cleaner supplies (most common)
• Toilet paper, paper towels, hand soap: name who buys and who restocks
• Trash liners: name who buys
• If the cleaner buys consumables: cost plus a stated markup, billed monthly
• Safety data sheets for every chemical kept on site
• Any product limits: fragrance-free, green-certified or specific disinfectants

What Should It Say About Keys, Alarm Codes and Access?

The access section should list every key, fob and alarm code you hand over, who on the cleaning crew can use them, and what happens when a key is lost or a crew member leaves. It should also spell out lockup steps: lights off, doors checked, alarm set. Your building's security is now partly in the cleaner's hands.

Ask for a key log signed by both sides and a separate alarm code for the cleaning company, so the alarm history shows when the crew came and went. Write in who pays to rekey or reprogram if the cleaner loses a key. And set a rule that keys come back within a set number of days if the contract ends.

The detail most offices miss is the crew itself. Ask whether the same people will clean your building every visit. A steady crew learns your alarm, your quirks and which door sticks, and fewer people carry your keys. A rotating crew means more people with access and more first nights.

What Insurance and Bonding Proof Should You Ask For?

Ask for a certificate of insurance (COI) showing general liability, workers' compensation and, if the crew drives company vehicles, commercial auto, plus proof of a janitorial bond. Insureon reports that 87% of cleaning business owners carry general liability at $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate (updated October 2026), so those are common limits to write in.

A certificate alone isn't the whole answer. In "Why You Need More Than Just a Certificate of Insurance," the law firm Miller Nash explains that a certificate is provided for information purposes only and is not part of the policy. It adds that "the only way that a party can be added as an additional insured is by endorsement." If your contract requires additional insured status, ask for the endorsement page too.

Workers' comp works differently in Ohio. Insureon's guide to monopolistic workers' comp states, updated December 2025, lists Ohio among four states where employers must buy coverage from the state fund, here the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation. A private workers' comp policy is not what you're looking for. Ask for the BWC certificate. Ohio Revised Code 4123.35 sets out employers' duty to pay into the state insurance fund.

A janitorial bond is about theft, not damage. Insureon's janitorial bond page, updated August 2026, says the bond reimburses a client when an employee steals money or property, and that it does not cover damage to the client's property. That's why a contract should require both the bond and general liability.

How Long Should the Term and Notice Period Be?

Most recurring cleaning agreements run month to month or for one year, and either term works if the notice period is short. Look for a 30-day written notice to cancel for any reason, plus a shorter path to cancel for repeated missed service. Watch for auto-renewal clauses that lock you in for another full year unless you cancel in a narrow window.

Write down what happens at the end: final invoice timing, return of keys and fobs, alarm code deletion and pickup of any equipment the cleaner stores on site. If you're leaving a current cleaner, our guide on how to switch cleaning companies without a gap walks through the timing so you're never left without a crew.

Flat Monthly or Hourly: Which Pricing Structure Is Better?

For recurring cleaning, a flat monthly or per-visit price is usually better for the buyer, because you know the bill before the month starts. Thumbtack's 2026 commercial cleaning cost guide notes that hourly billing can change after the job since cleaning time varies, while flat quotes are based on a walk-through of the space.

Jobber's 2026 pricing guide lists office cleaning at $20 to $80 an hour per cleaner and $0.05 to $0.20 per square foot, and recommends that cleaners estimate by hour or square foot, then present a flat monthly or per-visit rate. Its own comparison says flat rates give clients budget certainty, while hourly is less predictable.

Whatever the model, the contract should say how and when the price can go up, and how much notice you get. Labor is the main cost in janitorial work. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a mean wage of $16.89 an hour for janitors in the Youngstown-Warren metro in May 2025, so a fair increase should track real costs, with 30 days' notice.

How Do You Write Quality Checks Into a Cleaning Contract?

Write in a regular walk-through (monthly is common), a simple way to report issues, and a response time for fixing them, such as the next scheduled visit. Quality checks turn "the place doesn't feel clean" into specific items the cleaner can fix, and they give you a paper trail if you ever need to cancel for poor service.

• Monthly walk-through with your contact and the cleaning supervisor or owner
• Issue log or email address where missed items are reported
• Response time: missed items fixed on the next visit at no charge
• Named point of contact who answers the phone
• Right to cancel early after repeated missed service, in writing

The single best quality check we know is cheap: tape the checklist inside a supply closet and have the crew initial each night. It takes the crew a minute, and you can see at a glance whether the weekly and monthly tasks are actually happening.

What Red Flags Should You Watch For in a Cleaning Contract?

The biggest red flags are a vague scope, long auto-renewals with short cancel windows, early termination fees, price increases with no notice, supplies billed "as needed" with no markup stated, and a cleaner who won't send a certificate of insurance. Any one of these can turn a fair price into an expensive year.

• Scope says "general cleaning" with no task list
• Auto-renews for a year unless you cancel 60 or 90 days ahead
• Early termination fee or liquidated damages for leaving
• Price can rise "at any time" or without written notice
• Supplies billed as needed with no markup or cap
• No certificate of insurance, no bond, or a private workers' comp policy in Ohio
• Subcontracting allowed without telling you
• No named contact or response time for problems

How Phillips Care Writes Its Cleaning Agreements

Every recurring client gets a free walk-through, then a written checklist and quote for their building. We price recurring work as a flat monthly or per-visit rate, so you know the bill in advance. We're insured and bonded, the same crew cleans your building, and if something gets missed, you call the owner and it gets fixed.

Phillips Care Cleaning was founded in Warren in 2012 by Fernando Phillips and cleans offices, churches, daycares and medical offices across Trumbull and Mahoning County, days, nights or weekends. See our commercial cleaning services and janitorial services, or call (330) 219-7916 to book a walk-through.