Duct cleaning services insurance checklist: what a duct cleaning company should carry

The duct cleaning company insurance checklist

QUICK ANSWER

Duct cleaning services usually carry general liability, workers' compensation and commercial auto. Duct cleaners run vacuum trucks and brushes through the air systems of homes and buildings, apply sanitisers and sealants into the air people breathe, and get blamed for the mold they found. The property manager and your landlord ask for proof of each. The checklist below says what every item does, who requires it and how to check it on the policies you already have.

Reviewed by Michael LaBarbera, Licensed property & casualty agent, Provident Financial Group · Reviewed Oct 12, 2026 Updated Oct 14, 2026

Who asks a duct cleaning company for what

Who	What they usually want to see
Property managers & HOAs	General liability with the manager and owner as additional insureds, and workers' compensation
Landlords & commercial leases	General liability with the landlord as additional insured, property coverage on tenant improvements and workers' compensation
Enterprise clients & vendor onboarding	General liability, professional or cyber liability, workers' compensation and often an umbrella

Each of them wants a certificate, and most want it again at every renewal. A live certificate link from the wallet shows today's coverage to every holder and tells them when it changes.

How to check what you already have

General liability declarations page. Three liability numbers matter: each occurrence, general aggregate and the products–completed operations aggregate. Then the forms list: blanket additional insured, waiver of subrogation and primary and non-contributory wording satisfy every contract; scheduled forms satisfy one.
Workers' compensation information page. Item 3.A must list every state you work in, item 4 must carry the right class codes, and the employers' liability limits should meet what contracts ask. Check that the estimated payroll is close to this year's.
Auto schedule. Every vehicle listed with the right garaging address and use; symbols that include hired and non-owned auto; physical damage with the lender as loss payee where the vehicle is financed.
Equipment schedule. Owned items scheduled above the per-item threshold, a blanket limit for small tools, leased or rented equipment included, and the valuation (replacement cost or actual cash value).
Pollution liability. Site-based or contractors form, claims-made or occurrence, the materials named (mold, asbestos, lead, fuels), and transport and disposal coverage.
Hired and non-owned auto. Look for the symbols 8 and 9 or an endorsement by that name on the auto or general liability policy; without it, staff in their own cars are uninsured on company business.
Employment practices declarations. Limit and retention, third-party coverage for claims by customers, and whether wage-and-hour claims carry any defence sublimit.

What usually goes wrong for duct cleaning services

Sanitiser and sealant applied into ductwork, and an air-quality complaint the pollution exclusion removes.
Mold disturbed during cleaning, with the fungus exclusion on the policy.
Damage to the exact thing you are working on is excluded on most general liability forms; installation floaters and care, custody and control endorsements fill that hole.
A herbicide drift or fuel spill denied under the pollution exclusion.
Theft from a locked truck overnight with no tools floater, or a per-item limit lower than the one tool that mattered.
A personal auto policy on a truck with the company name on the door.

What underwriters will ask a duct cleaning company

The products applied in ducts, whether mold work is done, and the vacuum truck and equipment schedule
Residential versus commercial split of the work
Whether any work is done above three stories or below grade
Products applied, applicator licences and how fuel and chemicals are stored
Total value of hand and power tools kept on the trucks
Each vehicle, its garaging address, radius and who drives it

Have the answers in the wallet before the renewal and the quote request fills itself in; CoverMatch sends one application to every eligible carrier and lines the quotes up against what you have.

Renewal timing

Audits at year end compare payroll, receipts and subcontractor costs with the estimate, so keep the wallet's size figures and the subcontractor certificates current. Start comparing sixty days before expiration, and ask for the limits the next contract will need rather than the ones the last one did.

Questions people actually ask

Are air-quality complaints after a duct cleaning covered?

Under most general liability forms, chemicals and mold released into the air are pollutants and excluded. A pollution endorsement or policy written for the trade covers them, and it is the claim duct cleaners see most.

We found mold in the ducts. Can we remove it?

Only within what your licence and your policy allow; many states treat mold work above a threshold as remediation with its own rules, and the fungus exclusion on a cleaning policy removes the claim. Refer it or insure it properly.

Does general liability cover damage to a customer's property while I work on it?

It covers damage to the rest of their property, not usually the part in your hands. Many forms exclude property in your care, custody or control, so a duct cleaning company that handles valuable items or systems needs an endorsement or an installation floater. The policy explainer in the wallet flags the exclusion when it reads your policy.

Does general liability cover a chemical application that damages a neighbour's plants?

Most general liability forms exclude pollutants, and pesticides and fertilisers count. A pollution endorsement or a separate contractors pollution policy is what responds, and licensed applicators are often required by the state to carry it.

Are tools stolen from my truck covered?

Under a tools floater, yes, subject to the deductible and any per-item limit. Under the commercial auto policy, no: auto covers the vehicle, not what was in it.