What corporate clients require of commercial cleaning vendors: facilities services agreements and how to prove you meet them

What a corporate client requires of a commercial cleaning vendor

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A corporate facilities services agreement typically requires a cleaning vendor to carry general liability of $1M per occurrence and $2M aggregate with the client and its affiliates as additional insureds, client-property crime coverage or a janitorial bond of $100K or more, statutory workers' compensation with $1M employers' liability and a waiver, auto or hired and non-owned coverage of $1M, an umbrella of $2M to $5M, background checks for staff, and certificates tracked in the supplier portal.

Reviewed by Michael LaBarbera, Licensed property & casualty agent, Provident Financial Group · Reviewed Oct 11, 2026 Updated Oct 14, 2026

Typical requirements and how to check them
Requirement	What they usually ask for	How to check what you have
Commercial general liability	$1M each occurrence / $2M aggregate with the client, parent and affiliates as additional insureds, primary and non-contributory; damage to premises rented or occupied at $300K or more in office towers and labs; no exclusion for floor care or the chemicals used	Dec page limits, the additional insured form, the damage-to-premises limit and the exclusions page.
Client-property crime coverage or janitorial bond	$100K per occurrence as a floor, higher where staff clean data centres, labs, trading floors or executive suites, covering theft of client property by your employees	A crime policy with the client property or third-party extension at the stated limit, or a janitorial bond naming the client.
Workers' compensation and employers' liability	Statutory in each state where the client has sites plus employers' liability of $1M / $1M / $1M, with a waiver; some clients set an experience modification threshold	Information page with each state, Part Two limits, waiver endorsement and the experience modification factor.
Commercial auto or hired and non-owned	$1M combined single limit on company vehicles, or hired and non-owned where staff drive their own cars between sites	Auto dec page or the hired and non-owned endorsement.
Umbrella or excess liability	$2M to $5M following form over general liability, auto and employers' liability; national accounts ask for more	Umbrella dec page and underlying schedule.
Background checks, badging and confidentiality	Background checks for every staff member on site, badge access with the client's security vendor, a confidentiality agreement, and sometimes drug testing and E-Verify	Vendor onboarding documents; not insurance but a condition of the agreement and of the client's security policy.
Cyber or privacy where staff access systems	Some clients require cyber liability when cleaning staff have access to areas with unsecured devices or the vendor uses the client's badge or scheduling systems	A cyber policy dec page with third-party liability; read whether the agreement actually requires it.
Supplier portal tracking	Certificates and endorsement copies uploaded to the client's supplier portal, which expires them at renewal and holds invoices until replaced	The portal's requirements list; a live certificate with endorsements attached is accepted by most.

Requirement

What they usually ask for

How to check what you have

Commercial general liability

$1M each occurrence / $2M aggregate with the client, parent and affiliates as additional insureds, primary and non-contributory; damage to premises rented or occupied at $300K or more in office towers and labs; no exclusion for floor care or the chemicals used

Dec page limits, the additional insured form, the damage-to-premises limit and the exclusions page.

Client-property crime coverage or janitorial bond

$100K per occurrence as a floor, higher where staff clean data centres, labs, trading floors or executive suites, covering theft of client property by your employees

A crime policy with the client property or third-party extension at the stated limit, or a janitorial bond naming the client.

Workers' compensation and employers' liability

Statutory in each state where the client has sites plus employers' liability of $1M / $1M / $1M, with a waiver; some clients set an experience modification threshold

Information page with each state, Part Two limits, waiver endorsement and the experience modification factor.

Commercial auto or hired and non-owned

$1M combined single limit on company vehicles, or hired and non-owned where staff drive their own cars between sites

Auto dec page or the hired and non-owned endorsement.

Umbrella or excess liability

$2M to $5M following form over general liability, auto and employers' liability; national accounts ask for more

Umbrella dec page and underlying schedule.

Background checks, badging and confidentiality

Background checks for every staff member on site, badge access with the client's security vendor, a confidentiality agreement, and sometimes drug testing and E-Verify

Vendor onboarding documents; not insurance but a condition of the agreement and of the client's security policy.

Cyber or privacy where staff access systems

Some clients require cyber liability when cleaning staff have access to areas with unsecured devices or the vendor uses the client's badge or scheduling systems

A cyber policy dec page with third-party liability; read whether the agreement actually requires it.

Supplier portal tracking

Certificates and endorsement copies uploaded to the client's supplier portal, which expires them at renewal and holds invoices until replaced

The portal's requirements list; a live certificate with endorsements attached is accepted by most.

What the client is protecting

A corporate client's cleaning vendor works after hours with access to every floor. The facilities agreement protects the client and its affiliates from injury and damage claims, from theft of what cleaners can reach, from a vendor employee's injury becoming the client's claim, and from the security and privacy consequences of unescorted access. National accounts enforce the exhibit through a supplier portal that expires certificates and holds invoices.

The lines a facilities services agreement names

General liability with the client and affiliates added and a raised damage-to-premises limit. Client-property crime coverage or a janitorial bond sized to what staff can reach. Workers' compensation with a waiver in every site state, sometimes with an experience modification threshold. Auto or hired and non-owned. An umbrella of $2M to $5M. Background checks, badging and confidentiality. Cyber coverage where the client's policy requires it. Certificates tracked in the portal.

How to check your policies against the agreement

Get the portal's requirements list. Match the general liability limits, confirm the additional insured form covers affiliates and check the damage-to-premises limit. Confirm the crime extension or bond at the stated amount. Check the waiver on the workers' compensation policy, the auto or hired and non-owned coverage, the umbrella schedule and any cyber requirement. Prepare the background check and badging documents for onboarding.

Keep the certificate current

Supplier portals expire certificates at renewal and hold payment until they are replaced. A live certificate link stays current as policies renew, carries the endorsements as attachments and notifies the client when a line changes, which keeps invoices moving across every site.

Questions people actually ask

Why is the crime bond higher for some buildings?

Because the client sets it to the value of what cleaners can reach: laptops in an open-plan office, equipment in a lab, cash on a trading floor. Read the exhibit for the amount and ask the carrier for the client property extension at that limit.

Does general liability cover a cleaner who damages a client's server?

Property damage to the client's equipment during cleaning is generally covered, subject to the care, custody or control exclusion for property you are working on. Clients with sensitive equipment sometimes ask for a higher damage-to-premises limit or a specific endorsement; read the exhibit.

Our cleaners never touch computers. Why would the client ask for cyber coverage?

Some clients require it of every vendor with physical access to secure areas, on the theory that a lost badge or a photographed screen is a privacy incident. It is a client policy decision; where the agreement requires it, a cyber policy with third-party liability is the answer.

What does an experience modification threshold mean for a cleaning company?

Clients screen vendors on injury history and the workers' compensation experience modification factor is their shortcut. A factor above the threshold may require a safety plan or disqualify you, independent of your limits.