Commercial cleaning is a different business to domestic cleaning — the stakes are higher, the clients are more demanding, and the compliance requirements are more complex. A residential client might not notice if your COSHH assessments are missing. A facilities manager overseeing a commercial contract absolutely will.
This checklist covers every category of must-have for a commercial cleaning business, from the equipment you need on site to the documentation that wins and protects contracts. Whether you're a sole trader breaking into your first commercial account or a growing team taking on multi-site contracts, this is what you need to have in place.
📋 How to use this checklist
Items are marked Essential (non-negotiable — do not take on commercial work without these), Recommended (will significantly affect your ability to win and retain contracts) or Optional (useful at a certain scale or for specific contract types).
£5mPublic liability insurance most commercial clients require
£24bnUK commercial cleaning market annual turnover
68%Of cleaning businesses still using paper-based admin
1. Commercial cleaning equipment
Commercial premises are cleaned on tight schedules — often before or after operating hours. The right equipment means you meet the spec efficiently without running over time. Domestic equipment fails quickly under daily commercial use. Invest in commercial-grade kit from the start.
🧹 Cleaning equipment
Commercial upright vacuum cleaner Essential
A commercial-rated upright vacuum (Sebo, Numatic Henry Commercial, Miele S-Class) is essential for carpeted offices, retail units and hospitality venues. Domestic vacuums are not rated for daily commercial use and will fail quickly. HEPA filtration is increasingly specified by commercial clients for air quality compliance.
Commercial Kentucky mop and two-bucket system Essential
A Kentucky or flat mop system with colour-coded buckets (blue for general, red for sanitary areas) is the baseline for any hard-floor cleaning. The British Institute of Cleaning Science (BICSc) colour-coded system is the industry standard — clients increasingly expect it. Never cross-contaminate between areas by using separate mop heads per zone.
Commercial scrubber-dryer (for medium to large sites) Recommended
For sites with significant hard floor area — warehouses, schools, retail units, leisure facilities — a walk-behind scrubber-dryer (Tennant T5, Kärcher B60) replaces traditional mopping and dramatically reduces cleaning time. A scrubber-dryer also produces a consistently cleaner result. Essential for any contract specification that includes machine-cleaning of hard floors.
Floor polisher / burnisher Optional
Required if your contract includes floor stripping, sealing or polishing — typically healthcare, education and some retail environments. A single-disc polishing machine (Truvox, Numatic) at 150–175 rpm for maintenance; a high-speed burnisher (300–1,500 rpm) for spray buffing. Only offer floor polishing if you have the training to do it correctly — damaged floors are expensive.
Commercial steam cleaner Recommended
Steam cleaning sanitises surfaces without chemicals — increasingly specified in healthcare, food preparation and nursery environments. A commercial dry-steam unit (Duplex, Polti Cimex Eradicator) reaching 180°C+ kills bacteria, viruses and bed bugs. Useful for periodic deep cleans and high-hygiene zones within regular contracts.
Wet and dry vacuum (spillage response) Recommended
A commercial wet-dry vac is essential for spillage response, stripping floors, extracting water after deep cleans and maintaining washrooms. A Numatic George or equivalent is standard kit for most commercial cleaning teams.
Microfibre cloth system (colour-coded) Essential
The BICSc colour-coding system applies to cloths too — red for sanitary/high-risk, blue for general surfaces, green for food prep areas, yellow for washbasins. Microfibre cloths outperform cotton for reducing cross-contamination. Replace or launder cloths per contract cycle — never reuse soiled cloths between premises.
2. Cleaning chemicals and COSHH compliance
Commercial cleaning uses stronger concentrations of chemicals than domestic work — industrial degreasers, descalers, disinfectants and specialist sanitisers all require proper COSHH assessments. A facilities manager or HSE inspector can ask to see your COSHH folder at any time. It must be up to date, specific to the products you actually use, and accessible to all staff.
🧴 Chemicals and COSHH
COSHH assessment for every chemical product Essential
Required by the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002. Every product you use must have a completed COSHH assessment: substance name, hazard classification, who is exposed, how they are exposed, and what controls are in place (PPE, ventilation, dilution). Generic assessments are not sufficient — assessments must reference the specific products you use at the concentrations you use them.
Safety Data Sheets (SDS) for all products Essential
The manufacturer's SDS for every chemical product must be available on site (or accessible digitally). The SDS contains first aid, fire, spill and disposal information that first responders need in an emergency. Keep a chemical register listing every product you carry, its location and the SDS reference.
Locked chemical storage on site (where applicable) Recommended
On sites where you store chemicals overnight (schools, offices, leisure centres), chemicals must be stored in a locked, ventilated storage area. Chemical storage cupboards must display the appropriate hazard symbols. Never store bleach and acid-based products in the same cabinet — they react to produce chlorine gas.
Dilution control system Recommended
Dilution control stations (Diversey, Ecolab) ensure staff use the correct chemical concentration every time. This reduces chemical waste, prevents over-dosing that damages surfaces, and creates a consistent and auditable cleaning standard. Required by some commercial clients as part of their environmental policy.
COSHH training records for all staff Essential
Every member of staff who handles cleaning chemicals must receive COSHH induction training before they start work. Keep a dated, signed training record for every employee. If an employee is injured due to chemical exposure and you cannot demonstrate that they received COSHH training, you are exposed to significant legal liability.
⚠ COSHH and subcontractors
If you use subcontractors, you are still responsible for ensuring they have received COSHH training appropriate to the chemicals they will use on your contracts. Do not assume that because someone is self-employed they have completed COSHH training — verify it and keep a record.
3. Insurance
Commercial cleaning insurance requirements are materially different from domestic cleaning insurance. The coverage levels required, the specific risks that must be covered, and the documentation you need to provide to clients are all more complex. Get this wrong and you can lose contracts — or find yourself personally liable for damages that should have been covered.
📋 Insurance
Public liability insurance — minimum £5m Essential
Most commercial clients require a minimum of £5m public liability cover as a condition of contract. Some large FM companies require £10m. Ensure your policy explicitly covers commercial premises (not just domestic work), damage to client data or equipment, and product liability (damage caused by the chemicals you use). Get a certificate of insurance ready to share before any contract discussion.
Employers' liability insurance — £5m minimum (legal requirement) Essential
Legally required under the Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 from the day you employ anyone. Minimum £5m cover. Failure to hold valid employers' liability insurance is a criminal offence and HMRC can impose a fine of £2,500 per day you are uninsured. Display the certificate on site or make it accessible to employees digitally.
Professional indemnity insurance Recommended
If you provide a specification of works, a quality audit or any form of consulting advice as part of a contract, professional indemnity insurance covers claims that your professional advice caused the client a financial loss. Not universally required for cleaning-only contracts, but increasingly expected by large commercial and public sector clients.
Fidelity / crime insurance (high-value commercial sites) Optional
Covers you against claims arising from dishonesty by your employees — theft from the client's premises. Required by some financial services, legal and jewellery clients where your staff have access to high-value items or data. Check whether your public liability policy includes fidelity cover as a clause, or whether you need a separate policy.
4. RAMS documentation
A Risk Assessment and Method Statement is not optional for commercial cleaning. Every commercial client will ask for one before you start work. The quality of your RAMS is a direct indicator of your professionalism — a generic, badly formatted RAMS can cost you a contract just as surely as not having one at all.
📁 RAMS
Generic RAMS template (base document) Essential
A RAMS template covering: company details, scope of work, identified hazards (slippery floors, chemical exposure, manual handling, lone working, electrical equipment), risk ratings (likelihood x severity), control measures, PPE in use, method of work (step by step), emergency procedures, and review/signature section. Keep this as the base document and adapt it for each site.
Site-specific RAMS for every commercial contract Essential
Your RAMS must reference the specific site — client name, site address, site-specific hazards (e.g. heavy vehicle movement in car park, food preparation areas requiring food-safe chemicals, lone working procedures for out-of-hours access). A facilities manager who spots that you've submitted an obviously generic RAMS will question how seriously you take safety.
Annual RAMS review and re-issue Essential
RAMS documents should be reviewed at least annually, or whenever the scope of work, chemicals used or site conditions change. Keep a record of each version and when it was issued. Some clients include a RAMS review requirement in their contract — check the terms of every contract you sign.
Lone working risk assessment and procedure Recommended
If staff clean out-of-hours without other people present, you must have a lone working procedure: how to check in, who to contact if there is a problem, what to do if a cleaner does not check in. This is a separate risk assessment from the main RAMS but closely linked to it.
5. Staff management and compliance
Commercial cleaning is a people business. The quality of your service depends entirely on the people doing it. Managing them well — from right-to-work checks at hire to ongoing training and performance management — is what separates a reliable commercial cleaning company from one that loses contracts through staff-related issues.
👥 Staff compliance
Right-to-work checks (every new employee) Essential
Legally required for every employee before they start work. Check and copy original documents (passport, biometric residence permit, share code) and retain copies. Failure to conduct right-to-work checks can result in a civil penalty of up to £20,000 per illegal worker and criminal prosecution. Check the Home Office list of acceptable documents — it changes.
DBS checks (Disclosure and Barring Service) Recommended
Not universally required for all commercial cleaning, but essential for: schools (enhanced DBS required for all staff), hospitals and care homes (enhanced DBS), government buildings (standard or enhanced), data centres and financial services (standard DBS). Many FM companies require DBS checks as a blanket requirement for all their cleaning contractors. Apply through an umbrella body — you cannot apply directly as a company.
Written employment contract (issued day one) Essential
A written statement of employment particulars must be issued from day one of employment (Employment Rights Act 1996 as amended). It must cover: hours, pay, holiday entitlement, notice period, job description, grievance procedure and disciplinary procedure. Commercial cleaning contracts may have TUPE implications — get legal advice if you're taking over an existing contract with staff.
Induction training record Essential
Every new member of staff must complete a documented induction covering: COSHH training, manual handling, lone working procedure, fire evacuation procedure for each site they work at, and any client-specific requirements. Keep signed training records permanently — you will need to produce these if there is ever a workplace injury or HSE investigation.
Uniform and ID badge Essential
Commercial clients expect uniformed, identifiable staff. A branded uniform (polo shirt and trousers as a minimum) with an ID badge showing the employee's name and your company name is standard. Some sites require photo ID passes issued by the client — factor this into your mobilisation timeline when starting a new contract.
Auto-enrolment pension (if applicable) Essential
If any employee is aged 22–66 and earns more than £10,000 per year, you must enrol them in a qualifying workplace pension (The Peoples' Pension, NEST or similar) and pay a minimum 3% employer contribution. Failure to comply with auto-enrolment is penalised by The Pensions Regulator. Register with TPR when you take on your first qualifying employee.
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6. Contract documentation
The contract is the foundation of every commercial cleaning relationship. A weak contract — or no contract at all — leaves you exposed to scope creep, non-payment, and disputes about what you were supposed to do. A strong contract also protects the client, which makes you a more credible supplier.
📄 Contract documentation
Specification of works Essential
A detailed specification listing exactly what will be cleaned, when, at what frequency, and to what standard. This is the most important document in a commercial contract — it determines your price, your resource requirement and what the client can hold you to. Be explicit: "vacuuming carpets in all open-plan office areas" is better than "cleaning floors". Get the specification agreed in writing before starting any contract.
Commercial service agreement (B2B contract) Essential
A formal B2B contract covering: parties, contract period, the specification of works by reference, price and payment terms, variation procedures, liability limits, termination clauses (notice period, grounds for immediate termination), TUPE obligations, data protection and insurance requirements. Have this reviewed by a solicitor at least once — a one-off cost that protects you on every contract you ever sign.
KPI and service level agreement (SLA) Recommended
Larger commercial clients will require measurable KPIs: response time to complaints, percentage of scheduled visits completed, audit scores, etc. Define these KPIs clearly in the contract and ensure they are achievable given your resourcing. Ambiguous KPIs become a source of dispute — make them specific, measurable and time-bound.
Site log book Essential
A physical or digital log book on site records every visit: date, cleaner name, tasks completed, any issues noted, and the cleaner's signature. This is your audit trail if the client disputes whether a service was delivered. It also provides a communication channel for the client to leave notes for the cleaning team.
7. Quality management
Commercial cleaning contracts are retained or lost based on service quality. A quality management system doesn't have to be complex — but it does need to be systematic. If you're relying on client complaints as your only quality feedback mechanism, you'll lose accounts before you know there was a problem.
✅ Quality management
Regular site inspection / audit schedule Essential
Inspect each site on a defined schedule (weekly for new contracts, monthly for established ones) using a standardised audit form. Score against the specification of works — if you don't have a score, you don't have data. Share audit results with your client proactively: it demonstrates accountability and stops small issues becoming contract-threatening complaints.
Complaint handling procedure Essential
A documented process for acknowledging, investigating and resolving client complaints. Complaints in commercial cleaning must be acknowledged within 24 hours and resolved (or a resolution plan communicated) within 48 hours. A slow response to a commercial complaint is often more damaging than the original issue.
Periodic deep clean schedule Recommended
Most commercial contracts have a baseline regular clean supplemented by periodic deep cleans — descaling washrooms, shampooing carpets, stripping and sealing floors, cleaning behind kitchen equipment. Build a schedule for these into the contract specification and calendar them in advance. Periodic work is also a revenue opportunity — charge correctly for it.
Client review meeting (quarterly minimum) Recommended
A quarterly face-to-face review with your client contact builds the relationship, surfaces issues before they become complaints, and gives you an opportunity to discuss price reviews or additional services. Clients who feel their cleaning company is proactive and communicative are far less likely to go out to tender when the contract comes up for renewal.
Business management software Essential
Managing multiple commercial contracts manually — scheduling, invoicing, recurring billing, staff allocation, financial records — is not scalable. Purpose-built cleaning business software (like Cadi) handles all of this, keeps your financial records MTD ITSA compliant, and gives you real-time visibility of what's been done on each site. Start with the right system before the admin overwhelms you.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a limited company to do commercial cleaning?
No — a sole trader can take on commercial cleaning contracts. Many small commercial contracts (offices, retail units, small schools) are held by sole traders with no issue. However, as your contracts grow in value, operating as a limited company offers benefits: limited personal liability, a more professional appearance to large clients, and potential tax advantages. Some public sector and large FM contracts require a limited company structure — check the tender documents before bidding.
What is TUPE and how does it affect commercial cleaning contracts?
TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006) means that when you take over an existing commercial cleaning contract, the existing cleaning staff employed on that contract transfer to your employment on their existing terms and conditions. You cannot simply replace them with your own team. TUPE also applies when you lose a contract — your staff may transfer to the incoming contractor. Always get legal advice before taking on a contract where TUPE is likely to apply — the cost of getting this wrong is substantial.
How do I price a commercial cleaning contract?
Start with the specification of works — the detailed list of what needs to be cleaned, when and to what standard. Estimate the time required based on the site survey. Calculate your cost: (time × staff cost including NI and holidays) + (materials and chemicals) + (equipment depreciation) + (overhead allocation) + (profit margin). Most commercial cleaning companies target a gross profit margin of 30–45% before overheads. Never undercut your costs to win a contract — a loss-making commercial contract is worse than no contract at all.
Do I need to be accredited to do commercial cleaning?
There is no mandatory national accreditation for commercial cleaning. However, several voluntary accreditations significantly improve your chances of winning contracts: ISO 9001 (quality management), ISO 14001 (environmental management), Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme (CHAS), Constructionline, and SafeContractor. Large FM companies and public sector bodies often require one or more of these as a baseline condition for tendering. BICSc (British Institute of Cleaning Science) training and membership is also well-regarded.