Choosing a commercial cleaning company comes down to a handful of verifiable checks: whether staff are directly employed and vetted, whether insurance and accreditations meet the bar, whether cover is built in, and whether the service is defined in a written specification. Get those right and price takes care of itself. This checklist walks through each.
Are the cleaners employed or subcontracted?
This is the single most predictive check. Much of the market runs on casual or self-employed labour, so the cleaning shift is the first thing dropped when better-paid work appears — and you inherit the missed clean. A provider that directly employs its operatives on guaranteed hours (PAYE), at or above the real Living Wage, has a workforce that stays. This is the foundation of why Optus Glean UK is built this way.
Is it properly insured?
Insurance is non-negotiable. Employers' Liability is legally compulsory at £5 million minimum (a business can be fined £2,500 a day without it), and you should expect Public Liability of at least £5 million for commercial work — some environments require £10 million. Ask to see current certificates, not just a claim on a website.
What accreditations and vetting does it hold?
Third-party accreditations de-risk your choice: SafeContractor or CHAS for health and safety (SSIP-backed), Constructionline, and ISO 9001/14001/45001 for quality, environment and safety management. Check vetting matches your site's risk — DBS in England and Wales, Disclosure Scotland PVG, or AccessNI in Northern Ireland, with Enhanced checks for schools, healthcare and care settings. See our accreditations page.
Is cover built in, or improvised?
Ask what happens when your cleaner is off sick or on holiday. A serious provider assigns a named primary cleaner and a named relief, so cover is built into the contract rather than scrambled at short notice. If the answer is vague, the clean will be too. Reliability is the difference between a contract that works and one that constantly disappoints.
Is the service defined in writing, and can it scale?
Insist on a written specification — areas, tasks, frequencies and standards — so you know exactly what is delivered and can hold the provider to it. If you run more than one site, check whether the provider can give you one contract across every location to the same standard, rather than a patchwork. Then compare like with like using a fixed monthly quote against your specification.
Choosing a cleaning company — the checklist
| Check | What good looks like | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| Employment model | Directly employed, PAYE, real Living Wage | Casual / self-employed only |
| Insurance | £5m EL (compulsory) + £5m+ PL, certificates shown | Vague or unevidenced cover |
| Accreditations | SafeContractor/CHAS, ISO 9001/14001/45001 | No third-party accreditation |
| Vetting | DBS/PVG/AccessNI matched to site risk | No vetting policy |
| Cover | Named primary + named relief | Cover 'sorted on the day' |
| Specification | Written scope, tasks, frequencies, audits | No written specification |