You are giving someone access to your home or facility, often when you are not there. The vetting should match the stakes. These twelve questions surface almost everything that matters.
Insurance and legal standing
- 1. Are you insured, and will you provide a certificate of insurance naming me or my building?
- 2. Do you carry workers' compensation for your crew? If a cleaner is injured in your home and the company has no coverage, that exposure can land on your homeowner's policy.
- 3. Are your cleaners employees or subcontractors? Employees are covered by the company's policies; subcontractors often are not.
People and access
- 4. Are cleaners background checked before working unsupervised?
- 5. Will I have the same crew each visit, or does it rotate?
- 6. How do you handle keys, codes, and alarm access, and what happens when an employee leaves?
Scope and quality
- 7. Can I see the written checklist for my specific service?
- 8. Who supervises quality and how often do they inspect?
- 9. What is your policy if something is missed or damaged?
Practicalities
- 10. Do you bring supplies and equipment, and can you accommodate specific product requests?
- 11. What is your cancellation and rescheduling policy in both directions?
- 12. How does pricing work — flat rate, hourly, or by scope — and what triggers a change?
Red flags
- A quote given over the phone for a large home without any walkthrough or detailed questions
- Cash-only pricing with no invoice or written agreement
- Reluctance to provide a certificate of insurance
- No written scope of work
- Pricing dramatically below every other quote — labor cost is not that variable, so something is being skipped
On pricing
Cleaning is labor. If four companies quote within a reasonable band and one quotes forty percent under, that company is either not insuring its crew, not paying properly, or planning to do less than the others. Any of the three eventually becomes your problem.
Ask for a scope in writing before comparing numbers. Two quotes for 'house cleaning' can describe genuinely different jobs.
Need this handled professionally across Suffolk or Nassau County?