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Bonded and insured: what it means for a cleaning company
For a commercial cleaning company, "bonded and insured" means two separate things. The bond is there for your client if one of your employees steals from their building, and the insurance is there for accidents and the claims that follow them. Neither one replaces the other, so a bid should name the bond amount and your policy limits in plain words.
Key takeaways
- Bonded means your company carries a janitorial bond, also called a business service bond. It may repay your client, up to the bond amount, if one of your employees steals from their building.
- Insured means you carry policies for accidents: general liability for injuries and damage you cause, workers' comp for your crew, and commercial auto for your vans.
- A janitorial bond usually doesn't pay for accidental damage. Whether the bonding company can ask your company to pay back a claim depends on the bond form and any agreement you sign, so read both.
- Bond amounts are set by your contracts. A $10,000 bond is a common choice, and large commercial or public accounts can ask for $50,000 to $100,000 or more.
- In a bid, say exactly what you carry. "We carry a $25,000 janitorial service bond and $1 million per occurrence in general liability" beats "fully bonded and insured."
What "bonded and insured" means for a janitorial company
When a property manager asks if you're bonded and insured, they're asking about two products. The bond answers one worry: someone on your night crew walks out with a tenant's laptop. The insurance answers the rest. Think of a tenant who slips on a lobby floor your porter just mopped. Or a burnisher that scars a stone threshold.
A janitorial bond involves three parties. Your company is the principal. The client who wants the bond is the obligee. The bonding company, called the surety, backs the promise.
"Bonded and insured" is not a license or a legal status. No agency stamps it on your company. In most places, the demand for a bond comes from your contracts, not from a state law. So the phrase only means something when you can show the paperwork behind it.
State rules can still touch the same territory.
California has the Property Service Workers Protection Act. Under it, janitorial employers must register with the Labor Commissioner every year. A client that hires an unregistered company can be fined. That's a registration, not a bond, so a contract that asks for a bond needs both. See our California commercial cleaning insurance page for that state's rules.
What a janitorial bond covers
A janitorial bond is a promise from the surety. It may repay your client if one of your employees steals their money or property on the job. The client is the one protected, not you. That's why it's called third-party protection.
The bond pays up to its amount, then stops
A $10,000 bond can pay no more than $10,000 on a loss, even if the theft was larger. The client would have to chase the rest some other way.
The bonding company may come back to you
This is the part that surprises new owners. A bond is not insurance for your company. With traditional surety bonds, the business that buys the bond generally has to pay the surety back for claims it pays. Janitorial bonds are often sold more like two-party insurance, and published bond materials don't always say whether the surety can come back to you. Read the bond form and any indemnity agreement in the application before you sign.
Learn how bond amounts and renewals work on our janitorial bonds page.
| What a janitorial bond may cover | What it usually doesn't |
|---|---|
| Cash or gift cards an employee takes from a client's desk | Accidental damage, like a cart that dents an elevator panel |
| A tenant's laptop or phone taken during the night clean | Injuries to tenants or visitors |
| Client supplies or equipment stolen from a storage room by your crew | Injuries to your own workers |
| Theft by an employee, up to the bond amount | Theft by the owner, under many bond forms |
| Losses above the bond amount |
Janitorial bond vs. crime insurance vs. general liability
Three products get mixed up in insurance exhibits. Each one does a different job for a cleaning company, and a gap in one isn't filled by the others.
The janitorial bond
This protects clients from theft by your employees. It has a fixed amount and renews each year. When an RFP lists a "bond," this is usually what it means.
Employee dishonesty and commercial crime insurance
A crime policy's employee theft coverage protects your own company's money and property. Think of a bookkeeper who writes company checks to herself, or a supervisor who sells your floor machines. It covers property you own, lease or hold. Unless you add client coverage, it doesn't reach the things your clients keep in their own buildings.
Client coverage can stretch a crime policy to cover client money and property. On ISO's current crime forms (06 22 editions), "Employee Theft Of Clients' Property" is a built-in insuring agreement that applies only when a limit for it is shown on the declarations page. Older programs add it with the Clients' Property endorsement, form CR 04 01. Either way, the theft has to be by an identified employee.
For a growing company, this can do much of a bond's job. It also protects your own bank account. Whether a client will accept it in place of a bond depends on the contract. Our employee dishonesty insurance page covers the details.
General liability
General liability is built for accidents. It may pay when your crew's work hurts someone or damages a client's things. It usually covers legal defense too, subject to the policy terms. The standard policy defines an "occurrence" as an accident. Theft by an employee is not an accident, so general liability usually doesn't respond to it.
Property you're working on can be a gap too. Many policies limit coverage for property in your care, custody or control. That's the policy wording for things you're handling or working on. Lost keys and re-keying are often outside the base policy as well. Read more on general liability for cleaning companies and client property and lost key coverage.
Example scenario: A cleaning company services a three-story office building five nights a week. On Tuesday, a tenant reports a tablet and an envelope of cash missing from a desk drawer. On Thursday, a crew member's auto-scrubber cracks a glass display case in the lobby.
The theft would go to the janitorial bond, or to a crime policy's clients' property coverage. Even then, the loss has to be tied to an employee under that form's wording. The cracked case is a general liability question. That's two incidents in one week, with two products and two claim processes.
An up-to-date key log, sign-in sheet and route schedule help with both. They show who was in the building and when.
Why property managers ask for a bond
Your crews work after hours, often alone, with keys, access cards and alarm codes. Tenants leave laptops on desks and petty cash in drawers. A property manager answers to the owner and to every tenant. They want a way to recover a theft loss without suing your company.
A bond gives them that path. Some managers also read it as a sign that a bonding company has looked at your business before signing on. The request usually shows up in the contract's insurance exhibit. It sits next to the general liability limits and the additional insured wording. Some exhibits ask that the property owner be named on the bond.
The bigger the portfolio, the more detail they ask for. A single dental office may accept a basic bond. A 40-building management company may spell out the amount, the wording and the proof it wants. Our guide to contract insurance requirements walks through a full insurance exhibit. Our office cleaning insurance page covers multi-tenant buildings.
Typical bond amounts and what a janitorial bond costs
Your contract sets the amount. Published data gives a rough picture of what owners carry.
| Bond amount | What published data shows |
|---|---|
| $1,000 | About 20% of cleaning businesses in one large online insurance marketplace's data |
| $5,000–$25,000 | A common range for a business service bond, per bond sellers |
| $10,000 | The most common pick, chosen by over half of cleaning businesses in that marketplace's data |
| $50,000–$100,000 | Suggested for large commercial or public facilities |
Public bids can ask for much more. For example, one North Carolina town's 2026 janitorial RFP asked for a fidelity bond of at least $50,000. It had to cover theft or loss of town property by the vendor's staff. Our North Carolina commercial cleaning insurance page covers that state.
Small bonds are not a big line item. One large online insurance marketplace reports that most of its cleaning customers pay about $100 to $150 a year for a janitorial bond. Higher amounts cost more. Some bonding companies also price by how many employees the bond covers.
A janitorial bond's price usually depends on the bond amount and how many employees it covers, and some bonding companies also weigh your credit or time in business.
How to get bonded for a cleaning business
- Read the bond line in your contract. Note the amount, whose name must appear on the bond and any claim wording the client requires.
- Gather your details. You'll need your legal business name and entity type, years in business, number of W-2 employees and any subcontractors. Larger bonds may also call for the owner's credit information.
- Be ready to explain your hiring and key control. Bonding companies often ask how you screen new hires and who holds keys and alarm codes.
- Request quotes through an independent agency. A small bond often needs only a short application. Larger amounts may call for financial statements.
- Sign, pay and send proof. Read any indemnity agreement in the application before you sign it. Then send the client a copy of the bond or the bonding company's certificate, in the form they ask for.
- Track the renewal. Put the renewal date on your calendar, and raise the amount before you start a new account that asks for more.
Ask whether the bond covers only your employees. If you use 1099 subcontractors, their workers may not be included. You can request a quote for a janitorial bond and your coverage at the same time. Opening a new company? Our start-up guide covers the bond along with registration and your first policies.
Background checks and state hiring rules
Screening helps, but the rules on when you can ask about criminal history vary by state. California's Fair Chance Act bars employers with five or more employees from asking about conviction history before a conditional job offer.
New York's Correction Law Article 23-A limits when an employer with ten or more employees can turn someone down because of a past conviction. See our New York commercial cleaning insurance page for more on that state. Check with an employment attorney before you change your hiring steps.
How to say "bonded and insured" accurately in a bid
Vague claims can backfire when a property manager asks for proof. Spell out what you carry, and keep the wording in step with your paperwork.
Wording that holds up:
- "Our company carries a $25,000 janitorial service bond."
- "Our general liability limits are $1 million each occurrence and $2 million in the aggregate."
- "Workers' compensation for all employees, as required by state law."
- "Certificates of insurance and a copy of our bond are available on request."
Wording to avoid:
- "Fully bonded and insured." It names no amount and no limits.
- "All employees bonded," unless the bond form says so.
- "Bonded, so any loss or damage is covered." A bond is for theft, not accidents.
- Any bond claim on your website or van after the bond has lapsed.
Maybe you carry crime insurance with clients' property coverage instead of a bond. If so, say that in those words, and ask the manager whether it meets the contract. The proof itself usually travels with your insurance certificates. Our guide to certificates of insurance explains what a COI shows and what it can't change.
The short version
Being bonded and insured means two promises. The janitorial bond may repay a client for theft by your employees, up to the bond amount. Depending on the bond form, the surety may ask your company to repay it.
Your insurance handles accidents and the lawsuits that follow, under each policy's terms. Carry both when your contracts ask for them. Read the claim wording on the bond, and write your bids with real numbers.
Frequently asked questions
What does bonded and insured mean for a cleaning business?
How much does it cost to get bonded for a cleaning business?
Does a janitorial bond cover damage to a client's property?
Do I need to be bonded to clean commercial buildings?
Is a janitorial bond the same as employee dishonesty insurance?
Can I get a janitorial bond with bad credit?
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