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Commercial cleaning and janitorial insurance in Illinois
Commercial Cleaning Insurance Group provides commercial cleaning and janitorial insurance in Illinois, from general liability and janitorial bonds to workers' comp and lost-key coverage, quoted with 12+ A-rated carriers.
In Illinois, the time clock your night crew taps can be a bigger legal exposure than the floors it cleans. The Biometric Information Privacy Act reaches any cleaning company that scans fingerprints or faces, and Chicago layers on its own license, wage and scheduling rules, so a route from the Loop out to Naperville can change payroll rules twice in one shift.
Licensed in Illinois · License #3001339920
- Since 2003
- 12+ A-rated carriers
- 28 states
- Independent agents
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Licensed in 28 states · NPN 7642818 · Since 2003
Setting up an Illinois cleaning company: state filings and the Chicago layer
Illinois keeps the state side simple and pushes the detail down to Chicago and Cook County. Here's what to file, what to collect and what to be ready to show.
Registration and licenses
Form your LLC or corporation with the Illinois Secretary of State. A sole proprietor using a business name files an assumed name certificate with the county clerk instead. We found no statewide license for commercial cleaning as a trade.
Chicago is different. The Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection says most business activity in the city needs a City of Chicago business license, with some exemptions. Any debt you or a controlling person owes the City must be resolved before a license is issued, and holds for City debt or overdue City tax filings block a renewal. Suburbs set their own rules, so check with the city clerk wherever you clean.
Sales tax: the labor isn't taxed
Illinois doesn't tax janitorial labor. Its Service Occupation Tax is based on tangible goods transferred to the customer as part of a service (86 Ill. Adm. Code 140.101(a)). Paper towels or liners you sell to a client or leave behind could create Service Occupation or Use Tax. The chemicals and machines you buy and use yourself are taxable purchases to you. If you pass supplies to clients, register with the Illinois Department of Revenue and confirm the treatment with your CPA.
Rules aimed at building services
No statewide janitorial law turned up in our research, but Chicago has two that reach cleaning payrolls:
- Fair Workweek Ordinance. "Building Services" is a covered industry, and the city code defines it as the care and maintenance of property, including janitorial services. It applies to employers primarily engaged in a covered industry with 100 or more employees globally (250 for nonprofits) and 50 or more covered employees. From July 1, 2026, covered workers are those who spend most of their working time in Chicago and earn up to $33.85 an hour or $64,945.55 a year. Schedules go out 14 days ahead, most changes inside that window earn an hour of predictability pay, and hours cancelled with under 24 hours' notice earn at least half pay.
- Executive Order 2014-1. From July 1, 2026, employees regularly working on City property or performing a service under a City contract earn at least $18.50 an hour.
School fingerprinting
The Illinois School Code (105 ILCS 5/10-21.9(f)) applies the fingerprint-based criminal history check and the sex offender database check that districts run on their own hires to employees of contractors who have direct, daily contact with students. Each district's procedure sets the logistics, such as when your workers are fingerprinted and who pays, so read the background-check section of every school bid.
Comp for Illinois janitorial crews
Plan on comp from your first W-2 cleaner. The Illinois Department of Insurance says that, generally, all Illinois employers must provide workers' compensation coverage, and the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission (IWCC) says most must. Check edge cases with the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission.
- Class. Illinois uses NCCI's classification system, so contract cleaning payroll usually goes under Code 9014, "Janitorial Services by Contractors – No Window Cleaning Above Ground Level & Drivers." Office staff are normally rated separately.
- Owners. Sole proprietors, partners and LLC members decide whether to cover themselves. Corporate officers can opt out by giving the carrier written notice.
- Penalties. Knowingly skipping comp is a Class 4 felony in Illinois, and every day without it counts as its own offense. After a knowing and willful finding, the Commission can assess a civil penalty of up to $500 a day, at least $10,000, against officers, directors, partners or LLC members personally.
- 1099 cleaners. Illinois's Employee Classification Act targets construction contractors, and we found no janitorial-specific contractor test. At audit, a carrier may still add workers it decides are employees, or subcontracted crews that can't show their own certificate, to your payroll.
Public buyers ask for more than a certificate: Cook County's janitorial contract requires employer's liability of $1M each accident, $1M each employee and $1M disease policy limit.
The insurance exhibit an Illinois public buyer hands you
Cook County's emergency janitorial services contract 2536-08250R ($817,794, running January 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027) is a clean look at what a large Illinois buyer expects:
- comp under Illinois law with the $1M/$1M/$1M employer's liability above
- general liability on an occurrence form (ISO CG 00 01 or equivalent), $1M per occurrence and $2M general aggregate, including premises and operations, contractual liability, products and completed operations, and separation of insureds
- auto liability of $1M per accident for owned, hired and non-owned vehicles whenever vehicles are used on the contract
- the county, its officials, employees and agents as additional insureds on a primary and non-contributory basis
- a waiver of subrogation in the county's favor on every required policy
- insurers licensed or approved in Illinois and rated A- VII or better by A.M. Best
- limits that may be met with primary plus umbrella or excess, 30 days' notice of cancellation, and certificates before work starts
The county's insurance section didn't list a fidelity bond. Suburban bids sometimes do (see Wheaton below), and private property managers write their own exhibits. Our guide to cleaning contract insurance requirements explains each line, and janitorial bonds covers the bond side.
Illinois coverage, ranked for cleaning contractors
Employment practices liability
Three payroll regimes and private leave lawsuits mean more employee claims. EPLI answers harassment, discrimination and retaliation; most policies exclude wage claims. EPLI for cleaning companies
Workers' comp and employer's liability
Your first employee usually triggers it, and county contracts set the employer's liability limits. Workers' comp
General liability
The base of every Illinois exhibit, usually at $1M/$2M with additional insured wording attached. General liability
Commercial auto
Cook County names owned, hired and non-owned vehicles, which reaches supervisors in their own cars. Commercial auto
Janitorial bond
Suburban bids may want fidelity and performance bonds from the winning vendor. Janitorial bonds
Where Illinois cleaning companies get sued
Biometric time clocks
BIPA gives workers a private right to sue over fingerprints or face scans collected without the required notice and release. A 2024 amendment (Public Act 103-0769, effective August 2, 2024) treats repeat scans of one worker, taken the same way, as a single violation. On April 1, 2026, the Seventh Circuit held in Clay v. Union Pacific Railroad that the amendment applies to cases already pending. Even at one award per worker, a whole night-crew class can still add up to large exposure. Before you count on any policy for a BIPA suit, have a licensed agent read the privacy and employment exclusions with you.
A route that crosses three payroll regimes
From July 1, 2026, Chicago's minimum wage is $17.05 for employers with four or more workers, and Chicago employees earn up to 40 hours of paid leave plus 40 hours of paid sick leave a year. In suburban Cook County the floor is $15.40 with the county's paid leave rule. Everywhere else, the state's $15 minimum and the Paid Leave for All Workers Act apply. One night route can touch all three.
Leave tracking that ends up in court
Chicago employees can sue in court over paid sick leave (since July 1, 2024) and paid leave (since July 1, 2025) and recover three times the leave denied plus attorney's fees. The short waiting period before a paid-leave suit ended on July 1, 2026. Accrual errors for part-time night cleaners can turn into lawsuits. Payroll practice is the fix; ask an employment attorney or your CPA.
Illinois markets and what each one asks of you
Chicago
Building Services is a named covered industry under the Fair Workweek Ordinance, so larger cleaning employers post schedules 14 days out and pay for late changes. City contracts also carry an $18.50 hourly base wage from July 1, 2026. Employment practices liability
Suburban Cook County
Outside Chicago, Cook County's minimum wage is $15.40 from July 1, 2026, unless a town has its own rate or has opted out. The county's paid leave rule gives one hour per 40 worked, except in towns that follow the state law instead. The county's janitorial contract wants $1M/$2M GL, $1M auto and the county as a primary, non-contributory additional insured. Office cleaning insurance
Wheaton
The DuPage County seat's 2026 janitorial RFP (26-105) required a mandatory pre-proposal meeting and site visit, plus an original bid bond with every proposal. The winner owed a certificate of insurance with signed endorsements and performance and janitorial fidelity bonds, and the city fingerprints and background-checks every worker on the account. Janitorial bonds
Naperville
Naperville sits in DuPage and Will counties, outside the Chicago and Cook leave ordinances, so crews there fall under the statewide Paid Leave for All Workers Act: one hour per 40 worked, up to 40 hours a year, usable for any reason. EPLI
Illinois cost drivers
Comp premium is charged per $100 of payroll, so the address of the building changes your cost. The same night crew paid at Chicago's $17.05 floor, or $18.50 on a City contract, produces more rated payroll than it would at the $15.00 state minimum. Each carrier sets its own Illinois comp rates, so we don't print one here.
Your price depends on the payroll in each class code, your annual sales, the kinds of buildings you clean, how much specialty and chemical work you do, the vehicles your crews drive, your claims history and the limits your contracts require. Our cleaning insurance cost guide shows published ranges.
Commercial Cleaning Insurance Group is a brand of The Allen Thomas Group, licensed in Illinois (License #3001339920, NPN 7642818).
Chicago, the collar counties and downstate Illinois are all in our quoting area, handled from our Akron, Ohio office.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a business license to run a cleaning company in Chicago?
Is janitorial service taxable in Illinois?
Can I use a fingerprint time clock for my cleaning crews in Illinois?
Do Illinois cleaning companies need workers' comp for one employee?
Do you insure commercial cleaning companies in Chicago and across Illinois?
Illinois neighbors and guides
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