Commercial cleaning and janitorial insurance in Kentucky

Kentucky's registrations for a cleaning company, state and local

In Kentucky you file your entity with the Secretary of State, get a sales and use tax permit from the Department of Revenue, and register for occupational license tax in each city or county where your crews work. Kentucky doesn't license commercial cleaning as a trade, and we found no state law written specifically for janitorial employers.

Occupational license tax follows the crew

Kentucky cities and counties tax wages and business net profits through occupational license taxes, and this is where Kentucky differs most from its neighbors. Louisville Metro charges 2.2% of compensation or net profit for businesses and resident workers and 1.45% for nonresidents, and every employer registers with the Louisville Metro Revenue Commission.

Lexington-Fayette charges a 2.25% occupational license fee on wages earned in Fayette County and on business net profits, withheld from pay. Smaller cities add their own licensing: the City of Nicholasville's 2024 cleaning RFP required business licenses from both the city and Jessamine County.

Sales tax on janitorial services

KRS 139.200(2)(h) puts the 6% sales tax on gross receipts from janitorial services, and the statute names commercial cleaning along with carpet, upholstery and window cleaning. The 2018 tax law that added it applies to transactions on or after July 1, 2018. You need a sales and use tax permit from the Department of Revenue before you invoice. Some public buyers may claim an exemption, so get the paperwork from each one. Read the statute at KRS 139.200 and confirm the current rule with the Department of Revenue or your CPA.

School background checks are now the district's call

Until 2019, KRS 160.380 required contractors' employees working on school grounds during school hours to pass state and FBI criminal history checks plus a child abuse and neglect check. Senate Bill 15 (2019) dropped that contractor rule. Today the statute has superintendents require those checks for any adult with regular, continuing access under a written agreement who provides services directly to students in a school-sponsored program or activity. It no longer names contractors, so whether a cleaning crew falls in that group is the district's call.

Many districts still require them by policy. Perry County Schools, for example, asks outside contractors working while students are present for state and FBI fingerprint checks and a CHFS child abuse and neglect report.

Workers' comp for Kentucky janitorial crews

Kentucky requires comp as soon as a business has one employee in the state (KRS 342.630). For a cleaning company, that's the first porter you hire, part-time or not.

Owners have to opt in. Under KRS 342.012, a business owner, qualified partner or qualified LLC member is only treated as an employee if they choose coverage by endorsement. Everyone else on the payroll, corporate officers included, is covered unless they formally elect out under the commissioner's regulations (KRS 342.650(6)).

Kentucky is an NCCI state, so contract janitorial payroll usually lands in class 9014, "Janitorial Services by Contractors – No Window Cleaning Above Ground Level & Drivers." Your carrier makes the final call.

Public buyers sometimes write comp into eligibility. Bidders claiming Kentucky's resident-bidder preference certify that a Kentucky comp policy was in force for the prior year, and Kenton County Public Library's 2025 cleaning RFP required every worker on the contract to be a direct employee, which rules out 1099 crews on that account. The Kentucky Department of Workers' Claims handles comp questions.

What Kentucky cities and libraries ask cleaning bidders to show

Kentucky's public cleaning bids lean hard on theft protection. Two recent examples:

• The City of Nicholasville (RFP #2024-260, May 2024) asked for at least $300,000 in liability insurance naming the city as loss payee, comp on all employees with proof to the city, a janitorial bond with proof included in the proposal, and city and county business licenses.
• Kenton County Public Library (2025, three locations) held the bidder liable for "any unauthorized or criminal acts of its employees," required a logbook at each site, and asked for the bidder's bond company rating.

Those lines point to two different products. A janitorial bond responds when an employee steals from a client, usually after a conviction, depending on the bond form. Crime coverage that includes clients' property can cover larger amounts and doesn't usually need a conviction. Read the exhibit for which one the buyer will accept, and see our guide to cleaning contract insurance requirements for the rest.

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Three Kentucky exposures to plan around

Contracts that make you answer for staff theft

Kenton County's library contract put liability for employees' criminal acts squarely on the cleaning company, and Nicholasville's required a janitorial bond. A GL policy usually won't pay when your employee steals; that's crime coverage or a bond, and each has its own conditions.

School work without a state screening floor

Since 2019, KRS 160.380 has had no rule written for contractors. Its required background and child abuse checks reach adults who serve students directly under a written agreement, so standards for cleaning crews vary by district. A company that doesn't screen its school night crews carries more abuse and molestation exposure, which many GL policies limit or exclude, so ask how yours handles it.

Comp fines that multiply

Failing to keep comp brings fines of $100 to $1,000 per offense under KRS 342.990(7)(c), and every employee and every day counts as a separate offense. Ten uninsured cleaners for a month adds up fast.

Kentucky cities and what each adds

Kentucky cost factors for cleaning insurance

We don't publish Kentucky prices, but we can point to what pushes them.

Payroll drives comp, and in Louisville and Lexington the same payroll also drives your occupational license tax. Report it the same way in both places so an audit doesn't find two different numbers. Bond requirements add their own line, and bond pricing works differently from insurance. 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.

Contracts that make you liable for employee crime may lead you to add crime coverage on top of the bond, and Bowling Green or Owensboro accounts that require you to drive between buildings bring auto into the mix.

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. See cleaning business insurance costs for the full picture.

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Licensed to serve Kentucky cleaning companies

Commercial Cleaning Insurance Group is a brand of The Allen Thomas Group, licensed in Kentucky (License #DOI-1043980, NPN 7642818).

Kentucky owners can request a quote here; our licensed team reads your bid documents and calls you before anything is priced.