Commercial cleaning and janitorial insurance in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania's checklist: entity, sales tax license and school clearances

A Pennsylvania cleaning company needs an entity filed with the Department of State and a Sales, Use and Hotel Occupancy Tax license from the Department of Revenue, because building cleaning is a taxable service. Pennsylvania doesn't license commercial cleaning as a trade, and we found no statewide law written specifically for janitorial employers.

Filing and registering

After the Department of State filing, you register for state taxes, including the sales tax license, through the Department of Revenue's myPATH system. Revenue says the license is required for any business that sells taxable items or performs taxable services. Philadelphia and other cities run their own registration rules, so check with the city before your first shift there.

How the building cleaning tax works

Since October 1, 1991, building maintenance and building cleaning services have been taxable. The Revenue regulation at 61 Pa. Code §60.1 defines building cleaning as removing dirt, dust, grease or grime on or inside a building, including keeping the building and its contents neat and orderly. Its taxable examples include office cleaning such as window cleaning, carpet cleaning, floor waxing and furniture polishing, plus light-fixture, acoustical tile, venetian blind and duct work cleaning.

The rate is 6% statewide, 7% in Allegheny County and 8% in Philadelphia. Building repair isn't taxed under this rule, and neither is work that's incidental to a lease, such as a landlord's common-area upkeep.

Interior office building cleaning has its own base. Since April 1, 1995, employee costs you separately state on the invoice aren't taxable; if you don't separate them, the whole fee is taxed. Ask your CPA how to show them.

The buyer matters as much as the work. Sales to the Commonwealth and its subdivisions (public school districts included), the federal government, nonprofit educational institutions, qualified charities, religious organizations and volunteer fire companies are exempt. Confirm the current rule with the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue or your CPA.

Clearances for school buildings

Section 111 of the Public School Code reaches independent contractors and their employees who have direct contact with children, meaning the chance to care for, supervise or routinely interact with them. Those workers need three clearances: the State Police criminal record check (Act 34), the child abuse history clearance (Act 151) and the FBI fingerprint check (Act 114). Contractor staff without unsupervised direct contact generally aren't subject to the checks.

Some districts add to the list. For contractor staff with direct contact, the School District of Philadelphia's procedures also call for a sexual misconduct/abuse disclosure release and a three-hour child abuse recognition training certificate. It accepts clearances no more than a year old when submitted, treats them as good for 60 months, and requires the PDE-6004 report within 72 hours of an arrest or conviction for a listed offense.

Pennsylvania comp: the part-timer and family rule

Pennsylvania wants comp for every worker who doesn't fit a listed exclusion. The Department of Labor & Industry is blunt that this includes people on limited part-time hours and family members such as a spouse or children. For a cleaning company built on four-hour evening shifts, that means every porter and floor tech belongs on the policy.

Few owners qualify to skip it: solo owners and general partners who have nobody working for them, LLCs staffed only by their members, executive officers the Department has approved for exclusion, and religious exemptions granted by the Department.

Going uninsured is treated as a crime, counted by the day. L&I's employer guide says each uninsured day can be its own misdemeanor, with a fine of up to $2,500 plus as long as a year in jail, while a deliberate violation can be charged as a felony carrying up to $15,000 and seven years for every day. The employer can also be ordered to pay every benefit awarded.

Pennsylvania has its own rating bureau. Its manual puts janitorial contractors for commercial building cleaning under Code 0971, Commercial Buildings, though your carrier and the bureau make the final call. You can buy comp from private carriers or, if you choose, from the State Workers' Insurance Fund that L&I runs. The construction misclassification law doesn't cover cleaning, so the general control test applies to 1099 crews. Details are on the L&I workers' compensation site.

A recent Pennsylvania bid and what it asked for

In May 2026, the operator of the PA CareerLink Berks County workforce center in Reading released a janitorial request for proposals. It asked for:

• general liability of $1,000,000 per occurrence and $5,000,000 aggregate
• workers' compensation with a $1,000,000 minimum
• auto liability of $1,000,000 combined single limit, if vehicles are part of the work
• proof that you can meet those limits, submitted with the proposal, and a mandatory pre-bid walkthrough

That $5 million aggregate is the line to watch. It sits well above the $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate pairing that janitorial bids commonly use, so read whether the contract lets an umbrella fill the gap.

City wage rules passed down through the prime

Philadelphia's minimum wage standard for city contractors reaches subcontractors at every level, and Pittsburgh's ordinance sets building-service wages on city contracts and publicly subsidized projects. A cleaning sub can inherit those terms through the prime contract. Wage claims are mostly uninsurable, so they belong in the bid math.

The weekend helper nobody reported

Example scenario: an owner's nephew helps strip a gym floor on two Saturdays, isn't on the payroll report, and slips on wet finish. Pennsylvania's rule covers family members and limited part-time hours, so an uncovered worker is an uninsured claim. Report every person who works, even briefly.

Pennsylvania cities with their own twist

Cost drivers for a Pennsylvania cleaning company

We don't post Pennsylvania prices, but the drivers are easy to spot.

Every hour on the payroll counts toward comp, including the part-timers and family members some owners leave off. A Philadelphia city contract at $17.63 an hour carries more payroll per shift than a private account at a lower wage.

Your class assignment matters too. Pennsylvania rates commercial building cleaning under its own bureau's Code 0971, so payroll reported under the wrong code can change the bill at audit.

Limits drive the liability side. A $5 million aggregate demand like the Berks CareerLink bid's may mean a higher-limit GL or an umbrella.

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 cost guide for cleaning companies breaks it down.

Get a quote for your cleaning business →

Licensed for Pennsylvania cleaning accounts

Commercial Cleaning Insurance Group is a brand of The Allen Thomas Group, licensed in Pennsylvania (License #636447, NPN 7642818).

Send us your Pennsylvania building list and bid exhibits, and a licensed agent will walk through the options with you before quoting.