Commercial cleaning and janitorial insurance in Texas

What a Texas cleaning company files, collects and shows a client

Texas doesn't license commercial cleaning as a trade, and the Governor's office says plainly that the state has no general business license. Your paperwork comes from three other places: the Secretary of State, the Comptroller and the contracts you sign.

Forming the company

An LLC, corporation or limited partnership is formed by filing a certificate of formation with the Texas Secretary of State. A sole proprietor who works under a name other than their own surname files an assumed name certificate with the county clerk where the business has its premises, or in every county where it works if it has no premises. Entities also file an annual franchise tax report with the Comptroller, due May 15. For 2026 and 2027 reports, an entity at or below the $2,650,000 no-tax-due threshold files only its Public Information or Ownership Information Report.

Locally, what most cleaning companies run into isn't a permit. It's contract rules on city buildings, such as Houston's Pay or Play program and the living wage terms in Dallas and Austin (see the cities below). Ask each city where you keep an office about zoning or local permits before you sign a lease.

Sales tax on janitorial invoices, on the full charge

Texas treats janitorial, custodial and building cleaning as a taxable real property service under Tax Code §151.0048 and 34 TAC §3.356. Cleaning providers must get a sales and use tax permit, which is free, and collect tax on all of their charges. The state rate is 6.25%, and cities, counties and special districts can add up to 2% more, for a combined maximum of 8.25%.

Tax applies to the whole billed amount. The exception is the buyer: the state, a city, county, school district or other political subdivision, and qualifying nonprofits are exempt, so keep their exemption certificate on file instead of charging tax. You also pay tax on the chemicals, pads and equipment your crew uses up. Items you hand over to the customer as part of the service, like the paper towels, toilet paper and hand soap your porter stocks in a tenant restroom, can be bought on a resale certificate. When you subcontract a building and resell that cleaning, the same publication explains how resale certificates pass to the sub.

Confirm the current rule with the Texas Comptroller's guide for building services or your CPA before you build a bid template.

Background reviews for school crews

Education Code §22.0834 reaches the employees of a company that contracts with a school district, an open-enrollment charter school or a shared services arrangement, and its subcontractors too. Anyone with continuing duties on that contract and direct contact with students must go through a national criminal history review, which can involve fingerprints run through the Department of Public Safety's clearinghouse. A day porter who works while classes are in session fits that description; a crew that cleans only after students leave may not, so ask the district how it reads the rule.

State buildings and the Works Wonders program

State agencies must buy from the Works Wonders program unless an exception applies, such as a service that doesn't fit the agency's needs or can't be delivered in time. Community rehabilitation programs do the work through a central nonprofit agency, WorkQuest, at a price the Texas Workforce Commission sets rather than through open bidding. Before you spend a week on a state-agency bid walk, ask whether that agency's services are bought through the program.

We found no Texas law that makes janitorial employers register with a state agency or sets a statewide wage for building service workers. Wage floors for janitors show up only in certain city and federal contracts.

Texas comp is a choice, and your clients often make it for you

Private employers in Texas, cleaning companies included, can choose whether to carry workers' comp. Those that carry it are "subscribers." Those that don't are "non-subscribers." The Texas Department of Insurance's 2024 biennial report put non-subscribers at 24% of private employers. Its 2022 survey found the highest share, 31%, among employers with one to four employees.

Going without comp is legal, but it isn't paperwork-free. A non-subscriber files DWC Form-005 with the Division of Workers' Compensation between February 1 and April 30 every year, within 30 days of hiring its first employee, and within 10 days of dropping coverage. Employees must be told in writing, and notices go up in the workplace.

The bigger cost shows up after an injury. If a cleaner who slipped on a stripped floor sues a non-subscriber, Labor Code §406.033 strips away three defenses: that the worker was partly at fault, that the worker accepted the risk, and that a coworker caused the injury. The employer can still argue the worker was intoxicated or meant to cause the injury, and the worker must prove the company was negligent. Read the TDI non-subscriber page before you decide.

Texas uses NCCI classes, and contract janitorial crews are usually rated under Code 9014, Janitorial Services by Contractors (No Window Cleaning Above Ground Level & Drivers). Public janitorial exhibits often require comp anyway: Hill College's 2026 solicitation asked for comp as Texas law requires, plus $500,000/$500,000/$500,000 in employer's liability (which responds when an injured worker sues the employer), with the same terms for any approved subcontractor. A non-subscriber also has no comp policy to absorb a 1099 cleaner who turns out to be an employee. Our guide to janitorial class codes and audits covers how payroll gets counted.

Reading a Texas insurance exhibit line by line

A small public buyer shows how detailed Texas exhibits get. Hill College in Hillsboro issued its janitorial RFP addendum in August 2026, and its Exhibit H asked for:

• Occurrence-form general liability of $1,000,000 each occurrence, $2,000,000 general aggregate, a $2,000,000 products and completed operations aggregate and $1,000,000 personal and advertising injury
• Auto liability of $1,000,000 combined single limit on owned, non-owned, leased and hired vehicles, if vehicles are used
• Comp with $500,000 employer's liability limits, plus a $1,000,000 umbrella
• A $500,000 employee dishonesty or fidelity bond, because contractor staff may have access to college buildings in and out of operating hours
• The college as additional insured (added to your policy as a protected party) on GL and auto, primary and non-contributory, with a waiver of subrogation (your insurer gives up the right to recover from the college) and 30 days' notice of cancellation

That dishonesty line is the one smaller contractors miss. A $500,000 limit is usually met with crime coverage that includes clients' property coverage, not a small janitorial bond. Private property managers often ask for similar limits and endorsement wording. Walk through each line with our guide to cleaning contract insurance requirements.

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Where Texas cleaning claims start

Wet-floor claims under proportionate responsibility

Texas bars an injured person from recovering only when their share of responsibility is greater than 50%. A tenant judged 40% at fault for walking past your wet-floor sign can still recover, with her damages cut by 40%, and your company pays its own share of the rest. Cone placement, mop timing and an inspection-app photo of the sign are what decide those percentages.

Night routes on Texas roads

TxDOT counted 3,769 traffic deaths in Texas in 2025, down 9.38% from 4,159 the year before, and estimated $54.2 billion in economic loss from crashes. A route supervisor driving four buildings a night, or crews running supplies in their own cars, carries that exposure. Hired and non-owned auto matters as much as the van policy.

An injured cleaner and a non-subscriber

Without comp, an on-the-job injury becomes a negligence lawsuit against your company, and you defend it without the three common-law defenses §406.033 removes. If you're weighing that trade, have an attorney walk you through it and ask us what comp would cost on your actual payroll.

Texas cities and the contract rules behind them

What moves the price for a Texas cleaning company

We don't publish Texas premiums, and nobody can price your company without your payroll and building list. These state-specific factors push the number.

The comp decision comes first. Skipping comp saves premium but leaves you without the §406.033 defenses and shuts you out of bids that demand comp with $500,000 employer's liability.

Public exhibits stack extra lines on top of $1M/$2M GL: a $1 million umbrella and a $500,000 fidelity bond in one 2026 college RFP. Each adds premium.

City living wage rates in Dallas and Austin raise the payroll your comp premium is figured on. Sales tax doesn't touch the premium, but it sits on top of your bid price, which leaves less room for insurance.

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 how the pieces combine.

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Our Texas license

Commercial Cleaning Insurance Group is a brand of The Allen Thomas Group, licensed in Texas (License #3256838, NPN 7642818).

A licensed agent on our team reads your Texas exhibits, including the comp and fidelity lines, and talks the options through with you before any quote goes out.