Insurance, WSIB and Background Checks: What to Ask a Cleaning Company

Before a commercial cleaner starts in Eastern Ontario, ask for liability insurance details, WSIB documents and how staff are screened. Here is a practical vendor checklist.

Emerald Cleaners wrote this guide for commercial facilities in Eastern Ontario. It is operational advice for this topic, not a copied template and not medical or legal advice.

Why procurement asks for paperwork before keys

Schools, clinics, property managers and municipal sites in Eastern Ontario usually will not issue keys until a contractor is on the vendor list. That file is not a marketing page. It is insurance, workplace coverage and a clear answer about who is allowed in the building after hours.

Emerald Cleaners already states the facts on the site: commercial liability coverage of $2 million, WSIB coverage with documents available on request, and background-checked staff with reference checks as part of hiring. This article is about what you should ask any company, including us, so the answers go in your file.

Ask for current documents, not a screenshot from three years ago. Coverage dates matter. If a certificate expires mid-contract, your file should say who sends the renewal.

Liability insurance: what the certificate should show

A certificate of insurance should name the insurer, the policy type, the limits, and the term. Many Eastern Ontario clients ask to be listed as additional insured. If that is your rule, say so in the quote request so it is not a surprise the week before start.

Limits vary by site. A small office and a busy medical building may have different internal rules. We publish a $2 million commercial liability figure because that is the coverage we carry. We do not invent other badges. If you need a specific wording, send the wording.

Insurance details can be provided for vendor onboarding. Call 613-922-8074 or use the contact form. There is no public download portal, and we do not publish a fake inbox address on the website.

WSIB documents for Ontario sites

WSIB coverage is a normal requirement for commercial contractors in Ontario. Ask for documentation that shows the account is in good standing for the work being done. Property managers often store this beside the insurance certificate.

Emerald Cleaners is WSIB-covered. Documentation is available for your vendor file when you request it. Put the request in writing with the property name so the copies match the site.

WSIB paperwork is not a substitute for a written cleaning scope. You can have a perfect vendor file and still have a building that is not being cleaned because the room list was never agreed.

Background checks, references and who is on site

Ask how staff are screened before they receive keys. Background checks and reference checks are the standard we use. You can still require a site-specific orientation, a photo for a fob, or a sign-in sheet.

Uniforms, named contacts and a way to report a missed item matter as much as the PDF. If an agreed task is missed, contact us within 24 hours for the return-to-fix commitment. That process should be in the same vendor packet as the insurance.

Do not confuse screening with a medical or security clearance you have not specified. If a site needs extra steps, write them. Do not assume every cleaner in the region follows the same unpublished rule.

A vendor checklist you can paste into an RFP

Request: current liability certificate and limits; additional insured wording if required; WSIB document; description of staff screening; a sample scope with rooms and frequencies; after-hours access method; and a named office phone for issues. Our office is Unit C-444 Dundas Street E, Belleville, ON K8N 1E9.

Read How we work on the website for the walkthrough, written scope and return-to-fix process in one place. Use this article as the questions; use that page as our answers.

When the file is complete, the quote visit can focus on floors and hours instead of chasing PDFs. That is the point of onboarding.

Next step for this topic

Before a commercial cleaner starts in Eastern Ontario, ask for liability insurance details, WSIB documents and how staff are screened. Here is a practical vendor checklist.

If that matches your building in Eastern Ontario, review commercial cleaning or request a free quote. Emerald Cleaners is at Unit C-444 Dundas Street E, Belleville, ON K8N 1E9. Call 613-922-8074 Monday to Friday, 9 to 4. More in Office & Workplace and the resource centre.