Arizona’s transaction privilege tax has no classification for cleaning, and workers comp starts with your first hire.
A million per occurrence is not set by Arizona law. It is the figure the vendor packets from property managers in Phoenix and Tucson ask for, and the point at which most carriers quote the class without a conversation. We set the coverage up and produce the certificate — usually the same day.
Tell us the situation.
One licensed human replies the same business day — not five agents, not an auto-responder. If the policy you have is already the right one, we will tell you.
We use this to quote and service your insurance, and we do not sell it or pass it to lead networks. Privacy policy.
What Arizona requires
Does a cleaning company in Arizona need workers comp?
A cleaning company in Arizona needs workers compensation at one or more workers, whether part-time, seasonal, minors or family members, with domestic servants the statutory exception. There is no minimum count. (A.R.S. § 23-902(A)).
azleg.gov·checked 2026-09-06
Does Arizona tax or register a cleaning business?
Arizona transaction privilege tax has no classification for janitorial or cleaning services. The Department of Revenue’s list of activities that need a license runs from retail sales to contracting, and cleaning labor is in none of them.
azdor.gov·checked 2026-09-06
Does Arizona license janitorial contractors?
Arizona does not license janitorial contractors. The Registrar of Contractors licenses what A.R.S. 32-1101 defines as contracting, which is constructing, altering, repairing or demolishing a building, and cleaning a finished one is none of those.
azleg.gov·checked 2026-09-06
A cleaning company that also sells supplies or equipment to its clients on a regular basis is a retailer for that part of the invoice, and retail is a transaction privilege tax classification. The cleaning stays untaxed; the goods do not.
azdor.gov·checked 2026-09-06
Send us what you have. We’ll tell you if it’s right.
Your current policy paperwork, a renewal notice, or nothing at all. A licensed agent reads it and replies the same business day.
Limits
What to carry, and why that number.
- General liability$1,000,000 / $2,000,000
- Damage to property you are working onBuy it back
- General liability excludes property in your care, custody or control, and every floor you strip and every desk you wipe is in your care. The everyday claim in this trade is excluded until the endorsement is added.
- Janitorial bondContract-set
- A third-party fidelity bond answering theft from a client’s premises by your own staff. No state requires it; the client’s contract does, and the amount is whatever that contract says.
Coverage
Seven lines. Each one closes a specific hole.
General liability
Third-party bodily injury and property damage. It is the line nearly every contract names by default.
Without it — Damage you cause inside a client building is your bill, and no contract will be signed without the certificate.
Crime & employee dishonesty
Theft by your own staff, funds transfer fraud, and the dishonesty bond a home care contract will ask you for by name.
Without it — A theft allegation against a crew member with keys is the claim this trade actually faces, and clients ask for the bond by name.
Workers compensation
Required in almost every state the moment you have employees. Priced on payroll and class code, which is why the class code is worth arguing about.
Without it — Chemical exposure and fall injuries become uncapped claims against the business.
Commercial auto
Vehicles the business owns and the people who drive them for work.
Without it — Crews driving between sites all day are uninsured for work use without it.
Inland marine & equipment
Tools, equipment and property in transit. It picks up exactly where commercial property stops, which is the moment the item leaves the building.
Without it — Machines, pressure washers and equipment stolen from vans are a total loss.
Umbrella & excess liability
Extra limit stacked above general liability, auto and employers liability. Usually the cheapest million dollars on the policy.
Without it — Larger property management contracts routinely require limits above the primary policy.
Contractors pollution liability
Bodily injury, property damage and clean-up caused by a pollutant your work released: chemical drift, run-off, fuel spills. The standard general liability form excludes all of it.
Without it — A chemical spill, a fume complaint that empties a floor, or the wrong product on the wrong surface is excluded by the pollution wording on a standard policy.
In Arizona
The organizations that will ask for your certificate.
- Industrial Commission of Arizona · Enforces the coverage requirement from the first employee.
Questions
Do I need workers comp for my cleaning company in Arizona?
One or more workers, whether part-time, seasonal, minors or family members, with domestic servants the statutory exception. There is no minimum count. (A.R.S. § 23-902(A)). A part-time crew counts the same as a full-time one, and paying someone as a contractor does not change what the state calls them if you direct the work and supply the equipment.
Does Arizona require a janitorial bond?
No state does. A janitorial bond is a third-party fidelity bond that pays a client when one of your employees steals from their building, and it is written because the contract asks for it, not because Arizona does. Commercial property managers in Phoenix and Tucson routinely list one in their vendor requirements alongside general liability and a certificate naming them as additional insured. The bond amount is whatever that packet says, so send us the packet rather than guessing.
Does Arizona license cleaning companies?
Not as a trade. The Registrar of Contractors licenses construction, and cleaning a finished building is not construction. On tax, Arizona’s transaction privilege tax has no classification for cleaning labor, so a pure service company generally has nothing to license there. Sell supplies or equipment to a client and the retail part of the invoice is a different matter, worth a call to the Department of Revenue before the first sale.
What does a cleaning business in Arizona need beyond general liability?
Workers comp for the crew, and the care, custody or control endorsement so damage to the property you are cleaning is actually covered. Then commercial auto if staff drive between sites in a company vehicle, because personal auto policies exclude business use and a van full of equipment moving between buildings is business use. A bond if the contract names one. Everything else depends on the buildings, and we place it building by building.
What does "bonded and insured" actually mean?
Insured means you carry liability coverage for damage you cause. Bonded usually means a janitorial service bond, which covers theft of a client’s property by your employees, a different thing entirely, and the one clients are really asking about when they let strangers into a building after hours. Most cleaning contracts want both, and the bond is inexpensive.
Do I need coverage for damage to what I am cleaning?
Yes, and it is the gap most cleaning policies have. General liability excludes property in your care, custody and control, which is a problem when the thing you damaged is the floor you were treating or the window you were washing. Care, custody and control coverage is the endorsement that closes it.
Are my subcontracted cleaners covered?
Not automatically. If they cannot produce their own certificate, expect their pay to be treated as payroll at audit and expect your policy to be the one that responds to their claims. Collect certificates before the first shift, not at renewal.
A new client wants higher limits than our policy allows. What do we do?
Add an umbrella or move the primary policy. A policy bought online for a small cleaning business is often capped well below what a commercial client asks for, and on our calls one owner could not raise hers to meet a vendor contract starting five days later. Send us the insurance page of the contract first. On one New York account general liability at $2,000,000 per occurrence and $4,000,000 aggregate with a $3,000,000 excess layer and the additional insured, waiver and primary wording came to about $30,000 a year, which is the kind of number to budget before you bid.
Why did the underwriter ask about services we do not offer?
Because they read your website. On our calls an underwriter quoting a commercial cleaning company asked about hood cleaning, marble restoration and surgery center cleaning, all listed on the company site and none performed. Take old services off the site or explain them in the submission, because each one is a class an underwriter may rate you for.
Do we need commercial auto if our cleaners drive their own cars between sites?
You need hired and non-owned auto, which is usually inexpensive and protects the business when an employee driving their own car for work causes a crash. Commercial auto is for vehicles the business owns or leases. On our calls a cleaning company bidding a school contract dropped a commercial auto quote once it was clear hired and non-owned auto answered the exposure.
Read next
The coverage itself, explained.
Arizona decides what you must carry. These explain what you are buying, what it excludes, and what moves the price.
Coverage
Nearby states
Tell us what you do. We’ll tell you what it costs.
Licensed in Arizona. Have your payroll figures and a list of services on hand — those are the two things that slow a quote down.
Start a quoteLast reviewed 2026-09-06