How to Choose a Commercial Cleaning Company in Indianapolis: 8 Questions to Ask

Most facility managers don't switch cleaning vendors because of one disaster — they switch because of slow decay: missed tasks, rotating crews, unanswered emails. These eight questions surface those problems before you sign, not six months in.

1. Can I see your Certificate of Insurance?

General Liability and Workers' Compensation, current, with your property listed as certificate holder. If a worker is injured on your site and the vendor has no Workers' Comp, that claim can land on you. Any legitimate company produces a COI within a day.

2. Will the scope be in writing?

Every area, task, and frequency documented before work starts. Without it, "we clean the office" means whatever tonight's crew decides it means. This is the single strongest predictor of whether the service holds up.

3. Who exactly will be in my building?

Ask whether the same crew returns each visit, and whether they're the company's own trained staff. Rotating whoever-is-available crews are how keys get lost and standards drift.

4. How do you verify the work was done?

The honest answers are supervisor inspections with sign-offs, or photo documentation. "You can call us if there's a problem" is not quality assurance — it makes you the inspector.

5. What happens when something is missed?

Look for a concrete commitment: acknowledged same day, corrected within 24 hours. Vague reassurance here becomes a ticket queue later.

6. How do scope changes and add-ons get priced?

Every change should require written approval with a quote before it appears on an invoice. Surprise line items are the most common billing complaint in this industry.

7. Do you have experience with my facility type?

Medical facilities need EPA-registered disinfectants and bloodborne-pathogen training. Warehouses need floor-care equipment. Multifamily needs reporting property managers can forward to owners. Generic janitorial experience doesn't automatically transfer — see how we handle each in our services breakdown.

8. Can I talk to current commercial clients?

Recent, local, commercial references — and check the public reviews too. A pattern of "responsive, consistent, detailed" across reviews is worth more than any sales deck.

Red flags worth walking away from