Written for owners of US cleaning businesses: janitorial and custodial contractors for offices, medical buildings, schools and property managers, residential and maid services, and specialty cleaners doing post-construction, move-out, window, carpet and biohazard work.
The short version
- Put every registration in place.State registration, a city or county license and employer accounts. California janitorial employers also register with the Labor Commissioner every year.
- Get current safety data sheets now.Inventory every product and keep the sheets where staff can reach them. Keep a written hazard communication program, and train before first use.
- Report serious injuries on the clock.Report a work-related death within 8 hours. Report an inpatient hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye within 24 hours (As of Oct 2026).
Most states do not license cleaning businesses. What applies is the state business registration, a city or county business license or tax registration, a sales tax permit where cleaning is taxed, and an employer account for state unemployment and withholding. California adds a janitorial registration of its own.
California janitorial employers register every year
Under the Property Service Workers Protection Act, a janitorial employer registers with the Labor Commissioner and renews each year, and janitors and their supervisors take sexual violence and harassment prevention training every two years. Check registration before bidding California work: a client using an unregistered contractor takes on risk too. As of Oct 2026.
Cal. Lab. Code secs. 1420 to 1434; sec. 1429.5
Specialty work brings its own licenses. Mold assessment and remediation are licensed in some states, Texas among them; asbestos and lead abatement need licensed contractors; crime scene and biohazard work needs bloodborne pathogens compliance and state medical waste rules. Pest control is a separate licensed trade.
Hazard communication: a deadline this fall
HazCom
Keep a written hazard communication program, labels, accessible safety data sheets, and training before first use. Under the 2024 update, by November 20, 2026 for substances and May 19, 2028 for mixtures, update alternative workplace labeling and the written program as necessary, and train staff on newly identified hazards. Most cleaning products are mixtures. As of Oct 2026.
29 CFR 1910.1200, including (j)(2)(ii) and (j)(3)(ii)
The transition dates cover specific labeling, program and new-hazard training tasks. Keeping safety data sheets accessible is a duty today.
Use EPA-registered disinfectants as the label directs: the label is the law, and you cannot claim more for your service than the product's registration supports. Never mix bleach with ammonia or acid cleaners.
Injury records and penalties
Injury records and reporting
Employers with more than 10 employees keep the OSHA 300 log and post the 300A summary from February 1 to April 30. Report a work-related fatality within 8 hours, and an inpatient hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye within 24 hours. As of Oct 2026.
29 C.F.R. 1904.32(b)(6) and 1904.39
OSHA penalties reach $16,550 per serious violation and $165,514 per willful or repeated violation on the January 2025 adjusted figures; check osha.gov each January. As of Oct 2026.
Blood, needles and medical accounts
Bloodborne pathogens
Wherever contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials is reasonably anticipated, such as clinic restrooms or biohazard work, you need a written exposure control plan reviewed at least every year, hepatitis B vaccination offered within 10 working days of assignment, training, sharps procedures, and a confidential post-exposure evaluation made available immediately at no cost after an exposure. As of Oct 2026.
29 C.F.R. 1910.1030(c)(1)(iv), (f)(2)(i) and (f)(3)
- Wash and report.Wash the site and report it under your exposure control plan.
- Evaluation now.Make a confidential post-exposure evaluation available immediately, at no cost to the janitor.
- Record it.If you keep the OSHA 300 log, a needlestick from a contaminated sharp goes on it (29 C.F.R. 1904.8).
- Fix the cause.Review sharps handling with the client.
For exterior window cleaning on rope descent systems, the building owner must certify the anchorages in writing, and rope descent systems are limited to 300 feet above grade unless you show that other access is infeasible or more hazardous (29 C.F.R. 1910.27(b)).
In California, also keep a written Injury and Illness Prevention Program and, since July 1, 2024, a workplace violence prevention plan with training and a violent incident log. Night janitors working alone are a named risk.
Put the yearly renewals on one calendar with a named owner: the California registration, the bloodborne pathogens plan review, city business licenses, and the insurance certificates for every account.
Asked in Greymill
The basics: state business registration, a city business license or tax registration, and an employer account for state unemployment and withholding.
California adds: a janitorial employer registration with the Labor Commissioner, renewed every year. Janitors and supervisors take sexual violence and harassment prevention training every two years.
HazCom (the rule on chemical hazards): a written program and accessible, current safety data sheets are a duty today. Inventory every product now.
November 20, 2026 (substances) and May 19, 2028 (mixtures, which most cleaning products are) are deadlines for specific label, program and new-hazard training updates (As of Oct 2026).
Keep handy: report a work-related death within 8 hours, and an inpatient hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye within 24 hours (As of Oct 2026).
I can draft your written hazard communication program next.
Ask it about your own business
Paste this into Greymill with your own figures, and Rules & Licensing works it through for your business.
I run a cleaning business in [state], in the US. We have [number] employees cleaning [types of building, for example offices, dental clinics or homes] in [cities], using [main products], and we [do or do not] do window work at height or biohazard cleans. List the registrations, written programs and reporting deadlines that apply to us, flag anything due before the end of the year, and draft our written hazard communication program.
More for cleaning and facilities in the US
- Bidding a janitorial account by the square foot without losing moneyBuild a janitorial bid from cleanable square feet and production rates up to a fully burdened labor cost, overhead and margin, then protect it from the next wage increase.Read the lesson
- Making payroll every week while accounts pay in 45 daysWhy a growing janitorial business runs short of cash, how much working capital the payroll gap needs, and the forecast, terms and funding that close it.Read the lesson
- Does my state charge sales tax on cleaning, and what do I file for subcontractors?Whether janitorial work is taxable depends on the state and the type of building, and the 1099-NEC threshold for paying subcontractors changed for 2026.Read the lesson
- The janitorial contract clauses that decide whether an account makes moneyEscalation, termination, indemnity, insurance and payment terms decide an account's margin long after the bid, and recurring residential plans carry their own auto-renewal rules.Read the lesson
- Paying cleaners right for drive time, per-house pay and overtimeDrive time between houses, flat per-house pay, state minimums and pay-frequency rules are where cleaning businesses underpay without meaning to.Read the lesson
- Winning janitorial accounts from property managers, public buyers and federal agenciesCommercial buyers choose on readiness, records and a credible start-up plan, public bids add registrations and wage determinations, and taking over an account can bring the previous crew with it.Read the lesson
- Our cleaners are on 1099s and someone is asking whether they are really employeesPaying your own cleaners as independent contractors, or running cleaning teams as franchisees or app workers, can fail state and federal tests and bring back payroll tax, wages and penalties.Read the lesson
Open the interactive lesson · Every cleaning and facilities lesson · What Greymill knows about the trade
Sources
The primary sources behind this lesson, checked Oct 2026.
- Occupations Code ch. 1958 (Licenses, registrations and federal contracts)
- 41 U.S.C. 6702(a), 6703(1) to (2), 6707(c) (Licenses, registrations and federal contracts)
- EO 14236 sec. 2 revokes EO 14026 (Licenses, registrations and federal contracts)
- 31 U.S.C. 3901 to 3907 (Licenses, registrations and federal contracts)
- 31 CFR 1010.380 as amended by 91 Fed. Reg. 52508, final rule effective August 14, 2026; FinCEN alert updated August 11, 2026 (Licenses, registrations and federal contracts)
- 15 U.S.C. 1681b(b); Gov. Code 12952 (Licenses, registrations and federal contracts)
- Lab. Code 1420 to 1434; 1429.5 (State and local janitorial law: ca, ny, tx, fl)
- Cal. Lab. Code 1061(b)(1) to (3), (e), (f) (State and local janitorial law: ca, ny, tx, fl)
- Admin. Code 22-505 (State and local janitorial law: ca, ny, tx, fl)
- Lab. Law 230 to 239 (State and local janitorial law: ca, ny, tx, fl)
- Tax Code 151.0048, 151.051 (State and local janitorial law: ca, ny, tx, fl)
- Pub. 94-111 (10/2006), Cleaning and Janitorial Services; 34 TAC 3.356(a)(7) (State and local janitorial law: ca, ny, tx, fl)
- 29 CFR 1910.1200(j)(2)(ii) and (j)(3)(ii), alternative workplace labeling (Safety: hazcom, bloodborne pathogens and heights)
- (c)(1)(iv), (f)(2)(i) (Safety: hazcom, bloodborne pathogens and heights)
- 1904.1, 1904.32(b)(6), 1904.39 (Safety: hazcom, bloodborne pathogens and heights)
- 1910.27(b)(1)(i) (building owner certifies anchorages in writing), 1910.27(b)(2)(i) (Safety: hazcom, bloodborne pathogens and heights)
- Penalty amounts; 91 FR 31358, "the 2026 adjustment is cancelled entirely" (Safety: hazcom, bloodborne pathogens and heights)
- 8 CCR 3203; Lab. Code 6401.9 (Safety: hazcom, bloodborne pathogens and heights)
- 1904.39(a) (Who must sign off: time-critical steps first)
- 8 C.F.R. 274a.2(b)(1)(i) to (iii) (Who must sign off: time-critical steps first)
- Fla. Stat. 448.095(2)(a), (b)2 (Who must sign off: time-critical steps first)
- 15 U.S.C. 8403(1), (2) (Who must sign off: time-critical steps first)
- Lab. Code 2775(b)(1)(B), applicable exemptions including 2776, and 226.8 willfulness conditions; counsel confirmation before remediation (Hard cases: pay, tax and safety)
- 778.111; 785.38; 29 U.S.C. 255(a) (Hard cases: pay, tax and safety)
- Tex. Lab. Code 406.122(a)-(b), 406.123(a)-(b), 406.127 show why subcontractor coverage is not automatic (Hard cases: pay, tax and safety)
- Filing dates and Form 1099-NEC specific instructions; IRC 3406 and 7503; Sunday January 31 shifts to Monday February 1, 2027 (Hard cases: pay, tax and safety)
- 1910.1030(f)(3); 1904.8 (Hard cases: pay, tax and safety)
- 785.35, 785.38 (Pitfalls that embarrass the product)
- Coverall North America v. Commissioner, 447 Mass. 852 (2006) (Pitfalls that embarrass the product)
- Publication 15 (The us calendar: payroll, OSHA 300A, minimum wage and renewals)
- state sources above; NYSDOL minimum wage page; DIR news release 2026-66 (The us calendar: payroll, OSHA 300A, minimum wage and renewals)
- FOMC calendar (The us calendar: payroll, OSHA 300A, minimum wage and renewals)