A cleaning business buyer checklist covers whether commercial contracts survive a change of ownership, how cleaning staff are classified for workers’-compensation purposes, the condition and financing status of vehicles and equipment, and how much of the client relationship depends on the departing owner personally.
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This checklist covers what to verify before buying a Canadian commercial cleaning or janitorial business. A cleaning business is close to a pure contract portfolio — client relationships, service agreements and staffing arrangements with comparatively little in physical assets — so how those contracts are written, and whether they actually survive a change of ownership, matters more here than in most small businesses.
Confirm the contract portfolio actually survives a change of ownership
Get a full list of active commercial cleaning contracts with term length, pricing, and renewal or termination notice periods for eachA cleaning business’s value sits almost entirely in its contract portfolio, and a handful of large contracts nearing renewal without a documented renewal history says more than the total revenue figure alone.
Review every major contract for a change-of-control or assignment clause and confirm whether client consent is required before the business can change handsA client with the right to walk away specifically because ownership changed can cancel a contract the new owner was counting on the moment the sale becomes known.
Ask how many contracts are personally guaranteed by, or tied to a personal relationship with, the departing owner rather than held with the companyA book of business built on the owner’s own relationships with facility managers can erode quickly once that owner is no longer the one showing up.
Check workers’ compensation status and staffing classification
Request a WSIB clearance certificate, or the equivalent workplace-safety-insurance confirmation for the province, and check it is currentWSIB is Ontario’s system for confirming a business owes no outstanding workplace-safety premiums; other provinces run their own equivalent boards, and a lapsed clearance is worth chasing down before closing.
Confirm whether cleaning staff are classified as employees or subcontractors, and review how that classification is documented and supported across every siteA worker treated as a subcontractor who is actually scheduled, supervised and assigned like an employee can expose the business to a misclassification claim, and cleaning businesses are audited on this more often than most sectors.
Confirm staff hold current WHMIS training and that hazardous cleaning chemicals are stored, labelled and disposed of in compliance with workplace safety rulesA site audit that turns up improperly stored chemicals is a safety and liability issue that lands on the new owner even when the practice predates the sale.
Ask for the history of any workplace safety incidents or claims tied to specific client sitesRepeated incidents at the same site can point to a hazard the client site itself creates, which is worth understanding before assuming responsibility for staff working there.
Inspect equipment, supplies and bonding
Confirm which vehicles, floor machines and specialty equipment are owned outright, leased or financed, and get payout figures for anything encumberedA fleet of vans and machines that looks like a clean asset on a summary sheet can carry lease obligations that reduce what is actually being acquired free and clear.
Confirm the business carries current janitorial bonding and liability coverage appropriate to the sites it services, including any client-mandated minimumsSome commercial clients require a minimum bonding or insurance level as a condition of the contract itself, and a lapse here can put a contract at risk independent of service quality.
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