Check commercial cleaner insurance in Vancouver before keys leave the desk. Put two proofs on file: a current liability insurance certificate that names your firm, and a WorkSafeBC clearance letter addressed to you that shows the cleaner is active and in good standing for the contract dates. Marketing lines about “insured crews” are not substitutes for those documents.
What liability insurance should a Vancouver commercial cleaner show?
Ask for a certificate of liability insurance dated for the contract window. List your company as certificate holder or additional interest when the property manager requires it. Keep a PDF on the account. A verbal “we're insured” from the sales call is not a file.
Downtown towers and multi-tenant buildings often refuse contractor access until that certificate matches their vendor rules. The certificate should name the legal entity that will hold the keys, not a trade name missing from invoices. If the bidder uses subcontractors on your floor, ask whether those firms sit under the same policy or need their own certificates before they enter.
What does a WorkSafeBC clearance letter prove that a sales pitch does not?
A clearance letter confirms the firm is registered with WorkSafeBC and paying premiums. WorkSafeBC warns that hiring a registered subcontractor who is behind on payments can leave you liable for related premiums. The letter that protects you must be addressed to you and show active and in good standing for the contract period.
Get one before work starts and again after the period you care about ends. You can request most clearance letters online with the firm's WorkSafeBC account number or its exact legal or trade name. Save the PDF. A letter addressed to someone else does not clear you.
How do contractors and Personal Coverage change the risk for a Vancouver buyer?
WorkSafeBC's contractors and subcontractors page explains that some contractors count as your workers when they do not run an independent business, which can put premium duties on the hirer. Independent firms usually have multiple clients, advertise publicly and bring their own major equipment.
Separately, some proprietors decline Personal Coverage for themselves. WorkSafeBC cannot disclose that under privacy rules, so ask the bidder directly if that gap matters for your risk policy.
What should be on file before keys or fobs go out?
Hold keys until four items are on file: the liability certificate for the legal entity on the quote, a WorkSafeBC clearance letter addressed to your firm for the work dates, the written scope and visit days, and the entrance, fob and alarm plan from the site assessment.
Everest's commercial cleaners vancouver page states that entrance, fob and alarm arrangements are settled at the free site assessment, and that crews are licensed, insured, WorkSafeBC-covered and background-checked. Ask every bidder for the same paper trail, including Everest. Everest's Lower Mainland page also states ISSA CIMS certification, and the Vancouver page states CIMS. Treat CIMS or background-check claims as extras you verify in writing, not as replacements for insurance and clearance.
How is this different from a Burnaby shortlist or a national choose-cleaner guide?
A Burnaby shortlist weighs City of Burnaby business-licence status beside insurance and clearance; that checklist lives on cleaning company Burnaby. The national how to choose a commercial cleaning company guide covers insurance and workers' compensation by province. This page is narrower: Vancouver keys issuance and the two documents that should sit in the property file before night one.
Office inclusions and visit frequency stay on office cleaning. Building lobbies and shared washrooms stay on commercial building cleaning. Neither replaces the proof file.
How do you ask for the documents in a Vancouver quote request?
Send the address, floor area, empty hours and building insurance rules with the scope. Ask every bidder for a liability certificate naming your firm and a WorkSafeBC clearance letter addressed to you. Put both asks in the first email so quotes arrive with the paper attached.
Everest quotes in writing within one business day once details are clear, or after a free site assessment when the floor still needs a walk, and will send coverage details with the quote when you ask at that assessment. Crews cover Vancouver from the Lower Mainland desk in New Westminster; Burnaby and other Lower Mainland addresses can share one contact with a scope per building. Call 604-844-8984 or use the free estimate form when you want that written pack.
FAQ
No. WorkSafeBC's protection for the hirer runs through a clearance letter addressed to you that shows active and in good standing for the contract dates. A homepage badge or FAQ line is marketing, not that letter.
Yes for the periods you care about. WorkSafeBC advises getting a letter before and after you receive services. The “active and in good standing” window on the letter is dated; keep a fresh copy when the contract renews or when the prior letter's date runs out.
Ask for clearance and liability proof for every firm that will hold keys or enter after hours. WorkSafeBC's unpaid-premium risk attaches when you hire a registered firm that is behind on payments, so one letter for the prime does not automatically cover a different legal entity on the night roster.
Everest's Vancouver and Lower Mainland pages state a written quote within one business day once the details are clear, or after a free site assessment. Ask for the insurance and WorkSafeBC documents during that assessment so they travel with the quote.
