Cleaning services: choosing a cleaning company
A cleaning company works unsupervised in your home or premises, holds your keys and uses chemicals on your surfaces. Here is what to verify in the US, UK and UAE before booking, and the criteria behind our assessments.
- Markets
- US · UK · UAE & GCC
- Criteria
- 6 (v1.0)
- Official sources
- 14
- Reviewed
- October 2026
What cleaning companies do
Cleaning companies range from a sole trader with a van to firms running hundreds of staff across offices, schools and shops. Domestic work covers regular weekly visits, one-off deep cleans and end-of-tenancy cleans; commercial contracts add out-of-hours office cleaning, washroom servicing and specialist jobs such as after-building or flood cleans. What every buyer shares is a level of access few other trades get: keys, alarm codes and time alone with belongings, stock or client records.
Most legal duties in this trade fall on the firm, yet their effects reach the customer. A company that skips right to work checks, treats employees as contractors or works uninsured may stop turning up, or leave you with an unpaid claim when something breaks. The duties differ sharply by market: the UK brought workers, individual sub-contractors and online matching services into its right to work rules from 1 October 2026, US rules turn on employee status, and the UAE keeps licensed cleaning companies apart from domestic workers hired by households.
Weekly or fortnightly visits covering kitchens, bathrooms, floors and dusting, ideally by the same cleaner or small team on a fixed slot.
Top-to-bottom work inside ovens, behind appliances and on limescale or grout, often booked before a sale, after illness or between seasons.
A clean timed for the end of a let, aimed at the check-in inventory a landlord or agent will compare against before the deposit is returned.
Scheduled cleaning of offices, shops and shared areas, often out of hours, run to a written specification with supervision and agreed response times.
Consumables, sanitary bins and washroom deep cleans supplied under contract, with records for any waste the firm collects and removes.
Specialist work using hot-water extraction, steam or water-fed poles, where equipment, drying times and safe work at height matter as much as labour.
Removing dust, paint and adhesive after building work, or cleaning up after floods, fires or biohazards, which needs specific equipment and training.
What to check in your market
Rules differ by country. Choose a market to see the licences, registers and complaint routes that apply there.
United States
In the United States the federal rules that touch a cleaning purchase are mostly about who employs the cleaner. The Department of Labor warns that treating an employee as an independent contractor can deny that person minimum wage and overtime pay. If you hire a house cleaner directly, the Internal Revenue Service may treat you as a household employer, and for 2026 household employment taxes apply once you pay USD 3,000 or more in cash wages to one employee. Where an agency provides the worker and controls the work and how it is done, the worker is not your employee.
Ask whether the cleaners are employees or independent contractors, and how the firm pays wages and overtime; the Department of Labor's misclassification guidance explains why it matters.
dol.govIf you pay a cleaner yourself rather than a company, read IRS Publication 926 to see whether household employment taxes apply to you this year.
irs.govFind your state consumer protection office before you sign a long contract, so you know where a dispute the firm will not settle can go.
usa.gov
Put the complaint to the company in writing first, with dates, photographs and the agreed specification. If that fails, your state consumer protection office handles complaints against businesses and investigates scams and fraud. For breakages, ask at the outset which insurer would deal with a damage claim, so a dispute is not left with the individual cleaner.
United Kingdom
UK cleaning firms carry heavy employer duties. From 1 October 2026 the Home Office right to work scheme covers workers, individual sub-contractors and online matching services as well as employees, and its guidance names a platform that matches a cleaner to a homeowner as the cleaner's employer for these checks. Civil penalties reach GBP 60,000 per illegal worker. Employers also need employers' liability insurance with at least GBP 5 million of cover, and must assess and control exposure to hazardous products under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 2002.
Ask how the firm runs right to work checks, including for sub-contracted or app-matched cleaners engaged on or after 1 October 2026.
gov.ukAsk whether key-holding cleaners have a basic Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check; Scotland and Northern Ireland use separate services.
gov.ukAsk to see the employers' liability insurance certificate, which must show cover of at least GBP 5 million from an authorised insurer.
gov.ukFor commercial contracts, ask how the firm has assessed the hazardous products its cleaners will use on your site and what controls and training it provides.
hse.gov.uk
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 a cleaning service must be performed with reasonable care and skill. Raise a poor clean or damage with the firm in writing first. Citizens Advice in England and Wales, Advice Direct Scotland and Consumerline in Northern Ireland give free advice and can refer complaints to local Trading Standards.
UAE & GCC
In the UAE a cleaning company is a licensed business, and its trade licence can be checked through the National Economic Register or the licensing authority of each emirate. Households that take on domestic help, live-in or temporary, fall under a separate regime: Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022 Concerning Domestic Workers bars recruiting or temporarily supplying domestic workers without a licence from the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE). Unlicensed mediation or temporary supply of domestic workers carries up to one year in prison, a fine of AED 200,000–1,000,000, or both.
Search the firm's trade licence through the UAE government's licence verification services and confirm that cleaning appears among its licensed activities.
u.aeIf you want a domestic worker placed with your household rather than a cleaning visit, use a centre listed in MOHRE's directory of approved domestic workers services centres.
mohre.gov.aeRead the domestic workers law before agreeing to any hourly or live-in arrangement offered outside a licensed office, as employing without a work permit is an offence.
mohre.gov.ae
Consumer complaints about a cleaning company go to the Ministry of Economy and Tourism on 800 1222, or to the emirate's economic department, such as the Department of Economy and Tourism in Dubai. Disputes between a household and a domestic worker recruitment office go to MOHRE, which refers them to court if no settlement is reached within two weeks.
How we assess cleaning companies
These are the editorial criteria behind every cleaning company we rank, with the weight each carries in the editorial score. The editorial score makes up 60% of a ranking and adjusted customer ratings the other 40%, as set out in how we rank.
| Criterion | Weight | What we look at | Evidence we accept |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vetting, licensing, insurance | 25% | Whether the firm holds the business licence its market requires, checks every cleaner's right to work, vets key-holding staff and carries employer and public liability cover. | Licence records, right to work and DBS procedures, insurance certificates with dates and limits, and a named person accountable for vetting. |
| Cleaning standard and checks | 20% | How the firm defines a finished clean and verifies it: written specifications, supervisor spot checks, photographs and how quickly missed areas are put right. | Sample specifications and checklists, inspection records, re-clean policies and customer reviews that describe specific results rather than general praise. |
| Chemical and site safety | 15% | Assessment and control of hazardous products, training, protective equipment and safe methods for ladders, windows and wet floors. Weighted here because cleaners and occupants share the risk. | COSHH assessments or equivalent hazard records, training logs, a product list with safety information and an incident reporting procedure. |
| Price and scope clarity | 15% | Whether the quote states what is and is not included, how extra hours, materials, keys and cancellations are charged, and which business the contract is with. | Written quotes and terms, published cancellation charges, and whether the business named on the invoice is the one doing the work. |
| Consistency and cover | 15% | Whether the same cleaners arrive on time each visit, and how holidays, sickness and staff turnover are covered without gaps in the schedule. | Visit logs for commercial sites, stated cover arrangements, notice periods and patterns in dated customer reviews. |
| Communication and complaints | 10% | How easily customers reach a named contact, how breakages and complaints are logged, and whether problems are fixed within a stated time. | A written complaints procedure, response times reported in reviews, breakage records and how the firm answers criticism in public. |
Before you hire
Questions to ask
- Are your cleaners employees, workers or self-employed, and who carries out their right to work checks?
- How do you store our keys and alarm codes, and who can access them?
- Which cleaning products will you use, and can you work with products we supply?
- What happens if something is broken or damaged during a clean?
- Will the same cleaner come each visit, and who covers holidays or sickness?
- How much notice must either of us give to cancel a visit or end the contract?
- Can I see your insurance certificates and a sample cleaning specification before signing?
Red flags
- Cash-only payment with no written quote, invoice or business address.
- No clear answer on whether cleaners are employees or contractors, or on who checks their right to work.
- No insurance certificate on request, or a policy in another business's name.
- Keys and alarm codes requested before a written scope and price are agreed.
- A different, unannounced person arriving each visit with no identification from the firm.
- In the UAE, a live-in or hourly maid offered by an intermediary with no MOHRE licence.
- Unlabelled bottles of cleaning product and no answer when you ask what is in them.
How pricing works
Domestic cleaning is usually priced by the hour with a minimum visit length, or as a fixed fee per visit once the firm has seen the property. One-off deep cleans and end-of-tenancy cleans are generally quoted per job, often by the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, with ovens, carpets or windows charged as extras. Commercial cleaning normally runs as a monthly contract built from a specification of tasks, frequencies and hours, with consumables either included or recharged.
Much of the gap between quotes reflects employment costs. A firm that pays employer taxes, holiday pay, insurance and vetting costs more than someone working informally, and in the US a direct hire can turn you into a household employer. In the UAE, packages for domestic workers through licensed offices follow different rules from a cleaning company's visit rates, so compare like with like. Ask whether materials, travel and key-holding are included, and how short-notice cancellations are charged.
- Hourly rate
- Charged per cleaner-hour with a minimum visit; suits regular domestic cleans where the workload is predictable.
- Fixed fee per job
- Set after a viewing or photographs for deep, end-of-tenancy or after-building cleans; check what counts as an extra.
- Monthly contract
- Commercial pricing built from a written specification of tasks and frequencies, usually with a notice period and review dates.
- Per item or per area
- Common for carpets, upholstery and windows, priced per room, seat or pane rather than by time on site.
- UAE domestic worker packages
- Households hiring domestic help deal with MOHRE-licensed offices under domestic worker rules, a separate route from paying per cleaning visit.
Top 8 cleaning companies
Rankings for this category are being researched market by market. Each one will publish when enough businesses pass the eligibility checks and an editor has approved the assessment. A list is never padded to reach eight.
Questions about cleaning companies
Do UK cleaning firms have to check the right to work of self-employed cleaners?
From 1 October 2026, often yes. The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 widened the Home Office right to work scheme beyond employees to workers, individual sub-contractors and online matching services. The guidance gives the example of a platform matching a cleaner to a homeowner, which counts as the cleaner's employer for the check. A self-employed tradesperson running an independent business and contracting directly with the public falls outside the scheme.
Should a cleaner have a DBS check?
The level of DBS check available depends on the role. A basic check, which shows unspent convictions, costs GBP 20 and can be requested by anyone aged 16 or over working in England or Wales; roles in healthcare or with children may qualify for higher levels. Scotland and Northern Ireland run separate services. Ask the firm which level it uses and how often it repeats checks.
If I hire a house cleaner directly in the US, am I their employer?
Possibly. IRS Publication 926 lists housecleaning workers among household workers and says you have a household employee when the person you hire is your employee. If an agency provides the worker and controls what work is done and how, the worker is not your employee; if only the worker controls how the work is done, they are self-employed. For 2026, household employment taxes apply once you pay USD 3,000 or more in cash wages to one employee.
What is the difference between a cleaning company and a domestic worker in the UAE?
A cleaning company is a business with a trade licence that sends its own staff to clean. A domestic worker serves a household under Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022, and recruiting or temporarily supplying domestic workers requires a MOHRE licence. Employing a domestic worker without a work permit is itself an offence under that law, so confirm which route you are using before paying anyone.
What does Top8Reviews look at when it assesses a cleaning company?
We weight vetting, licensing and insurance at 25% because cleaners work unsupervised with keys and belongings, and cleaning standard at 20%. Chemical safety, price clarity and reliability carry 15% each, and communication 10%. Editorial scores stay separate from customer reviews, and rankings for each market publish only once enough firms have been assessed against these criteria.
Sources
Official sources behind this page, checked in October 2026.
- Misclassification of Employees as Independent Contractors Under the Fair Labor Standards ActU.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour DivisionUS
- Publication 926 (2026), Household Employer's Tax GuideInternal Revenue ServiceUS
- State consumer protection officesUSAGovUS
- Right to work checks: an employer's guideHome OfficeUK
- Request a basic DBS checkDisclosure and Barring ServiceUK
- Employers' liability insuranceGOV.UKUK
- Control of substances hazardous to health (COSHH)Health and Safety ExecutiveUK
- Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 49: Service to be performed with reasonable care and skilllegislation.gov.uk (The National Archives)UK
- Consumer rightsGOV.UKUK
- Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022 Concerning Domestic WorkersMinistry of Human Resources and EmiratisationUAE & GCC
- Domestic Workers Services CentersMinistry of Human Resources and EmiratisationUAE & GCC
- Verify business licencesThe Official Platform of the UAE Government (u.ae)UAE & GCC
- Consumer protectionThe Official Platform of the UAE Government (u.ae)UAE & GCC
- Consumer ComplaintsMinistry of Economy and TourismUAE & GCC