What a Denver commercial cleaning contract should include

Most facility managers sign a commercial cleaning Master Services Agreement the same way they sign a phone contract — skim it, initial it, file it. That's fine when nothing goes wrong. When something does — a missed restroom during a client tour, a crew that ghosts you, a bill that jumps 18% year over year — the MSA is the only thing that matters. The 12 clauses below are what every Denver commercial cleaning contract should spell out before you sign.

This is not legal advice. Run the final document past your own counsel. What this post gets you is the checklist — the clauses that separate a serious vendor's MSA from a napkin agreement.

1. Written scope of work — as Exhibit A

The scope of work (SOW) must be an attached exhibit, not a paragraph in the body. A one- or two-page document that lists every area of your facility and what happens in each area on each visit, plus weekly/monthly/quarterly task frequency. If the scope is referenced in the MSA but not attached, you have no contract — you have a vendor who can redefine 'scope' at will. Ask for Exhibit A before signing anything.

2. Flat monthly fee with term discount tiers

Commercial cleaning should be priced as a flat monthly fee, not hourly. The MSA should offer term options and document the discount for each:

• Month-to-month: list price (no discount, 30-day out)
• 6-month commitment: ~3% discount
• 12-month commitment: ~6% discount
• 24-month commitment: ~8–10% discount

Terms let you lock in price. The out clauses (see clause 10) keep you from being trapped if the vendor underperforms. A cleaner who only offers one pricing tier is telling you they don't want to commit to quality over time.

3. Annual price adjustment — 3% CPI escalator floor

Labor inflation in Denver has run 4–7% annually for the last three years. A cleaner who can't raise prices with the market will cut corners to preserve margin — usually by cutting crew hours or switching to 1099 labor. An annual CPI escalator with a 3% floor (and typically a 5–6% cap) protects both sides. The alternative is a vendor who stays flat for two years and then hands you a 15% increase in year three with no warning, or who silently degrades service.

4. Payment terms — Net 15 or Net 30, late fee at CO legal max

Standard is Net 30, but Net 15 is increasingly common for small commercial accounts where the vendor needs faster cash cycle. Either is fine. What matters: the late fee. Colorado's legal maximum for late fees on commercial invoices is 1.5% per month (18% APR) — most legitimate cleaners state this explicitly. A vendor with no late fee language is a vendor who's going to chase you with phone calls; a vendor with a 5%/month late fee is trying to slip something illegal past you. 1.5%/month is the Denver standard.

5. Certificate of Insurance — $1M/$2M GL, client named Additional Insured

The MSA should require the cleaner to maintain General Liability insurance at $1M per occurrence / $2M aggregate, and to name your business as Additional Insured on the policy. The COI should be attached at signing or delivered within 24 hours. Without AI endorsement, if a cleaner damages your property or injures a visitor, you're fighting your own insurance first — and that fight is expensive even when you win.

6. Janitorial bond — $25,000 minimum

The MSA should require a janitorial bond (employee-dishonesty bond) at $25,000 or higher. This protects you if a cleaner's employee steals from your facility — cash, electronics, product, or client-confidential materials. $10K used to be industry standard; $25K is the 2026 Denver floor for any mid-size commercial account. If the vendor offers $0 bond or $5K bond, they're working in the residential-cleaning risk tier, which isn't appropriate for a real commercial building.

7. Workers' compensation — Colorado class code 9014

Colorado law requires workers' comp on every W-2 employee. For commercial cleaning, the class code is 9014 at approximately $2.43 per $100 of payroll. The MSA should require the vendor to maintain current workers' comp coverage and to provide proof on request. A vendor who tries to carve this out — or who claims their 1099 contractors don't need it — is exposing you to liability if a cleaner gets hurt on your property.

8. Callback SLA — 2 hours during business

The MSA should spell out the callback guarantee in explicit terms. Denver gold standard is 2-hour callback during business hours (7 AM–7 PM Monday–Saturday) when cleaning slips or a complaint is raised. Not 'we'll respond promptly' — an actual clock. If the vendor won't commit to an SLA in writing, they're preserving the right to take 72 hours to call you back. That's not the vendor you want when a client tour is walking through at 9 AM tomorrow.

9. 24-hour resolution commitment with photo proof

The callback SLA is only half of the accountability clause. The other half is the resolution commitment: the cleaner agrees to resolve the issue at no additional charge within 24 hours of the callback, and to deliver photo proof of resolution. This turns a vague 'we'll fix it' into a documented chain of events you can hold the vendor accountable to. If they miss the resolution window, the MSA should spell out the remedy — typically a credit on the next invoice.

10. 30-day termination for convenience after initial term

After the initial term (whether month-to-month, 6, 12, or 24 months), either party should be able to terminate with 30 days' written notice, no cause required. This is the single most important clause for protecting yourself from a vendor who gets complacent in year two. If the MSA doesn't have a termination-for-convenience clause — or if the notice period is 60 or 90 days — you're looking at a vendor who plans to lock you in past the point where you'd naturally switch.

11. Non-solicitation of cleaning staff (12 months)

This protects the cleaning vendor, not you directly — but it's a standard reciprocal clause in any legitimate MSA. It prevents the client from directly hiring the cleaner's W-2 crew for 12 months after the cleaner stops servicing the account. A vendor who trains and retains W-2 crew has invested real money in those cleaners (wages, onboarding, insurance premiums). Non-solicitation keeps the vendor's business model functional. If the MSA you're offered doesn't have this, it probably means the vendor doesn't have W-2 crew to protect — another 1099 red flag.

12. Colorado governing law, Denver venue

The governing-law clause should specify Colorado law and Denver County venue for any disputes. A national cleaning chain (ABM, SBM, etc.) will often try to route their MSA through Delaware, Texas, or Florida — wherever their corporate counsel is most comfortable. If you ever need to enforce the contract, fighting a dispute in a foreign venue is expensive, slow, and structurally disadvantageous. A local Denver cleaner's MSA should specify Colorado law and Denver County venue without hesitation.

What's typically missing — and why it matters

Common omissions in Denver commercial cleaning MSAs we've seen on client walk-throughs:

• No scope exhibit (scope is a paragraph in the body, not a line-by-line document)
• No CPI escalator (vendor will either stay flat and cut corners, or hit you with a surprise increase)
• No termination-for-convenience (you're locked in until the vendor decides to let you out)
• No callback SLA (vague 'prompt response' language with no clock)
• No additional insured endorsement (you're not protected if they damage your property)
• No workers' comp documentation (you're exposed if a cleaner gets hurt)

A vendor who's missing three or more of these items is either new, small, or cutting corners. Not necessarily disqualifying — but you should know what you're trading for the lower price.

Related reading

For the full 10-item vendor vetting checklist (what to verify about the cleaner before you even ask for the MSA), see /insights/choosing-denver-cleaning-company. For the warehouse-specific scope language that should live in Exhibit A of any industrial janitorial MSA, see /janitorial-services-denver.