Window and carpet cleaning: the two add-ons that change your policy
Most cleaning businesses grow by saying yes to the next request. Two of those requests — windows and carpets — quietly move you into a different risk than the one your policy describes.
The short answer
Window cleaning and carpet cleaning are rated differently from general cleaning because they introduce two exposures the base trade does not have: working at height, and putting water into someone's property. Carriers price both separately, and some decline height work altogether.
Carpet cleaning also lands squarely on the care, custody and control exclusion. The rug you are cleaning is the client's movable property in your hands, which is exactly what a standard liability form removes — so the item you were hired to treat is the item not covered.
The practical rule is simpler than the underwriting: declare the service before you sell it. A policy is priced against a written description of what you do, and changing what you do without changing the description is the cleanest way to have a claim denied.
Washington State Department of Labor & Industries — Risk class lookup
Washington State Department of Labor & Industries — 2026 rates by class code
International Risk Management Institute — Care, custody or control in the CGL
Independent agency · commercial lines across Washington
Why these two are rated separately
Because underwriting is not about your diligence, it is about the physics of the job. Cleaning a kitchen and cleaning a second-storey window involve the same person and very different consequences when something goes wrong. Carriers price the consequence, which is why the two sit in different boxes.
What the two exposures actually are
Height produces falls, and falls produce injuries with no natural ceiling on cost. Water produces damage that keeps developing after you leave — a damp subfloor, mould behind a baseboard, a claim that arrives three weeks later and is hard to argue about.
Windows: the height question
The variable carriers care about is how you reach the glass. Interior windows at arm's length are ordinary cleaning. A ladder on the outside of a two-storey house is a different risk, and anything beyond that — lifts, poles, ropes — is a different business in underwriting terms.
What to have ready when you ask
How high you go, what you stand on, and whether you ever work above a single storey. Answer those three precisely rather than generally, because a vague answer gets priced conservatively or declined, and an inaccurate one gets the claim investigated.
The commercial version of the same question
Office buildings asking for exterior window work will set their own insurance requirements and want to be named on the certificate. That paperwork is covered in what a property manager asks for.
Carpets: water, and the rug itself
Carpet cleaning carries two separate problems in one job. The water can damage the structure and everything under it, which is a property damage claim developing over days. And the carpet you are treating is personal property in your care, which the standard liability form excludes by design.
| What goes wrong | Whose property | Standard policy response |
|---|---|---|
| Water soaks through to the subfloor | Real property — part of the structure | Not removed by the care and custody exclusion |
| The rug shrinks, bleeds colour or is ruined | Personal property in your care | Excluded — this is exclusion j.4 |
| Mould appears weeks later behind a baseboard | Real property, but mould has its own exclusions | Depends heavily on the form — ask specifically |
| A client trips on equipment or hose | Not property damage — bodily injury | Covered by general liability |
Why carpets make bailee coverage close to mandatory
In general cleaning you can at least imagine a job where you never handle anything valuable. In carpet cleaning the client's property is the work surface. If you clean carpets, the care and custody exclusion is not an edge case — it is the main event, and the inland marine bailee policy is the one that answers it.
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Declaring a new service
This is the whole risk-management step and it takes one phone call. Your policy is written against a description of your operations. When the operations change, the description has to change too, or you are insured for a business that no longer exists in the way the paperwork says it does.
- Call before the first job, not after the first incident.
- Describe the method, not just the service: ladders, lifts, hot water extraction, pressure washing.
- Ask what it does to the premium so you can price the service correctly instead of discovering the cost later.
- Get the change in writing and keep it with the policy.
Classification on the L&I side too
Washington assigns a risk class to the work your employees do, and janitorial services is class 6602 at $1.6799 per hour worked for 2026. Adding a materially different activity can change which class applies to those hours, and the rate moves with it.
Why it is worth getting right rather than guessing
Because the rate applies to every hour your crew works, so a misclassification compounds quietly across a year. L&I publishes a lookup for exactly this, and getting the class right is free. Our workers' compensation page covers how the state side works.
Where to start
If you are still assembling the basics, the four products a cleaning business needs is the right first read; if you clean homes, the residential risks differ. Otherwise our business insurance page, a free quote, or just get in touch — we are in Tacoma and Auburn.
Frequently asked questions
Does my cleaning policy automatically cover window cleaning?
Not necessarily. Work at height is rated separately by most carriers and some decline it outright above a certain point. If you added windows to your service list without telling anyone, the policy was priced for a business that does not do it.
Why is carpet cleaning treated differently from regular cleaning?
Two reasons. You are introducing water into someone's home, which creates a mould and secondary damage exposure. And the carpet or rug itself is the client's movable property in your hands — which is the one thing a standard liability policy tends to exclude.
Do I have to tell my carrier when I add a new service?
Yes, and it is a five-minute call that prevents the worst kind of claim denial. A policy is priced against a description of your operations. Changing the operations without changing the description is how a covered business becomes an uncovered one.
Is pressure washing the same as window cleaning for insurance?
No. Pressure washing carries its own exposures — water intrusion, damage to siding and paint, overspray onto neighbouring property — and is often rated on its own. Treat it as a third service to declare, not a variation of the first two.
What about cleaning windows from the inside only?
That is usually just interior cleaning, which is the point worth knowing: the distinction carriers care about is height and the equipment used to reach it. Interior windows at arm's length are not the same risk as a second storey from a ladder.
Can I do these jobs as a subcontractor for a bigger company?
Often, and then the general contractor's requirements apply on top of your own. Expect to be asked for a certificate naming them as additional insured, and expect their required limits to be higher than what you would have bought for yourself.
Keep reading
Sources
- Washington State Department of Labor & Industries — Risk class lookup (how work is classified for workers' compensation).
- Washington State Department of Labor & Industries — 2026 hourly rates by risk classification code and fund.
- International Risk Management Institute — Care, custody or control exclusion in the CGL.
This article is general information about insurance in the state of Washington. It is not legal advice and it is not an offer of coverage. Whether a policy covers a given loss depends on its own wording, its endorsements and its exclusions; read yours, or send it to us and we will read it with you. Anel Galicia is a licensed insurance producer in the state of Washington.