Janitorial bonds explained for Georgia cleaners

Janitorial bond can mean two different products

When a client asks for a janitorial bond, it usually means one of two things: a fidelity bond against staff theft, or a surety bond guaranteeing the contract.

Georgia does not require either one to operate a cleaning business. There is no state bonding rule for cleaners, just as there is no state license. The requirement, when it exists, comes from the client's contract.

So the first job is to ask which kind the client means. A homeowner or office manager worried about theft wants a fidelity-type bond. A county buyer with a bid form usually means a bid bond or a performance bond.

NAIC defines a fidelity bond as a bond or policy covering an employer's loss resulting from an employee's dishonest act, such as loss of cash, securities or valuables. — National Association of Insurance Commissioners, retrieved 2026-09-27

Fidelity bonds cover theft by your cleaners

A fidelity bond pays for losses caused by an employee's dishonest act. It is the product behind the bonded-and-insured line on most cleaning company vans.

Cleaning crews work in homes and offices with keys, alarm codes and unattended valuables. That is exactly the risk a fidelity bond addresses. Some bonds sold to service businesses extend to theft from the client's premises. Ask whether yours does.

A fidelity bond does not replace general liability. Liability covers accidents like a broken vase or a slip. The bond covers deliberate theft. Clients who ask for both expect to see both. Read how a certificate of insurance works for the liability side.

A fidelity bond covers an employer's loss from an employee's dishonest act, including loss of cash, securities and valuables. — National Association of Insurance Commissioners, retrieved 2026-09-27

Surety bonds guarantee the contract to the client

A surety bond guarantees to the client that you will complete the contract. Bid, performance and payment bonds are the three kinds a public cleaning bid may ask for.

SBA describes them simply. A bid bond backs your bid, so the buyer can rely on you to take the contract at your price. A performance bond ensures the work is completed. A payment bond ensures your suppliers and subcontractors get paid.

The surety checks your credit, capacity and character before issuing one. A new business with no track record can find that hard. That is the gap the SBA's guarantee program exists to fill.

SBA describes a performance bond as ensuring full completion of a contract, and a payment bond as ensuring full payment to suppliers and subcontractors. — U.S. Small Business Administration, retrieved 2026-09-27

To get an SBA-guaranteed surety bond, a small business must meet the surety company's standards for credit, capacity and character. — U.S. Small Business Administration, retrieved 2026-09-27

How often Georgia cleaning bids actually require a bond

Less often than owners expect. Several Georgia public cleaning solicitations have marked bonds as not required, while reserving the right to ask on larger awards.

The Chatham County Board of Health listed surety, performance and payment bonds as N/A on its housekeeping bid. Gwinnett's carpet and upholstery cleaning bid stated that no bonds were required on that contract.

Douglas County's courthouse solicitation reserved the right to require a performance bond on any award over $1,000. When Gwinnett does require bonds, its general terms call for a 5% bid bond and 100% performance and payment bonds. Read the bond line in every packet, because it changes from bid to bid.

5% bid bondGwinnett County's general bid terms call for a 5% bid bond and 100% performance and payment bonds on solicitations that require bonding. — Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners, retrieved 2026-09-27

The Gwinnett County carpet and upholstery cleaning bid BL097-23 stated that no bonds were required on that contract. — Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners, retrieved 2026-09-27

$1,000Douglas County reserved the right to require a performance bond on all janitorial awards over $1,000. — Douglas County Board of Commissioners, retrieved 2026-09-27

The SBA surety bond guarantee for small cleaning firms

If a surety will not bond you on your own record, SBA can guarantee the bond. The program covers contracts up to $9 million, or $14 million for federal work.

SBA does not issue the bond. It guarantees bonds issued through authorized surety companies, which lets them take on small firms they might otherwise decline.

SBA charges 0.6% of the contract price for guaranteed performance and payment bonds. Bid bonds carry no SBA fee. For most janitorial contracts, the size limits are far above anything you will bid. The federal side is covered in bidding on government cleaning contracts.

$9 millionSBA-guaranteed surety bonds are available for contracts up to $9 million for non-federal work and $14 million for federal work. — U.S. Small Business Administration, retrieved 2026-09-27

0.6%SBA charges 0.6% of the contract price for guaranteed performance and payment bonds, and no fee for bid bonds. — U.S. Small Business Administration, retrieved 2026-09-27

Before you buy a bond, ask the client this

Ask the client which bond, in what amount and naming whom. Buying the wrong product is the common mistake, and it costs a premium for nothing.

Get the request in writing. If it is a fidelity bond, ask whether it must cover theft from the client's premises. If it is a performance bond, ask for the bond form the buyer uses, because public buyers usually supply their own.

Then price it into the bid. Bond premiums, like insurance, belong in your quote rather than your margin. For the rest of the vendor packet, go to the first commercial contract guide, and for what the bonds sit alongside, see the startup cost breakdown.

The Chatham County Board of Health listed surety requirements, performance bond and payment bond as N/A on its housekeeping and janitorial bid. — Board of Health of Chatham County, Georgia, retrieved 2026-09-27

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