Workers' Comp Rates for Janitorial Services - By Contractor (Class Code 9014)

What's Included Under Class Code 9014

9014 contemplates ordinary contract janitorial work performed at client locations: routine dusting, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, waxing and polishing floors, emptying trash, washing interior walls, and cleaning, sanitizing, and deodorizing restrooms. Drivers who transport the cleaning crews and supplies are included in the classification, which is why the full phraseology ends in "& Drivers." Cleaning of windows at ground level is included under 9014; minor maintenance and incidental repair work attached to the cleaning contract is also generally allowed in a small proportion (many carriers tolerate roughly up to 10% of operations) before a separate construction or maintenance code is triggered.

9014 is duties-driven rather than title-driven, and like most service codes it is assigned based on the operations performed during the policy year. Some residential or domestic house-cleaning may be picked up under 9014 when it is a minority of the business, but a contractor whose work is predominantly residential cleaning is classified under the residential/domestic cleaning code (0917) rather than 9014. Tracking the commercial-versus-residential split in payroll records is what keeps a borderline cleaning business in the correct code.

9014 vs 9170 (Window Cleaning) and 0917 (Residential)

The most important boundary for a janitorial contractor is window height. Code 9014 specifically excludes window cleaning above ground level — any washing of windows above the ground floor belongs in the higher-rated code 9170 (Window Cleaning). Payroll for above-ground window work can be separated from 9014 and rated to 9170 only when it is clearly documented in the records; without that documentation, an auditor can rate the entire payroll at the higher 9170 rate. A janitorial business that occasionally cleans second-story or atrium windows should keep contemporaneous records of which crews did that work and for how long.

The second boundary is commercial versus residential. 9014 is the commercial contract-cleaning code; predominantly residential or domestic house-cleaning operations rate to 0917 instead, which is typically priced differently because of the less controlled home environment. The third boundary is contractor versus in-house: 9014 applies to a cleaning contractor's employees working at other businesses' sites — custodial staff employed directly by the building's owner or lessee to clean their own premises are classified under the relevant building-operations code, not 9014.

Independent-bureau states matter here. California (WCIRB), Pennsylvania (PCRB), Delaware (DCRB), New Jersey (NJCRIB), Michigan (CAOM), and North Carolina (NCRB) run their own rating bureaus and may use different janitorial phraseology, code numbers, or window-height tests than NCCI's 9014. A cleaning contractor in those states should confirm the local code rather than rely on the national 9014 number.

Audit Records for 9014 Janitorial Contractors

The audit file that protects a 9014 assignment documents three things: that the work is contract cleaning at client sites (not in-house custodial), that window cleaning stayed at ground level or that above-ground window payroll is separately recorded for 9170, and that residential cleaning is a minority of operations if any. Keep cleaning contracts, job logs, and payroll detail by crew and site. Auditors decide 9014 versus 9170 and 0917 from the operations actually performed, not from how the company markets itself.

For quote shoppers, the figures on this page — filed figures from the states that publish them and a relative cost index for the rest — are a benchmark, not a binding quote. The final premium still changes with payroll, the carrier's loss-cost multiplier, experience modification, schedule credits, minimum premium, and any reclassification to 9170, 0917, or a state-specific cleaning code.