Start With the License, Because It Is Public Record
Nevada requires most businesses operating in the state to hold a state business license, and that requirement lives in NRS Chapter 76. The chapter carves out a short list of exemptions: governments, certain tax exempt nonprofits, very small home based businesses and landlords with four or fewer units. A house cleaning company is not on that list. The fee runs $200 a year for most business types and $500 for corporations, with a $100 penalty added when the renewal is paid late. A company that skips it is skipping a real annual cost, not a piece of paperwork nobody notices.
On top of that, a cleaning company working in unincorporated Clark County needs a county business license, and one working inside Las Vegas city limits licenses through the city instead. Clark County charges a one time $45 application fee on top of the license fee itself, and says most general licenses are issued within 45 days after a complete application comes in. That timeline is worth knowing, because a brand new company may still be waiting, and waiting is not the same thing as licensed.
You do not have to take anyone's word for any of this. Clark County keeps a public business license database with six search options, including business name, business owner, business address, parcel number, license category and license number. Two minutes there tells you whether the name on the invoice matches a live license at a real address.
- Search the county database by business name, then again by owner name
- Match the licensed address against the address on the quote
- Confirm the license covers the right jurisdiction (county versus city)
- Check that the license is current rather than expired
These are government licensing fees and processing times, not cleaning prices. Figures from Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 76 and the Clark County Department of Business License.
Insured Should Mean a Certificate, Not a Word on a Website
Liability insurance is the part that matters most once a stranger is moving through your house with a vacuum and a spray bottle. If a crew knocks a television off a wall or leaves a supply line dripping behind a washer, insurance is what pays for the repair. A badge on a website that says insured is not evidence of anything.
Ask for a certificate of insurance, and ask for it to come from the insurance agency rather than as a screenshot on a phone. A real certificate names the insurer, the policy number, the coverage limits and the dates the policy runs. If those dates have already passed, so has the coverage.
Ask about workers compensation while you are at it. If someone is hurt on your property and the company carries nothing, the question of who pays can land back on you and your homeowners policy. Companies that hire employees rather than passing jobs to subcontractors usually carry it, which is one more reason to ask how the crew is classified before the first visit.
Background Checks and Who Actually Walks Through Your Door
A business license is not a background check on the people who walk into your house. Clark County notes that a police background investigation attaches only to the license types that require one, and that the long criminal history reviews sit with regulated, liquor and gaming categories. Screening a cleaning crew is the company's own job, and it is completely fair to ask how it works: who runs the check, how far back it looks, and whether it is repeated after hiring.
Then ask the question most people forget. Will the same crew come back? A rotating cast means someone new learns your home every visit, and your pets, your pantry and your preferences get relearned each time. Recurring visits work best when the same two people already know that the guest bath collects hard water film first and the patio door track fills with grit.
Ask how the crew is identified at the door, how keys and garage codes are stored, and what happens to that access when someone leaves the company. A real answer sounds like a written policy with a name attached. A shrug is also an answer, and it tells you plenty.
- Are your cleaners employees or subcontractors?
- Who runs the background check, and how often is it refreshed?
- Will the same crew return on every visit?
- How are keys, gate codes and alarm instructions stored?
- Who do I call if the crew is running late?
What a Written Quote Should Actually Itemize
Get the scope in writing before the first visit. A good quote lists the rooms included, the tasks inside each room, and the tasks that are not included unless you add them: inside the oven, inside the fridge, interior windows, the garage, the patio, the baseboards. Vague wording does not prevent the argument. It just moves the argument to the end of the job, when the money is already on the table.
It should also say who supplies the products and the equipment. Some companies bring everything. Some use whatever is under your sink, which matters if you want fragrance free products or if a surface in your home needs something specific. Hard water spotting on Las Vegas glass usually takes an acidic descaler, and those products want a window open or a fan running while they work. Never mix cleaning products together, and keep an acidic descaler well away from bleach or an ammonia based glass cleaner.
Finally, read the terms. How much notice does a cancellation need? What happens if the crew arrives and cannot get in? If something gets missed, is there a re-clean window, and how many days long is it? A company worth hiring puts a number on that window instead of promising satisfaction in general terms.
Local Details a Real Las Vegas Company Already Knows
Ask a few questions only a local can answer well. Mojave dust does not wait for your schedule, and a house near active building in Skye Canyon or Tule Springs picks up a film on sills and fan blades within days of a clean. Monsoon season pushes grit onto pool decks and into door tracks, and that grit walks straight into the house on shoes.
Hard water is the other giveaway. Southern Nevada water leaves mineral spotting on shower glass, chrome and stainless, and a company that has never dealt with it will wipe once and move on. Year round air conditioning keeps cycling that fine dust back into rooms, so vents, returns and ceiling fan blades belong on the list rather than on a list of extras nobody mentioned.
Access questions matter too. A downtown loft or high rise condo means a loading dock, a service elevator and a narrow parking window. A 55+ single story home in Sun City Summerlin means a quiet morning and a crew that works without turning the place upside down. If the answers sound like they were written for any city in the country, the company probably is.
8 Questions to Ask Before You Hand Over a Key
Run these past any company before the first visit. The answers take five minutes to collect, and they tell you more than a page of reviews.
- What is your Nevada state business license number?: Most businesses operating in Nevada must hold one under NRS Chapter 76, and a cleaning company is not one of the narrow exemptions. A company should be able to give you the number without searching for it.
- Which local license do you hold, county or city?: Unincorporated Clark County and the City of Las Vegas license separately. Ask which one applies to their address, then look the business up in the county's public database.
- Can your insurer send me a certificate of insurance?: The certificate should come from the agency and show the insurer, the policy number, the limits and the coverage dates. Expired dates mean no coverage today.
- Do you carry workers compensation?: If a cleaner is injured in your home and no coverage exists, the bill can find its way to you. Ask before anyone climbs on a step stool in your kitchen.
- Are your cleaners employees or subcontractors?: Employees are screened, trained and insured by the company. Subcontractors may be none of those things, and the company may have less say over who shows up.
- How do you background check the crew?: Ask who runs the check, what it covers and whether it is repeated. A general business license does not put the crew through a police criminal history review, so the screening is the company's own.
- Will the same crew come back every visit?: Consistency is the difference between a clean that improves over time and one that starts from zero each visit. Ask what happens when a regular cleaner is out sick.
- What are your cancellation and re-clean terms?: Get the notice period, the lockout policy and the re-clean window in writing. A real window has a number of days on it, not a vague promise.