Licences and permissions for a cleaning business

No general licence applies to cleaning homes, offices or other premises anywhere in the UK. You can start trading without one. These activities bring their own permission:

• window cleaning in Scottish council areas that licence it
• carrying customers' waste away
• offering key holding as a security service, separate from cleaning

If you do none of these, you need no cleaning licence. Other duties still apply, including health and safety and employment law. Dry cleaning with solvents is a different trade and needs a local council permit.

Window cleaning in Scotland

Section 43 of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 lets a Scottish council require window cleaners to hold a licence. It applies only in council areas that have decided to adopt it. There is no single list of those areas, so ask your council's licensing team before you start.

Where a council has adopted the licence, it sets its own fees and can refuse a licence if you are disqualified or not a fit and proper person. This rule does not apply in England, Wales or Northern Ireland.

Carrying customers' waste

Taking customers' waste away in your vehicle makes you a waste carrier. Examples are bin bags, old furniture and end-of-tenancy clearance. You must register before you start. Register with one of these regulators:

• the Environment Agency in England
• Natural Resources Wales in Wales
• the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) in Scotland
• the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) in Northern Ireland

Carrying waste without the registration you need is an offence. If you are unsure whether waste from your own cleaning work counts, ask your regulator.

In Great Britain you also have a duty of care for the waste under section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Keep it contained, hand it only to an authorised person such as a permitted waste site, and pass on a written description of it. Keep copies of the paperwork. For the registration process, see Waste carrier registration.

In Wales, you register with Natural Resources Wales under the Control of Pollution (Amendment) Act 1989. The English change to permits does not apply there. In Northern Ireland, you register with NIEA, which runs its own scheme. Check its current requirements before you start.

Holding customers' keys

Many cleaners hold a customer's key so that they can get in and clean. Holding a key to get in and clean needs no SIA licence, even though you are paid for the cleaning. Keeping or controlling keys as a security service is different, as the summary below shows. For the Security Industry Authority (SIA) licence types and how to apply, see SIA licence types and requirements.

This section describes the position in Great Britain. If you work in Northern Ireland, ask the SIA before you offer key holding as a service. Keys and alarm codes you hold are also personal data. For how to handle them safely, see Work safely and securely in customers' premises as a cleaner.

What to read next

Licences are one part of starting up. Follow the whole path in Start a cleaning business. If you plan to take on staff, see Employ cleaners: pay, travel time, status and checks. For the wider rules on buildings and landscape services, see Which building and landscape services regulations apply to your business.