Most ordinary homes, offices and windows fit within a Czech cleaning services trade licence under the unqualified trade. Trouble starts when a client points at a drain, electrical panel or mould after a leak and asks you to handle that too. Now you must separate routine cleaning from a safety risk or another trade.
This is practical guidance for shaping a service menu, not a legal opinion on an individual job. Check unusual work with the Czech trade licensing office, the relevant health and safety rules and your insurer before you promise it.
How cleaning services are registered under an unqualified trade
Customers see package names: weekly home cleaning, deep cleaning, office cleaning or windows. Registration works differently. You notify the broad unqualified trade, “Production, trade and services not specified in Annexes 1 to 3 of the Trade Licensing Act”, then select the activity fields that cover what you actually do.
For flats, offices and windows, the main field is No. 58, Purchase, sale, management and maintenance of real estate. Government Regulation No. 278/2008 includes residential and commercial premises, interiors, exteriors, windows and pavements. Field No. 79, Services for families and households, also names household cleaning. Ask the trade office which fits; cleaning business licence is shorthand, not the registered name.
An unqualified trade does not require a vocational certificate or proof of professional experience. The Czech public administration guidance explains the distinction. Field 58 still excludes repairs requiring craft skills or a special qualification, plus chemical cleaning of carpets and textiles.
My working rule is simple: the package name sells the service, the registered field sets the business scope, and the actual method determines the risk. All three have to match.
Routine cleaning in homes, offices and common areas
A normal service can cover vacuuming, mopping, dusting, reachable surfaces, bathrooms and kitchen worktops. Offices add washrooms and bins; apartment buildings may add stairs, corridors, the lift car and entrance glass.
Regular, one-off and deep cleaning describe frequency and effort, not separate licences. The method matters: removing an ordinary spot by hand differs from selling chemical textile cleaning. So does light dusting versus a post-construction job with loose insulation or unidentified powders.
A new cleaner in Prague 10 once accepted “a normal 2+kk clean”. The customer also expected six windows, a greasy oven, a balcony with bird waste and a cellar. Three quoted hours became a day. The licence was not the problem; the undefined scope was.
Write both inclusions and exclusions into your offer:
- rooms and tasks included in the base price;
- whether the inside of ovens, fridges, cupboards and windows costs extra;
- how you handle severe soil, animal waste and building dust;
- work you refuse, such as repairs, loose sharps, hazardous contamination or windows without safe access.
That prevents the expensive sentence, “I thought that was obvious.”
Windows, height, machines and chemicals: the licence is only one boundary
Window cleaning appears directly in field 58. Glass safely reached from the floor or suitable steps is routine. Leaning from a sixth floor or placing a long ladder over stairs is a different job.
Government Regulation No. 362/2005 sets fall-protection, ladder, training and protective-equipment duties for employers. A ladder is for short, light work when a safer option is not justified or possible. A sole trader’s exact duties can differ, but the fall risk does not. Without safe access, refer the job to a contractor equipped for work at height.
Machines add another boundary. Before using a floor scrubber, rotary machine or extractor, read its instructions, learn the method and check the surface, cables or batteries. A logistics hall also brings vehicles and the client’s safety rules. Experience in a Prague flat does not prepare you for every site.
For chemicals, keep safety data sheets, follow the label and never improvise mixtures. Household bathroom disinfection is not special protective disinfection, insect control or rodent control, which is regulated. Before advertising carpet extraction or “chemical cleaning”, confirm the method’s classification and insurance cover.
When the request belongs to a craftsperson or specialist
Small favours cause problems. Tightening a socket, opening pipework, repairing a tap or checking a gas boiler are not cleaning tasks. Those trades carry their own competence and liability requirements.
The boundary is easier to remember:
- clean the hob surface, but do not repair its electrical or gas components;
- clean the basin and accessible drain cover, but do not dismantle pipework to fix a fault;
- wipe the outside of an electrical cabinet, but do not open it;
- remove ordinary dust, but not asbestos, discarded needles or an unidentified chemical powder.
Contamination after a death, sewage leak, flood or pest problem needs assessment. A badly soiled room is not automatically outside your business, but stop when you find biological material, loose sharps, unidentified chemicals or a possible infectious hazard.
Refusal can stay helpful: “That request is outside routine cleaning, and I cannot promise a safe method. I can recommend a specialist and finish the remaining cleaning after their work.” The customer gets a way forward without a false promise.
Quotes, insurance and referrals without legal promises
A useful quote can fit on one or two pages. State the premises, frequency, tasks, pricing method, equipment, extras and exclusions. Hidden defects and non-standard contamination should trigger inspection and a revised quote. Avoid “compliant with every legal standard” unless you can identify those standards.
Describe real jobs to the insurer. Ask about keys, glass, electronics, costly finishes and commercial premises. Mention windows, machines or post-renovation cleaning. An exclusion discovered after damage is too late.
For an unfamiliar site, request photos or inspect before giving a fixed price. Ask an office client for building rules and hazards. At home, note natural stone, cracked glass, loose sockets and unstable furniture. If the condition differs from the booking, pause and agree a new scope.
For pricing the revised scope, see CistýKout’s guide to pricing home cleaning without losing money.
For registration basics, read CistýKout’s guide to starting a cleaning business as a Czech sole trader. For each service, ask: Is my field right, is the method safe, do I have the experience, and will insurance respond? One “no” means pause or refer the job.
For clearly scoped routine cleaning in Prague, contact CistýKout with a no-obligation enquiry. Describe any unusual conditions up front so the work can be assessed and routed safely.
