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Building Maintenance and Janitorial Services
A career in building maintenance or janitorial services falls
under the Ohio Department of Taxation’s category of a
“taxable service”. Building maintenance and janitorial
services include: housekeeping, office and building cleaning,
window cleaning, floor waxing, etc. Keep in mind that
building repairs are not considered “building maintenance and
janitorial services.”
Building
maintenance and janitorial service is defined in the
Ohio Revised Code Section 5739.01(II) as:
"… Cleaning the interior or exterior of a building and any
tangible personal property located therein or thereon,
including any services incidental to such cleaning for which
no separate charge is made." However, "building maintenance
and janitorial service" does not include the providing of
such service by a person who has less than five thousand
dollars in sales of such service during the calendar year.
What kinds of
activities are considered a "building maintenance and
janitorial service?"
In general, this service includes washing, vacuuming,
dusting, polishing, and waxing in offices, houses, and
other buildings. Some examples are:
- disinfecting and deodorizing
- cleaning carpeting and upholstery
- chimney sweeping
- cleaning venetian blinds and window shades
- cleaning windows, walls, ceilings, and indoor pools
- washing and waxing floors
- sandblasting, chemically cleaning, power washing or
otherwise cleaning building exteriors, including
siding, roofs, chimneys, and gutters
- snow removal & sweeping dirt off parking garage
decks (buildings)
- cleaning ventilating systems, including furnace and
ductwork
- emptying waste baskets and picking up trash for the
immediate or eventual removal from a building
- housekeeping (maid) service
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NOTE: The term cleaning includes
the removal of soil, dirt, wax, grease, or other
pollutants or contaminants from exterior and interior
surfaces of a building or from personal property within
the building. However, the intentional removal of a
permanent finishing or coating such as paint, varnish,
stain, sealers, wallpaper, tile or carpet adhesives,
etc., usually in preparation for refinishing the
surface, is not, in and of itself, "cleaning" and is
not a taxable janitorial service.
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NOTE 1: These activities do not meet
the definition of "building maintenance and janitorial
service" as used in the law, because they are outside
of the exterior of a building, constitute real property
work, or are not restoring or attempting to restore a
clean condition to a building or its contents.
NOTE 2: Clearing leaves and other
debris from lawns is not a building maintenance and
janitorial service. However, it is a taxable lawn care
service. Snow removal became a taxable service on
August 1, 2003.
If you will be working with hazardous or dangerous
materials (such as blood or chemicals), contact the
Ohio Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Occupational
Safety and Health for information about maintaining a
safe work environment. They can be reached at
(800) 282-1425 or (614) 644-2631. Information is also
available online at http://www.com.ohio.gov/
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The types of
activities that are not a building maintenance and
janitorial service, but may be associated with the
service include:
- applying a stain repellant to carpeting
- repairing chimneys, carpeting, roofs, ceilings,
walls, floors, and other forms of real property
- painting exterior and interior building surfaces
- miscellaneous maintenance (such as changing light
bulbs)
- plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilating, and
air conditioning repair or maintenance; snow and ice
removal from parking lots, driveways and sidewalks (see
note 2)
- cleaning outdoor pools
- unclogging drains and pipes
- clearing leaves, grass, and other debris from
lawns, sidewalks, patios, etc. (see note 2)
- removing unwanted articles from buildings (only in
connection with the service of hauling them away)
- off-site cleaning of building contents such as
draperies and venetian blinds;
- stripping wallpaper, paint, varnish, etc. off
walls, floors, and ceilings.
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