Cleaning covers a wide range of skills, from using the right chemical safely to choosing the right method for a floor or a fabric. The British Institute of Cleaning Science (BICSc) is the trade body that trains people who carry out cleaning tasks, whatever setting they work in.

What BICSc trains people to do

BICSc runs training that covers the practical side of cleaning: how to use equipment correctly, how to handle cleaning chemicals safely, and the method behind tasks such as floor care, washroom cleaning and carpet care. The aim is that anyone who completes the training can carry out the work to a known standard.

The Licence to Practice

The Licence to Practice (LTP) is BICSc's main training programme for cleaning staff. It is built from separate modules, each covering a different part of the work, so a cleaner can be trained in the areas that match what they actually do.

Someone who passes receives an LTP card as evidence that they have completed the training. A cleaning business can ask staff to work towards it, and a client can ask whether the person cleaning their home or premises holds one.

Training of this kind sits alongside the day-to-day safety duties a cleaning business already carries, covered on Health and Safety for Cleaners.

The Cleaning and Support Services Association, known as the CSSA, represents businesses that provide cleaning and support services across the UK. Its focus sits at the level of the business: representing members to government and industry bodies, setting out standards of practice, and giving owners a point of contact within the trade.

Joining a trade association like the CSSA is a choice for the business, separate from the registrations that apply by law. For those, see Checks and Registrations and Starting a Cleaning Business.

Window cleaning has its own trade body. The Federation of Window Cleaners was set up in 1947, bringing window cleaners together under one organisation.

The Federation runs a scheme it calls SAM, aimed at window cleaners who want to show they meet a recognised safety standard. Joining a scheme like this is a way for a window cleaner to demonstrate how they plan and carry out work at height.

Where ladders are involved, the standard a window cleaner works to sits alongside the guidance the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) publishes on ladder use, covered on Window Cleaning and Ladders. Membership of a trade body does not replace the checks and registrations a cleaning business needs on its own account, set out on Checks and Registrations.

Carpet and upholstery cleaning carries its own risks, from the wrong chemical on a delicate fabric to a shampoo machine left running too long on a wool carpet. The National Carpet Cleaners Association (NCCA) is the trade body for this corner of the trade, and it sets out a route into it through training, an exam and ongoing cover.

Getting in

Entry runs through a structured training course, covering fibre types, cleaning methods and the equipment used on carpets and upholstery. After training, members sit an exam to show they can apply what they've learned to a real clean.

Public liability cover

Membership also carries a requirement to hold public liability insurance. For a carpet or upholstery cleaner working in other people's homes, that cover matters: a spilt chemical or a damaged rug is the kind of claim this insurance exists for.

You can find the NCCA's own account of its courses, exam and membership conditions on its site.