Verified — real FDD extraction
Not found in the SBA Franchise Directory — SBA financing may be unavailable; verify with your lender
SERVPRO
Cleaning & Restoration · independent · est. —
SERVPRO is a fire and water damage restoration franchise providing cleanup, drying, mold remediation, and related cleaning services. A franchisee operates a territory-based restoration business with crews, trucks, and specialized equipment, responding to residential and commercial losses referred largely by insurance carriers.
SERVPRO net unit count declined -3.6% from 2014–2016 per its FDD Item 20.
New to franchising? Start here
A franchise is a business where you (the franchisee) pay a company (the franchisor) for the right to open and run a location using their brand and system — think a local Anytime Fitness or Taco John's owned by a small-business owner, not the corporation.
Before you can buy in, U.S. law requires the franchisor to give you a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) — a long legal filing covering its fees, finances, and history. The numbers on this page come straight from that document:
- Franchise fee — the one-time cost to buy in.
- Royalty — the ongoing cut of your sales you pay the franchisor.
- Item 20 — how many locations opened and closed, the basis for our verdict (from Proven & strong down to Distressed — or Too new to judge).
The verdict
Proven & steady
Distress
A real track record with an unremarkable region of the ledger: neither the growth nor the exits stand out, for better or worse. The standout in the record: owners who leave mostly sell rather than fail.
Exit rate · latest year
0.0%
vs 3.1% across 25 cleaning & restoration systems
Cost to open
$93K–$206K
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
No loan record
no SBA 7(a)/504 loans found for this brand
Behind the verdict
the record, factor by factor · Item 20
3-yr trend · Item 20 Table 1
terminations + ceased-ops vs. all exits · Table 3
transfers vs. base · Table 3
actual vs. projected openings · Table 5
Item 19 disclosure + completeness
Systemwide units
2014–2016
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2016, 0 of 53 franchised outlets left the system — a 0.0% annualized exit rate, vs 3.1% across 25 cleaning & restoration systems. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 60 | 56 | 53 |
| Opened | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Transfers | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Terminations | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Non-renewals | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Outlets at end | 56 | 53 | 54 |
| Net change | -4 | -3 | +1 |
What it costs — and what it drags
FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty
Buying in means a $55K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $93K–$206K (Item 7). The franchisor publishes no earnings claim (Item 19) — ask current and former franchisees for real numbers.
To open (Item 7)
$93K–$206K
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$55K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
10%
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — this brand discloses no Item 19 earnings; validate with current & former owners.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$100K
10% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$1M
royalties alone, excl. ad fund
This is not profit. It's the only money the FDD actually pins down — what you put in, and the royalty you owe on every dollar of sales. Your real take-home depends on labor, rent, food cost, and ramp-to-breakeven, none of which any FDD discloses.
Build a real pro-forma for SERVPRO with an independent CPALabor record
US Dept. of Labor enforcement · franchisee-level · FY2005–present
Federal investigators have concluded 66 wage cases against operators of this system, recovering $503K in back wages for 651 workers, including 1 child-labor case. Some of these cases are recent, not ancient history. These cases name franchisee-owned locations, not the franchisor itself.
Concluded cases
66
Back wages owed
$503K
Employees affected
651
Since 2020
10
1 of these cases involved child-labor violations, covering 2 minors across the system's franchised locations.
Read this carefully. The employers in these cases are individual SERVPRO franchisees — separately owned businesses operating under the brand name — not SERVPRO itself. The franchisor is not the respondent and in most cases is not a party. What the record shows is how this system's operators run their payrolls, which is worth knowing before you become one of them. Counts rise with system size and with age: a 20-year-old, 10,000-unit system will out-count a young one regardless of conduct. Source: DOL Wage and Hour Division concluded compliance actions, FY2005–present, most recent finding 2025.
Distress signals
news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits
No recent closures, bankruptcies, or major lawsuits found in the news for SERVPRO. That's a good sign — but it reflects news coverage, not a guarantee.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. An independent CPA is paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing SERVPRO's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →SERVPRO franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of SERVPRO franchises closed last year?
In SERVPRO's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2016), 0 of 53 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 0.0% — compared with 3.1% across 25 cleaning & restoration systems tracked here. That counts terminations, non-renewals, and "ceased operations — other reasons." There is no official failure rate, and not every exit is a failure, but this is the measurable floor.
How much does a SERVPRO franchise cost?
Per SERVPRO's 2017 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $55K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $93K–$206K (Item 7).
What royalty does SERVPRO charge?
SERVPRO charges an ongoing royalty of 10.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2017 FDD.
Does SERVPRO disclose earnings (Item 19)?
No — SERVPRO's 2017 FDD makes no financial performance representation in Item 19. That is legal and common, but it means the franchisor publishes no earnings claim; ask current franchisees for real numbers.