Florida treats construction as its strictest workers' comp category: one employee triggers the requirement, and uninsured subcontractors become your liability. Compare carriers, get the right class codes for every crew, and get same-day certificates for permits and job sites.
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Last updated · Sources: Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, NCCI, and the Florida Division of Workers' Compensation
Florida construction workers' comp: quick facts for 2026
Construction is Florida's largest workers' comp market by premium and the most heavily enforced. The Division of Workers' Compensation runs most of its compliance investigations on job sites, and building departments can't issue a permit without proof of coverage or an exemption.
A general contractor's policy usually carries several class codes at once: the trades its own employees perform, executive supervisors who don't do manual labor, and clerical staff in the office. Getting each employee into the right code, and documenting it for the audit, is the single biggest factor in what a GC pays.
Under F.S. 440.10, a contractor is treated as the employer of any subcontractor's workers who aren't covered. In practice, an uninsured sub's payroll gets added to the GC's policy at audit and billed at the GC's rates.
These are the NCCI class codes most often used for general contractors in Florida. Rates shown are 2026 Florida manual rates per $100 of payroll and apply statewide. "Quoted" means the rate for that code is provided with your quote. The right code depends on the work each employee actually does.
| NCCI Code | Classification | Rate per $100 | Premium on $100K payroll* |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5645 | Carpentry / Framing — Residential | $7.69 | $7,850 |
| 5551 | Roofing — All Kinds | $8.24 | $8,400 |
| 5022 | Masonry | $5.22 | $5,380 |
| 5474 | Painting — Residential | $4.48 | $4,640 |
| 5190 | Electrical Wiring | $2.97 | $3,130 |
| 5606 | Contractor — Project Manager / Construction Executive / Superintendent | Quoted | Varies |
| 8810 | Clerical / Office Employees | $0.17 | $330 |
* Includes the $160 expense constant, at a 1.0 experience mod, before Drug-Free Workplace (5%) or other credits. See the full Florida rate table.
Yes, with one employee. Florida treats this work as construction under its workers' compensation law (Chapter 440), so coverage is required as soon as the business has one employee, and corporate officers and LLC members count unless they have filed an exemption. Up to three officers or members who each own at least 10% can file a $50 construction exemption, but it covers only the owners.
For 2026, included officers are rated on a minimum payroll of $33,800 each for construction businesses and $67,600 each for non-construction businesses. Operating without required coverage can lead to a Stop-Work Order and penalties based on the premium you should have paid.
Most savings for general contractors come from the audit, not the quote: splitting payroll correctly between trade, supervisory and clerical codes, keeping clean certificate files for every sub, and documenting overtime so the premium portion of overtime pay is excluded. A Drug-Free Workplace program adds a 5% credit, and a safety program helps keep the experience mod below 1.0. Because every Florida carrier starts from the same manual rates, a specialist who knows your industry can make a real difference in how your policy is classified, credited and audited.
Florida uses the same NCCI base rates for every carrier. Premium is (annual payroll ÷ $100) × class code rate × experience mod, plus a $160 expense constant. For example, a residential general contractor with $150,000 of framing payroll (5645) and $80,000 of office payroll (8810) pays about $11,831 a year at a 1.0 experience mod, before credits such as the 5% Drug-Free Workplace credit. 2026 Florida rates decreased 6.9% on average.
Yes, with one employee. Florida treats this work as construction under its workers' compensation law (Chapter 440), so coverage is required as soon as the business has one employee, and corporate officers and LLC members count unless they have filed an exemption. Up to three officers or members who each own at least 10% can file a $50 construction exemption, but it covers only the owners.
Yes, if they're uninsured. Under F.S. 440.10, a contractor is liable for workers' comp for a subcontractor's employees when the sub has no coverage. At the annual audit, the carrier adds uninsured subcontractor payroll to the contractor's policy. Collecting a current certificate of insurance or exemption from every sub prevents this.
Owners can, but employees can't. Up to three corporate officers or LLC members who each own at least 10% of a construction business can file a $50 exemption with the Division of Workers' Compensation. The business still needs a policy as soon as it has one employee who isn't exempt.
The Florida Division of Workers' Compensation can issue a Stop-Work Order that shuts down the business until coverage is obtained and a penalty is paid. The penalty is generally twice the premium the employer would have paid over the prior two years, with a $1,000 minimum, and working in violation of a Stop-Work Order adds further daily penalties. Uninsured employers can also be sued directly by injured workers.
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