How much does insurance cost for an electrical contractor?

The license sets the first insurance line

Several states write the liability limit, the bond and the comp rule into the electrical contractor’s license itself. Dropping below the minimum is then a licensing violation, not just a breach of a customer’s contract. These are the rules we confirmed in statutes and board rules on October 13, 2026:

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

Points that change what you buy:

• Texas. The Occupations Code makes three things conditions of an electrical contractor license: a master electrician, “proof of financial responsibility”, and workers’ comp coverage or an election not to obtain it⁠⁶. TDLR’s rule turns the second into a general liability floor of $300,000 per occurrence, $600,000 aggregate and $300,000 aggregate for products and completed operations. The certificate must carry a 30-day cancellation notice, and the insurer must be admitted, an eligible surplus lines carrier, or rated B+ or higher by A.M. Best⁠⁷. The comp election is the Texas exception: private employers may go without coverage, but a contractor on a public building or construction contract must certify coverage for each of its employees on the project, and so must each subcontractor⁠⁸. The same GL minimums apply to electrical sign contractors and residential appliance installation contractors⁠⁷.
• Florida. Section 489.515 requires an affidavit, at first issue and at every renewal, that the contractor holds both comp (or an exemption) and liability insurance in amounts the board sets, and the board checks them by random audit of at least 10% of licensees⁠⁹⁠¹⁰. The board’s amounts: $300,000 per occurrence for bodily injury and $500,000 for property damage, each “including completed operations and products”, or an $800,000 combined single limit. The certificate must name the Department of Business and Professional Regulation’s Electrical Contractors’ Licensing Board as holder; binder numbers are not accepted⁠⁹. Florida covers construction employment from the first employee, and only up to three corporate officers owning at least 10% each may opt out⁠¹¹.
• Oregon. An electrical business needs two licenses: an electrical contractor’s license from the state Department of Consumer and Business Services⁠¹⁵, and a Construction Contractors Board license whose bond and insurance depend on the endorsement. The CCB policy must cover products and completed operations⁠¹⁴.
• Arizona. The registrar fixes each bond within statutory ranges based on the contractor’s estimated annual volume and classification. A dual (commercial and residential) license pays the sum of both. Residential contractors also post a $200,000 bond or pay into the residential contractors’ recovery fund⁠¹².
• Washington. Electrical contractors are licensed under RCW 19.28, not the general contractor registration. The $4,000 bond is conditioned on code compliance and on paying for labor, materials, taxes and damages. A bond cancellation suspends the license until a new bond is filed, and cities and counties may not require their own electrical license or bond⁠¹⁶.
• California. Business and Professions Code 7125 bars the no-employee comp exemption for C-8, C-20, C-22, C-39 and D-49 licenses. C-10 electrical is not on that list, so a sole electrician with no employees can file the exemption⁠¹⁷. Every CSLB license carries the $25,000 bond⁠¹⁸.

Oregon’s CCB tiers, from ORS 701.081 and 701.084⁠¹⁴:

An Oregon electrical contractor licensed as an exempt business, with no employees, who takes a commercial endorsement must still “procure and maintain workers’ compensation insurance”⁠¹⁴. A residential-only exempt contractor need not. General contractor endorsements carry higher minimums: $500,000 for residential general, and $1 million (level 2) or $2 million (level 1) for commercial general⁠¹⁴.

The state hubs for Texas, Florida, Oregon, Arizona, Washington and California cover each state’s comp system; the workers’ comp requirements table gives the employee threshold in all 51 jurisdictions.

Where electrical work sits on the comp schedules

Workers’ comp for electricians is priced on the class of work, and the class depends on where the wiring is. Ohio, Washington and Wyoming run monopolistic state funds that publish the full rate:

Base rates set by the state fund before experience modification. Ohio and Wyoming charge per $100 of payroll; Washington charges per hour worked, and part is withheld from wages. Other states’ insurers file their own rates; see where rates are published.

Reading the rates (ratios and ranks are our calculations from the 2026 schedules):

• Ohio. Class 5190, “Electrical wiring – within buildings and drivers”, is $1.0889 per $100 of payroll from July 1, 2026. It ranks 295th of the 501 classes, below the middle of the schedule. It is 23 times the clerical rate ($0.0466) and less than a fifth of roofing class 5551 ($5.7709)⁠¹. Line work is another matter: class 7538, electric light or power line construction, is $2.7877, 2.6 times inside wiring, and ranks 84th. A contractor that does both kinds of work should ask how its payroll will be divided between the two classes.
• Washington. Class 0601, “Electrical Wiring: Buildings and Structures”, costs $1.437 per hour worked in 2026, of which $0.2449 may be withheld from the worker’s pay. Telephone and alarm system installation (0608) is $1.0155⁠³. Because Washington charges per hour, a journeyman and an apprentice cost the same to insure.
• Wyoming. Wyoming’s schedule is built on NAICS sectors and has no electrical line; there is no class 238210. Electrical contractors fall in 238000, Specialty Trade Contractors, at $2.39 per $100, the same rate as roofers and every other specialty trade⁠⁴. Construction is extrahazardous employment under Wyoming law, so coverage from the state fund is compulsory⁠²⁵.

Per $100 of payroll, electrical work costs more than twice as much in Wyoming as in Ohio at base rates (our calculation). Part of the gap is how the classes are drawn: Wyoming’s rate is pooled across every specialty trade, while Ohio prices inside wiring on its own⁠¹⁠⁴.

In most other states, private insurers file their own rates on bureau loss costs. Ohio’s class titles come from NCCI’s classification index, so 5190 is the code to look for on an NCCI-based policy, but the rate differs by insurer and state; see official rate tables and the class code guide.

BLS cost per hour for construction

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish an electrician-only figure. In June 2026, construction employers spent $1.10 per hour worked on workers’ comp, 2.1% of total compensation, against $0.43 for all private industry⁠⁵. At Ohio’s 5190 rate, an electrician paid $35 an hour costs about $0.38 an hour in base-rate premium (our calculation)⁠¹, well under the construction average, which includes roofers, framers and other higher-rated trades. BLS has announced that, beginning with December 2026 data, ECEC will no longer include workers’ comp costs⁠⁵.

Average employer cost per employee hour worked for workers' compensation and for health insurance, averaged across all workers in the group, plus workers' compensation as a percent of total compensation. Group averages mix high- and low-risk jobs, so they are not a premium rate for any single business. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), National Compensation Survey, June 2026 (2026 Q2), private industry workers, released 9 Sep 2026.

Three comp premiums from official rates

These are our calculations with stated assumptions, using 2026 rates. They are not quotes, and they leave out state assessments and discounts.

1. Ohio, $400,000 of electrical wiring payroll

   $400,000 ÷ 100 × $1.0889 = $4,355.60 a year at the base rate⁠¹. An employer whose expected losses reach $2,000 is eligible for experience rating, and its base rate is then multiplied by its experience modification⁠². A 1.20 mod makes it $5,226.72; a 0.85 mod makes it $3,702.26.

2. Washington, five electricians at 2,000 hours each

   10,000 hours × $1.437 = $14,370 a year. Workers may be charged $0.2449 an hour, or $2,449, leaving the employer about $11,921⁠³.

3. Wyoming, $400,000 of payroll

   $400,000 ÷ 100 × $2.39 = $9,560 before the experience factor⁠⁴.

The experience modification guide explains how one claim moves the mod, and premium audits covers the year-end payroll check by class. The workers’ comp estimator runs the same arithmetic.

What insurers report for electricians

ERGO NEXT and Insureon both publish electrician-specific general liability figures, and they differ by a factor of about two. The table holds ERGO NEXT’s figure with the construction and contractor figures that also apply to an electrical shop:

Insurer- and broker-reported figures from each company’s own customers, as published on its website; not a random sample of all businesses. Figures are rounded as published.

Insureon’s electrician page (updated July 28, 2026) lists general liability at $61 a month ($732 a year), workers’ comp at $140 ($1,679), contractor’s tools and equipment at $42 ($503), commercial auto at $275 ($3,304), a BOP at $100, umbrella at $74 and surety bonds at $10 ($116 a year). Professional liability, at $67, is given for construction businesses as a group⁠²¹. The page calls these averages but says they are “sourced from the median cost of policies for electricians who apply for quotes with Insureon”. Most of its customers have fewer than five employees, revenue from about $50,000 to more than $200,000, and five years or less in business. Its typical GL policy has $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate limits with a $500 deductible⁠²¹.

Why ERGO NEXT’s $120 and Insureon’s $61 differ:

• Average against median. ERGO NEXT reports an average across its active customers who bought GL in the past 12 months⁠¹⁹. A few large accounts raise an average; a median ignores them.
• Customer mix. Insureon’s pool is mostly businesses with fewer than five employees⁠²¹. Neither company reports the payroll or revenue behind its figure.
• Limits. ERGO NEXT’s own electrician packages range from $300,000 to $1 million of GL per occurrence⁠²⁰. Its $120 average blends buyers at different limits, while Insureon describes a $1 million / $2 million policy⁠²¹. The $300,000 tier matches the Texas per-occurrence minimum but not Florida’s.

Treat both as reference points for small electrical shops, not as the price of your policy. ERGO NEXT’s $160 average for its construction customers’ workers’ comp⁠²⁶ and Insureon’s $140 for electricians⁠²¹ are monthly premiums for whole small accounts, at undisclosed payrolls; the official rates above show how much payroll and class drive the real number⁠¹⁠³.

How the liability side is priced

• Payroll or revenue, by class. In ISO’s general liability program, “payroll is the ISO General Liability premium base for most contracting and service risks”⁠²³. An insurer using that base multiplies a rate for the electrical class by your payroll, so adding a crew adds premium. Ask each insurer which class and exposure base it used, and check the audit uses the same.
• Completed operations. A fault that starts a fire months after the job falls under the products-completed operations part of the policy. Texas, Florida and Oregon each require it as part of the license policy⁠⁷⁠⁹⁠¹⁴.
• Type of work. Insureon lists the type of work among its pricing factors and names solar panel installation as higher-risk electrical work⁠²¹. On the comp side, Ohio’s schedule already separates inside wiring from line construction⁠¹.

The general liability guide covers limits, aggregates and additional-insured endorsements.

Vans, tools and bonds

• Commercial auto. Progressive Commercial reports a 2025 median of $203 a month per power unit for contractor policies and an average of $260, for new liability and physical damage policies with no driver violations; it lists electricians among the trades on contractor auto policies⁠²². Insureon’s figure for electricians is $275 a month⁠²¹. Progressive notes that vehicle type matters: a pickup with a ladder rack and fixed toolbox may cost more than a standard truck⁠²². See commercial auto.
• Tools, wire and testers. Insureon reports $42 a month ($503 a year) for contractor’s tools and equipment coverage among electricians; the price depends on the value of the tools and the type of work, and items worth more than $2,500 may need to be scheduled separately⁠²¹. See inland marine.
• License bonds. Amounts are set by law: $25,000 in California, $4,000 in Washington, $15,000 to $55,000 in Oregon, and by volume in Arizona⁠¹²⁠¹⁴⁠¹⁶⁠¹⁸. The bond protects the public and the state, not the contractor; Washington’s covers code violations and unpaid labor and materials⁠¹⁶. Insureon’s $10 a month is its customers’ bond premium⁠²¹; none of the official sources publishes surety rates.
• Contract bonds. Federal construction contracts above $150,000 require performance and payment bonds, and contracts above $35,000 up to $150,000 require two or more payment protections chosen by the contracting officer, such as a payment bond or an irrevocable letter of credit⁠²⁴. See surety bonds.

Building an electrical contractor’s budget

No source publishes the total insurance cost of an electrical business, and none can be given without your payroll, state and loss history. A figure you can check quotes against:

1. Start from the license

   Write down your state’s liability minimum, completed-operations requirement and bond from the table. Those are floors; a customer’s contract can require more.

2. Split payroll by class

   Inside wiring, line or utility work, low-voltage and alarm work, and office staff go in different comp classes. In Washington, count hours instead.

3. Apply the comp rate

   In Ohio, Washington and Wyoming use the official rate above; elsewhere, ask for the class code, rate and loss-cost multiplier the insurer used, then apply your experience mod.

4. Price GL on the same exposure

   Ask what base and class the insurer used and whether the limits meet the license and your contracts.

5. Add vans, tools and bonds separately

   Each has its own base: vehicles and drivers, equipment values, and bond amount and credit.

The premium calculation guide explains each step.

Sources

1. 1
   Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation / Ohio Administrative Code, OAC 4123-17-06, Appendix A: base rates effective July 1, 2026 (private employers) Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
2. 2
   Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation / Ohio Administrative Code, OAC 4123-17-03, Experience rating Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
3. 3
   Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, 2026 hourly rates by risk classification Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
4. 4
   Wyoming Department of Workforce Services, Workers' compensation 2026 industry base rates by classification Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
5. 5
   U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, June 2026 (released Sept. 9, 2026) Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
6. 6
   Texas Legislature, Occupations Code chapter 1305, Electricians (sec. 1305.159, Electrical contractor) Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
7. 7
   Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, 16 Texas Administrative Code 73.40, Insurance requirements (Electricians rules) Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
8. 8
   Texas Legislature, Texas Labor Code chapter 406, Workers' compensation insurance coverage Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
9. 9
   Florida Electrical Contractors' Licensing Board, Rule 61G6-5.008, Public liability and workers' compensation insurance Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
10. 10
    Florida Legislature, Florida Statutes 489.515, Issuance of certificates; registrations Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
11. 11
    Florida Legislature, Florida Statutes 440.02, Definitions Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
12. 12
    Arizona State Legislature, A.R.S. 32-1152, Bonds Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
13. 13
    Arizona State Legislature, A.R.S. 32-1122, Qualifications for license Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
14. 14
    Oregon State Legislature, ORS chapter 701, Construction contractors (701.035, 701.073, 701.081, 701.084) Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
15. 15
    Oregon State Legislature, ORS chapter 479, Electrical safety (479.630) Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
16. 16
    Washington State Legislature, RCW 19.28.041, Electrical contractor license: bond or cash deposit Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
17. 17
    Contractors State License Board (CSLB), Business and Professions Code 7125 Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
18. 18
    Contractors State License Board (CSLB), Bond requirements Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
19. 19
    ERGO NEXT, How much does general liability insurance cost? (data updated April 2026) Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
20. 20
    ERGO NEXT, Electrician insurance Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
21. 21
    Insureon, Electrician insurance costs (updated July 28, 2026) Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
22. 22
    Progressive Commercial, Commercial auto insurance cost Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
23. 23
    Verisk (ISO), Here's a powerful new pricing tool for general liability insurers (Sept. 29, 2021) Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
24. 24
    Acquisition.gov (General Services Administration), FAR 28.102-1, Performance and payment bonds: general Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
25. 25
    Wyoming Legislature, Wyoming Statutes title 27, W.S. 27-14-108 (extrahazardous employment) Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
26. 26
    ERGO NEXT, How much does workers' comp insurance cost? (data updated April 2026) Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑

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