Delaware HVAC Workers Comp Rates (2026)
The published Delaware loss cost for HVAC workers comp, class 0664 (Heating, Ventilating or Air Conditioning Contractor), is $1.590 per $100 of payroll (effective December 1, 2025). Carriers multiply it by their own filed multiplier, so a typical premium is about $2.39.
A loss cost covers expected claims only. Each carrier files its own multiplier for expenses; in the states that publish the full list, the median is about 1.5, which is what the typical premium here uses. Your quote can be lower or higher. Source.
Delaware class code for HVAC
- 0664: Heating, Ventilating or Air Conditioning Contractor
Delaware uses its own classification codes (largely the same numbering as Pennsylvania, e.g. 659 Roofing) and gives construction employers a wage-based premium credit through the Delaware Construction Classification Premium Adjustment Program instead of using NCCI codes.
HVAC technicians work in attics and on roofs and handle electrical circuits and refrigerants.
What comp costs per hvac technician in Delaware
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 1,730 heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers on payrolls in Delaware (May 2025), the 41st largest workforce among the 50 states and DC. The median wage is $29.96 an hour, 2% above the US median of $29.33.
This trade is a bigger part of the Delaware job market than it is nationally: heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers hold 1.4 times their national share of jobs there.
At a typical Delaware premium of about $2.39 per $100 of payroll (the published loss cost of $1.59 for class 0664 times a 1.5 carrier multiplier), comp on one worker at that wage costs about $0.72 for every hour worked, or $1,489 a year full time. A 2-person crew comes to roughly $2,979 a year in premium before any experience mod.
Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. Delaware pay runs from $21.64 an hour at the 10th percentile to $46.93 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $0.52 an hour on a new hire and $1.12 on a senior hand.
Workers comp requirements in Delaware
- Coverage required: 1 employee; construction workers cannot be classified as independent contractors
- Owners and sole proprietors: Excluded by default; may elect in
- State fund: Private market (Delaware Compensation Rating Bureau residual market)
- Waiting period: 3 days; retroactive from day one if disability reaches 7 days
- Penalty for going without: Fine up to three times the annual premium owed, plus $10 per employee per day
Delaware statutorily deems construction crews employees, so they cannot be 1099'd out of the coverage mandate.
Delaware vs neighboring states
- New Jersey: about $5.64 per $100 of payroll
- Pennsylvania: about $2.71 per $100 of payroll
Delaware has the lowest HVAC comp rate in its region; every neighboring state charges more per $100 of payroll.
If your crews work across the line, list those states under item 3.A or 3.C of your policy before the job starts. Rates follow the state where the work is done, not where your office is.
What moves a HVAC comp bill
- Service techs and install crews usually share one class, so the rate is driven by your claim history: back strains from lifting condensers and falls from ladders and roofs are the typical losses.
- If you also do sheet-metal fabrication or duct work outside buildings, ask how your bureau classifies it. Some of that work rates differently from installation and service.
- Dispatchers, office staff, and outside salespeople can be rated as clerical or sales when their duties keep them out of the field. Keep their timesheets separate.
- Company vehicles put a lot of miles on service crews. A driving policy and clean MVRs help on the auto side and with comp, because vehicle accidents on the job are comp claims.