North Dakota HVAC Workers Comp Rates (2026)
North Dakota employers buy HVAC workers comp from the state fund. The 2026 base rate for class 5183 (Plumbing - Heating - Sheet Metal) is $2.00 per $100 of payroll, before your experience modifier.
The state fund sets one base rate per class; your experience modifier moves it up or down. Source.
North Dakota class code for HVAC
- 5183: Plumbing - Heating - Sheet Metal
Monopolistic state fund with its own manual of about 140 rate classes; several numbers echo NCCI codes but scopes are broader (for example 5183 covers plumbing, HVAC and sheet metal together, and roofing is 5545 hot process or 5410 cold process).
HVAC technicians work in attics and on roofs and handle electrical circuits and refrigerants.
What comp costs per hvac technician in North Dakota
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 970 heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers on payrolls in North Dakota (May 2025), the 47th largest workforce among the 50 states and DC. The median wage is $35.81 an hour, 22% above the US median of $29.33.
Heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers make up about the same share of North Dakota jobs as they do nationally (location quotient 0.85).
At the North Dakota state fund's 2026 base rate of $2.00 per $100 of payroll for class 5183, comp on one worker at that wage costs about $0.72 for every hour worked, or $1,490 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. North Dakota pay runs from $22.41 an hour at the 10th percentile to $45.22 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $0.45 an hour on a new hire and $0.90 on a senior hand.
Workers comp requirements in North Dakota
- Coverage required: Any employee (coverage in force before work begins)
- Owners and sole proprietors: Not required to cover self; optional personal coverage through WSI
- State fund: Monopolistic; coverage only from Workforce Safety & Insurance (WSI), no private carriers or self-insurance
- Waiting period: 5 days
- Penalty for going without: Up to $10,000 plus $100 per day, cease-and-desist orders, and liability for claim costs during the lapse
North Dakota is one of only four monopolistic states, and it allows neither private carriers nor self-insurance, only WSI.
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.