New Jersey HVAC Workers Comp Rates (2026)
The published New Jersey rate for HVAC workers comp, class 3724 (HVAC Installation, Service or Repair & Drivers - Commercial & Residential), is $5.64 per $100 of payroll (effective January 1, 2026). Your experience modifier and any carrier discounts adjust it.
This is the published manual rate, so it already includes carrier expenses. Source.
New Jersey class codes for HVAC
- 3724: HVAC Installation, Service or Repair & Drivers - Commercial & Residential
- 5538: Heating or Air Conditioning Duct Work - Shop and Outside & Drivers
New Jersey is an independent bureau state that uses NCCI-style 4-digit codes but with its own phraseologies and several state-specific assignments, e.g. HVAC under 3724, concrete flatwork under 5200, and no 5537, 5478 or 5221.
HVAC technicians work in attics and on roofs and handle electrical circuits and refrigerants.
What comp costs per hvac technician in New Jersey
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 10,330 heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers on payrolls in New Jersey (May 2025), the 12th largest workforce among the 50 states and DC. The median wage is $35.79 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 New Jersey jobs as they do nationally (location quotient 0.92).
At the published New Jersey rate of $5.64 per $100 of payroll for class 3724, comp on one worker at that wage costs about $2.02 for every hour worked, or $4,199 a year full time. A 2-person crew comes to roughly $8,397 a year in premium before any experience mod.
Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. New Jersey pay runs from $23.09 an hour at the 10th percentile to $56.03 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $1.30 an hour on a new hire and $3.16 on a senior hand.
Workers comp requirements in New Jersey
- Coverage required: 1 employee
- Owners and sole proprietors: Automatically excluded on a policy; may elect coverage via a Notice of Election
- State fund: Private market (no state fund)
- Waiting period: 7 days; retroactive to day one if disability extends beyond 7 days
- Penalty for going without: Up to $5,000 per 10-day period; knowing failure is a fourth-degree crime (up to $10,000 and 18 months)
New Jersey sets rates through its own independent bureau (NJCRIB) rather than NCCI, and caps temporary disability at 400 weeks.
New Jersey vs neighboring states
- Delaware: about $2.39 per $100 of payroll
- New York: about $4.67 per $100 of payroll
- Pennsylvania: about $2.71 per $100 of payroll
New Jersey has the highest HVAC comp rate in its region; every neighboring state charges less 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.