Pennsylvania HVAC Workers Comp Rates (2026)
The published Pennsylvania loss cost for HVAC workers comp, class 0664 (Heating, Ventilating or Air Conditioning Contractor), is $1.808 per $100 of payroll (effective April 1, 2026). Carriers multiply it by their own filed multiplier, so a typical premium is about $2.71.
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.
Pennsylvania class code for HVAC
- 0664: Heating, Ventilating or Air Conditioning Contractor
Pennsylvania uses its own independent classification system of about 330 classes with PCRB code numbers (written as 3-digit codes or with a leading zero, e.g. 659 or 0659) that do not map one-to-one to NCCI codes.
HVAC technicians work in attics and on roofs and handle electrical circuits and refrigerants.
What comp costs per hvac technician in Pennsylvania
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 15,880 heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers on payrolls in Pennsylvania (May 2025), the 5th largest workforce among the 50 states and DC. The median wage is $30.00 an hour, 2% above the US median of $29.33.
Heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers make up about the same share of Pennsylvania jobs as they do nationally (location quotient 0.99).
At a typical Pennsylvania premium of about $2.71 per $100 of payroll (the published loss cost of $1.81 for class 0664 times a 1.5 carrier multiplier), comp on one worker at that wage costs about $0.81 for every hour worked, or $1,691 a year full time. A 2-person crew comes to roughly $3,382 a year in premium before any experience mod.
Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. Pennsylvania pay runs from $22.10 an hour at the 10th percentile to $43.00 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $0.60 an hour on a new hire and $1.17 on a senior hand.
Workers comp requirements in Pennsylvania
- Coverage required: 1 employee
- Owners and sole proprietors: A sole proprietor with no employees is exempt; required once any employee is hired
- State fund: Competitive state fund (State Workers' Insurance Fund, SWIF)
- Waiting period: 7 days; retroactive to day one if disability lasts more than 14 days
- Penalty for going without: Failure to insure is a misdemeanor per day (up to $2,500); intentional failure is a felony (up to $15,000)
Pennsylvania sets rates through the independent PCRB (not NCCI) and runs its own competitive state fund, SWIF.
Pennsylvania vs neighboring states
- Delaware: about $2.39 per $100 of payroll
- New Jersey: about $5.64 per $100 of payroll
- New York: about $4.67 per $100 of payroll
- Ohio: about $2.15 per $100 of payroll
- West Virginia: about $1.41 per $100 of payroll
Among its neighbors, West Virginia is the cheapest for HVAC comp at $1.41 and New Jersey the most expensive at $5.64 per $100 of payroll.
Working across the line into Ohio needs separate coverage from that state's fund. A private policy's other-states coverage (item 3.C) does not reach monopolistic states.
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.