Maine Plumbing Workers Comp Rates (2026)
Maine does not publish its plumbing class figures online. Across the 26 states that do, the median typical premium is about $2.25 per $100 of payroll. Ask a carrier or the state's rating bureau for the current Maine figure.
No official Maine figure is available online, so the numbers below use the US median of the states that publish one.
Maine class code for plumbing
- 5183: Plumbing NOC & Drivers
- 5188 (Sprinkler Installation & Drivers)
Plumbing work involves back strain, cuts, burns from soldering and hot water, and work in crawl spaces and other confined spaces.
What comp costs per plumber in Maine
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 2,710 plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters on payrolls in Maine (May 2025), the 39th largest workforce among the 50 states and DC. The median wage is $30.77 an hour, in line with the US median of $30.67.
This trade is a bigger part of the Maine job market than it is nationally: plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters hold 1.4 times their national share of jobs there.
At the US median of $2.25 per $100 of payroll (Maine does not publish its figure online), comp on one worker at that wage costs about $0.69 for every hour worked, or $1,440 a year full time. A 2-person crew comes to roughly $2,880 a year in premium before any experience mod.
Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. Maine pay runs from $23.13 an hour at the 10th percentile to $38.83 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $0.52 an hour on a new hire and $0.87 on a senior hand.
Workers comp requirements in Maine
- Coverage required: 1 employee
- Owners and sole proprietors: Owners of 20%+ may waive in writing; LLC members opt out without a written waiver
- State fund: Private market; MEMIC (employer-owned mutual) is the residual carrier
- Waiting period: 7 days; retroactive if incapacity exceeds 14 days
- Penalty for going without: Knowing failure is a Class D crime; civil penalty up to $10,000 or 108% of the avoided premium
Maine's entire residual market runs through one employer-owned mutual, MEMIC, created after the state's early-1990s coverage crisis.
What moves a plumbing comp bill
- Plumbing rates sit in the middle of the construction classes; the swing comes from your experience mod. Trench and excavation injuries are the costly claims, so trench-safety training pays back quickly.
- Some states split residential and commercial plumbing into different classes. If you do both, make sure the payroll for each is recorded so the cheaper work is not rated at the higher class.
- Apprentices carry the same class rate as journeymen, but their lower wages mean less premium per hour. Your payroll mix matters as much as the rate.
- Uninsured subs (excavators, drywall patchers) get added to your payroll at audit unless you collect certificates before they start.