North Carolina Roofing Workers Comp Rates (2026)
The published North Carolina loss cost for roofing workers comp, class 5551 (Roofing - All Kinds and Drivers), is $6.836 per $100 of payroll (effective April 1, 2026). Carriers multiply it by their own filed multiplier, so a typical premium is about $10.25.
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.
North Carolina class code for roofing
- 5551: Roofing - All Kinds & Drivers
Falls are the main hazard in roofing. In 2023 roofing contractors accounted for 110 fatal falls, 26 percent of all fatal falls in construction (BLS).
What comp costs per roofer in North Carolina
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 3,060 roofers on payrolls in North Carolina (May 2025), the 13th largest workforce among the 50 states and DC. The median wage is $23.56 an hour, 12% below the US median of $26.65.
This trade is a smaller part of the North Carolina job market than it is nationally: roofers hold 0.71 times their national share of jobs there.
At a typical North Carolina premium of about $10.25 per $100 of payroll (the published loss cost of $6.84 for class 5551 times a 1.5 carrier multiplier), comp on one worker at that wage costs about $2.41 for every hour worked, or $5,023 a year full time. A 4-person crew comes to roughly $20,092 a year in premium before any experience mod.
Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. North Carolina pay runs from $17.67 an hour at the 10th percentile to $29.14 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $1.81 an hour on a new hire and $2.99 on a senior hand.
Workers comp requirements in North Carolina
- Coverage required: 3+ employees (including construction); 1 if any work involves radiation
- Owners and sole proprietors: Owners, partners, and LLC members not auto-counted as employees; may elect in
- State fund: Private market (NC Rate Bureau residual plan)
- Waiting period: 7 days; retroactive to day one if disability extends beyond 21 days
- Penalty for going without: $1-$100 per employee per day; first offense a misdemeanor, repeats a felony
North Carolina keeps its three-employee threshold even for construction and sets rates through the independent NC Rate Bureau.
North Carolina vs neighboring states
- Georgia: about $17.31 per $100 of payroll
North Carolina has the lowest roofing 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 roofing comp bill
- Falls drive roofing claims, and one serious fall can push your experience mod well above 1.0 for three policy years. A written fall-protection plan and documented toolbox talks are what carriers ask to see before they offer a safety credit.
- Uninsured subcontractors are the most common audit surprise in roofing. If a sub cannot show you a certificate of insurance, the auditor adds what you paid them to your own payroll at the roofing rate.
- Estimators and salespeople who never go on a roof can often be classed separately at a far lower rate, but only if your payroll records show their hours apart from field work.
- Overtime premium (the extra half in time and a half) is excluded from comp payroll in most states. Record it separately so you are not charged the roofing rate on it.