North Dakota Roofing Workers Comp Rates (2026)
North Dakota employers buy roofing workers comp from the state fund. The 2026 base rate for class 5410 (Building Construction) is $3.39 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 codes for roofing
- 5545: Roofing - Hot Tar Method and Sandblasting
- 5410: Building Construction
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).
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 Dakota
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 290 roofers on payrolls in North Dakota (May 2025), the 47th largest workforce among the 50 states and DC. The median wage is $28.72 an hour, 8% above the US median of $26.65.
Roofers make up about the same share of North Dakota jobs as they do nationally (location quotient 0.78).
At the North Dakota state fund's 2026 base rate of $3.39 per $100 of payroll for class 5410, comp on one worker at that wage costs about $0.97 for every hour worked, or $2,025 a year full time. A 4-person crew comes to roughly $8,100 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 $22.14 an hour at the 10th percentile to $42.00 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $0.75 an hour on a new hire and $1.42 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 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.