Workers' compensation pays medical treatment, wage replacement and death benefits for job-related injuries, and in most states it is the injured employee's exclusive remedy against the employer. Two things make it harder than it looks for roofers: the requirement to carry it is set by state law and varies by state, employer size and industry — it does not universally start at your first hire — and your policy does not cover a subcontractor's employees, even though an uninsured sub's payroll can be charged to you at audit.
Coverage, exclusions and limits vary by carrier and policy form, so use this as a framework for reviewing your own workers' compensation program.
What the Policy Actually Pays
A standard workers' compensation and employers liability policy has two parts.
Part One — workers' compensation pays statutory benefits under the compensation act of each state listed on the policy. There is no dollar limit, because the benefits are whatever state law says: medical treatment subject to the state's fee schedule and treatment rules; indemnity for temporary or permanent disability under the state's formula and caps; vocational rehabilitation where the state provides it; and death benefits to dependents.
Part Two — employers liability is the part with actual limits, and the part most contractors never read. It responds to injury claims falling outside the compensation act — third-party-over actions, for example, where an injured worker sues a general contractor or owner who then brings your firm back into the case. When contracts specify employers liability limits, this is what they mean.
What it does not do
- It does not cover your subcontractors' employees. This is where roofers lose the most money — see below.
- It does not automatically cover owners. In Missouri, sole proprietors and partners are not covered unless they individually elect coverage, per the state's construction industry guide. Corporations and LLCs are different: everyone who works for the entity is considered its employee even if they are an owner or executive officer, with narrow election-out procedures.
- It does not cover property damage or faulty workmanship — that is general liability, builder's risk and installation floater territory. See our contractors insurance guide.
- It does not cover genuinely independent contractors — but that is decided by the state under its own test, not by the fact that you issued a 1099.
Who Has to Carry It: Three States, Three Answers
"You need workers' comp as soon as you hire someone" is the advice that does the most damage. The trigger is statutory and it is not the same anywhere.
| State | Rule for private employers |
|---|---|
| Missouri | Five or more employees generally. One or more in the construction industry — applied to employers "who erect, demolish, alter or repair improvements." See the DWC employer page and the construction industry guide. |
| Kansas | K.S.A. 44-505 exempts an employer whose total gross annual payroll for the preceding calendar year was not more than $20,000 for all employees, with agricultural pursuits separately excepted. It is a payroll test, not a headcount test. |
| Texas | Elective for most private employers. Non-subscribers must report their status to the state, and must report work-related injuries involving more than one day of lost time, plus all occupational illnesses and deaths. |
Two Missouri details matter if you work there. The state's guide notes it is a criminal offense to operate without the required insurance, and that doing so may also expose the employer to civil liability. And since 1993, any city or county issuing a business license to a construction-industry contractor must obtain proof of coverage or a completed affidavit of exemption — so the permit step often surfaces a problem before a claim does.
If you cross state lines, those states must be listed on the policy. A single-state policy on a crew chasing storm work is a gap waiting to happen.
The Subcontractor Problem
Your policy covers your employees. If a sub is uninsured, the exposure comes back to you two ways.
Statutory employer liability. Missouri's RSMo 287.040 provides that a person having work done under contract on or about their premises that is an operation of their usual business "shall be deemed an employer and shall be liable under this chapter," with the immediate employer primarily liable and others secondarily liable in order. The Division of Workers' Compensation puts it plainly in its contractor FAQ: where a sub is uninsured, "the general contractor may become liable for injuries that the subcontractor may sustain while working on that job." Most states have some version of this; details differ.
Premium at audit. Workers' comp is an estimated-premium product trued up afterward. A premium audit reviews the exposure basis — for comp, payroll — to set the final premium. If you cannot produce a certificate, that sub's payments generally become your payroll. Missouri's construction guide is explicit: the general contractor's insurer "will charge an additional premium if the subcontractor cannot provide proof of coverage, even if the subcontractor has no employees."
That last clause surprises people. A one-man crew legitimately exempt from carrying coverage is still uninsured from your auditor's point of view. Missouri's DWC confirms a general contractor may require subs to carry coverage as a condition of hiring — but you decide that before he is on your roof, not after.
The controls that work: collect a current certificate from every sub before work starts; confirm the dates cover the entire time the sub is on site and diary the expiration; confirm the certificate shows workers' compensation, not just general liability; and file certificates by job and by sub for the auditor, because missing paperwork is the same as missing coverage at audit. In Missouri you can verify a contractor's coverage by phone through the DWC line listed in the construction industry guide.
What Underwriters Actually Evaluate
Roofing is a hard class. Underwriters work a specific list, and knowing it lets you control the parts you can.
| What they look at | Why it moves the needle |
|---|---|
| Height and pitch of typical work | Fall exposure drives severity; steep-slope residential, low-slope commercial and multi-story price differently |
| New construction vs. tear-off/re-roof | Tear-off changes the hazard profile — debris, unstable decking, holes |
| Fall protection program | Written program, equipment inventory, anchor points, training records, documented enforcement |
| Experience modification | The underwriter's shorthand for how you actually run jobs |
| Loss runs and OSHA citation history | Frequency patterns matter more than one large claim; 1926.501, 1926.503, ladders and scaffolding draw the most attention |
| Crew size, turnover, tenure | Short-tenure workers are a recognized loss driver |
| Subcontractor use and COI discipline | A direct underwriting and audit problem |
| Payroll by class code | Misclassified payroll surfaces at audit as a large surprise |
| Return-to-work / light duty | A documented program shortens indemnity duration |
The experience modification, in plain terms
The mod is the most influential number on a roofing submission after the loss runs. Per NCCI's ABCs of Experience Rating, experience rating works by "comparing the experience of individual employers with the average employer in the same classification," producing a mod that "may result in an increase, decrease, or no change in premium." Four points contractors routinely get wrong:
- It uses roughly three prior years, not the current one. NCCI describes the experience period as generally three years of payroll and loss data, drawn from policies effective no less than 21 months and no more than 57 months before the rating effective date — so your current policy is not in the calculation. Improvements show up two policy periods from now.
- 1.00 is neutral. Below 1.00 is a credit; above is a debit. You also receive a unity (1.00) factor if you do not meet eligibility or data requirements, or are a new business.
- Frequency hurts more than severity. NCCI states the Plan "gives greater weight to accident frequency than to accident severity," illustrating that between two similar employers with the same total losses, the one with ten small claims is expected to cost more going forward than the one with a single large claim. A state accident limitation caps how much any single loss contributes.
- Experience rating is mandatory when you qualify. It is not opt-in; eligibility is a premium threshold set state by state.
The takeaway: reporting claims promptly, managing medical, and running light duty does more for your mod than shopping the market does.
Where the Claims Come From
- Falls. OSHA states that falls are the leading cause of death in construction, citing 2024 data showing 389 fatal falls out of 1,034 construction fatalities. Fall protection, general requirements (29 CFR 1926.501) has also been OSHA's most frequently cited standard, with ladders (1926.1053), scaffolding (1926.451) and fall protection training (1926.503) also in the FY 2025 top ten.
- Cuts, punctures and struck-by injuries from tools, fasteners, flashing and torn-off material; musculoskeletal injuries from carrying bundles and working on a pitch; and heat illness on dark, unshaded surfaces.
What OSHA requires at height
Under 29 CFR 1926.501, the general construction trigger is 6 feet above a lower level:
- (b)(1) unprotected sides and edges at 6 feet or more require guardrails, safety nets or personal fall arrest; (b)(4) holes require covers, guardrails or personal fall arrest.
- (b)(10) low-slope roofing at 6 feet or more requires guardrails, nets, personal fall arrest, or specified combinations with a warning line system; a safety monitoring system alone is permitted on roofs 50 feet or less in width.
- (b)(11) steep roofs at 6 feet or more require guardrails with toeboards, nets or personal fall arrest.
- (b)(13) residential construction at 6 feet or more requires guardrails, nets or personal fall arrest, unless the employer demonstrates infeasibility and implements a fall protection plan.
On residential work, OSHA's directive STD 03-11-002 rescinded the earlier interim compliance guidelines and directs enforcement of 1926.501(b)(13) for all residential construction. "Alternative procedures because it's residential" is not a defense. Citations carry real money: OSHA's penalty schedule provides that, after January 15, 2026, maximums are $16,550 per serious or other-than-serious violation, $16,550 per day for failure to abate, and $165,514 per willful or repeated violation.
Heat. There is no federal heat standard; OSHA enforces heat hazards through the General Duty Clause, requiring a workplace "free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm," and notes Washington, Minnesota, California, Oregon and Colorado have their own rules. Its guidance centers on water, rest and shade, plus acclimatization for workers new to warm environments. A one-page written heat plan is cheap, and underwriters notice it.
An Illustrative Scenario
Hypothetical, for illustration only. Not an actual claim, and not a prediction of how any specific policy would respond.
A Missouri roofing contractor carries comp on four W-2 employees. During a busy season the owner brings on a two-man crew as subcontract labor, pays them by check, and collects no certificate because "they're 1099."
One of them falls from a residential roof. Because the work is an operation of the contractor's usual business and the crew is uninsured, the contractor is exposed as a statutory employer under RSMo 287.040. Separately, at audit, payments to that crew are treated as the contractor's payroll and charged as additional premium. And the loss now enters the experience period, pressuring the mod for years.
Three documents would have changed all three outcomes: a certificate collected before the crew started, a written subcontractor agreement requiring coverage, and job-level records the auditor could follow.
Common Mistakes
- Assuming a 1099 solves the problem. Classification is decided by state law and the facts, not the tax form.
- Collecting certificates at the end of the job, when you have no leverage and no coverage for the period that mattered — or letting one lapse mid-project without a diary system.
- Carrying a single-state policy while chasing storm work across state lines.
- Understating payroll at inception to lower the deposit, then absorbing a large audit bill.
- Not reporting claims immediately. Delay drives medical cost, litigation and indemnity duration — all of which feed the mod.
- Skipping light duty, one of the few levers that shortens a claim after it happens.
- Treating employers liability limits as boilerplate when your contracts specify them.
Questions to Ask Your Agent
- Which states are listed on my policy, and what happens if we take a job outside them?
- Are my owners and officers covered, excluded, or elected in — and is that what I intended?
- What are my Part Two employers liability limits, and do they satisfy my contracts?
- What is my current mod, which years are in the experience period, and which claims drive it?
- How does the carrier treat uninsured subs at audit, and what documentation will they accept?
- Are my class codes and payroll split correctly, and where is my audit exposure?
- How does comp coordinate with my general liability, umbrella and auto on a serious loss?
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need workers' comp if I only have one employee? It depends on the state. Missouri construction employers who erect, demolish, alter or repair improvements need coverage at one or more employees. Kansas uses a $20,000 gross annual payroll test under K.S.A. 44-505. Texas is elective for most private employers.
Does my policy cover my subcontractors' employees? No. If the sub is uninsured, you may face statutory employer liability and the sub's payroll can be charged to you at audit — in Missouri, even if the sub has no employees.
Are owners covered? Not automatically. Missouri sole proprietors and partners must individually elect; corporations and LLCs generally treat working owners as employees, with limited election-out procedures.
Is the commute to a job site covered? The ordinary commute is generally not covered under the going-and-coming rule, while travel between job sites during the workday, or travel by an employee with no fixed worksite, is often covered. It is state- and fact-specific.
How long does a claim affect my premium? Under NCCI's plan the experience period is generally about three years of prior policy data, and the current policy is not in the calculation — so a claim typically influences the mod for several years, and improvements take time to appear.
Are repetitive strain injuries and heat illness compensable? Whether they are — and under what notice and causation standards — is set by each state's workers' compensation statute. Confirm the rules where your crews actually work.
Get a Roofing Program Reviewed
BluePeak Digital Insurance is founder-led by a former high-level commercial underwriter, so we review a roofing account the way the carrier does: class codes, payroll splits, the mod and what drives it, subcontractor controls, and whether your employers liability limits match your contracts.
See how we work with roofing and trade contractors, general contractors and construction businesses, or start with our contractors insurance guide and how to choose the right coverage. When you are ready, request a quote and we will tell you where your program is thin before your auditor does.
This article is general information, not legal or insurance advice. Coverage, exclusions and limits vary by carrier and policy form. Workers' compensation requirements and benefits are set by state law. Review your own policy and applicable state law with a licensed advisor.