California requires C-8 concrete contractors to carry workers comp even with no employees, a rule the CSLB applies to only a handful of license classes. Payroll is reported under published titles that include a wage-split pair for flatwork and slabs on the ground, 5201 below $36.00 an hour and 5205 at or above it, plus 5213 for concrete construction the other titles don't describe.
Concrete contractors are licensed under C-8 Concrete, and the CSLB requires a C-8 license to keep workers comp on file even when the company has nobody on payroll. The classes under that rule are C-8, C-20, C-22, C-39 and C-61/D-49. Most trades can still file a no-employee exemption until January 1, 2028; a C-8 licensee can't, so that date changes little for a concrete company. The California contractor workers comp rules page lists the other classes in the same position.
| Rule | What It Means for a Concrete Company | Source |
|---|---|---|
| C-8 with no employees | A workers comp certificate stays on file with the CSLB even when nobody is on payroll. | CSLB |
| Employees | Every finisher, laborer and form setter on payroll needs to be on the policy. | CSLB |
| False exemption or uncovered workers | Under SB 291, the floor is $10,000 for each violation by a license held in one owner's name and $20,000 when the licensee is a business entity. | Business and Professions Code 7125.4 |
| Unlicensed finishers | An unlicensed finisher you bring onto a C-8 job is presumed to be your employee, not a sub. | Labor Code 2750.5 |
| Corporate officers | Officers or directors holding 10% or more of the shares may waive; the waiver starts when the insurer accepts it. | Department of Insurance notice |
Because a C-8 license has to keep a certificate in place, ask the carrier how an officer waiver fits your policy before signing one. Crews that also work across the state line answer to different rules, set out in Arizona concrete flatwork workers comp and Nevada concrete flatwork workers comp.
The panel lists three published classifications. 5201 and 5205 are a wage-split pair divided at $36.00 an hour for policies from September 1, 2026, and each has two numbered parts: part (1) for flatwork such as sidewalks, driveways, patios, curbs and gutters, and part (2) for slabs poured on the ground and slab-type foundations. Building and stripping forms are part of both. 5213 is the catch-all title for concrete construction not described elsewhere, with no wage threshold in its wording. Each wage-split pair, concrete included, is set out in California workers comp class codes.
$36.00 an hour is the line between these published classifications
Published classifications that mention this work
Which title fits a pour depends on the work, each person's straight-time rate and the carrier's ruling; this site doesn't pick or confirm codes. Block and brick walls have their own published titles, explained on California masonry workers comp insurance. Pool plastering is one of the tasks that wording reaches; California pool builder workers compensation sets out the rest of a pool job.
Illustrative scenario
A two-owner concrete company with a C-8 pours driveways and patios most of the year and slab foundations for a tract builder each spring. Its two finishers earn more than $36.00 an hour and its four laborers less. With hourly records by person and job, the finishers' payroll would typically be reported in the higher-wage concrete title and the laborers' in the lower one, under the numbered part that matches flatwork or slab work, as the carrier determines. In January, with no one on payroll, the C-8 still keeps its certificate on file. Move the company to Arizona or Nevada and neither the wage line nor the C-8 rule applies.
Canceling the Policy in a Slow Stretch
Concrete owners sometimes cancel workers comp when work dries up and nobody is on payroll. For most trades a no-employee exemption fills that gap today, but a C-8 license must keep a certificate on file even with no employees. Talk to the carrier about a policy that fits slow months before canceling.
Workers comp is meant for injuries to your crew. A cracked driveway claim, a slab poured out of level, damage to a neighbor's fence or a crash in a mixer or pickup usually belongs to general liability, commercial auto or the contractor's bond. Compare Arizona and Nevada on the concrete workers comp insurance page, and see California asphalt paving workers comp for the crews who pave next to your curbs.
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Concrete is one of the few license classes the CSLB doesn't exempt when payroll is empty: a C-8 has to keep workers comp on file with or without employees. A C-8 licensee can't use the no-employee exemption other trades file, so a certificate needs to stay on file with the board.
They are the two halves of one wage-split pair. For policies from September 1, 2026, 5201 takes payroll for people paid under $36.00 an hour and 5205 for people paid at or above it, each with parts for flatwork and for slabs on the ground. The carrier determines which applies to each worker.
5213 is the published catch-all for concrete construction that the flatwork and slab titles don't describe, and some structural work may fall under other titles not on this panel. Share pour types, wall heights and the forming system when you ask for a quote, and the carrier decides.
The published flatwork and slab titles include making and stripping forms, so form setters on those jobs are typically reported with the concrete crew, on the side of the wage line their regular hourly rate puts them. The carrier makes the final call.
Very little. The exemption scheduled to end on January 1, 2028 is one C-8 licensees already can't use, because the CSLB requires concrete contractors to carry coverage with or without employees. The change matters more for the trades you work beside.
If the pump company carries its own workers comp and gives you a certificate, its operators typically stay out of your payroll. If it doesn't, the auditor may add what you paid. Collect the certificate before the pour.
8 official sources
Reviewed by David Gleason, Principal, on .
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California concrete workers comp, from the C-8 rule to the wage split.
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