Tenant improvement contractor workers comp often turns on interior subs as much as on the GC's own payroll, because much of a build-out goes to them and their certificates are checked at audit. In California, who frames a metal stud wall changes the published classification that mentions it, and the premium portion of overtime on after-hours shifts is left out of the hourly wage used for the dual-wage splits.
An office, retail or medical suite build-out happens inside a finished shell, often against a lease start date, and pulls in a long list of interior trades: studs and board, ceilings, electrical, sprinklers, cabling, ductwork and flooring. The GC's own payroll may be a superintendent, a few carpenters and a cleanup laborer, while most of the contract value goes to subs. Payments to a sub that can't show coverage for its working dates may be added to your payroll, so the sub file often matters more than your timecards. The workers comp for general contractors page covers that charge by state.
When the whole build-out is subcontracted. On a suite where licensed subs perform every operation, California's published classification 5610 reaches your whole crew there except executive level supervisors, and it names job site cleaning, debris removal and post-completion warranty repair. Whether your project managers also qualify as executive supervisors turns on the two-level test explained on the new construction GC workers comp page.
| Rule | California | Arizona | Nevada |
|---|---|---|---|
| GC license class | B General Building | B-1 General Commercial Contractor or B-2 General Small Commercial Contractor | B General Building or B-2 Residential and Small Commercial |
| Subs who may count as yours | Unlicensed people doing licensed work are presumed employees (Labor Code 2750.5) | A sub's crew, where you control work in your trade (Arizona Revised Statutes 23-902) | Subs and their workers, as employees of the principal contractor |
| Proof and audit | The CSLB Check a License page shows a sub's policy dates or exemption | Written audit findings come before premium on those workers (Arizona Revised Statutes 23-961) | The insurer can certify whether each sub is insured (Nevada Revised Statutes 616B.645) |
| Payroll counted | Overtime premium is left out only when recorded separately | Classified under NCCI; California codes do not carry over | Up to $98,433.60 per employee on policies effective through December 31, 2026, then $102,452.16 |
Nevada's version, industrial insurance, applies a per-employee payroll limit that can matter on a long build-out with well-paid finish crews. For the rest, Arizona's approach is under Arizona statutory employer rule and Nevada's under Nevada industrial insurance for contractors.
The panel below covers the GC's own supervisor, fully subcontracted and carpentry lines; interior trades carry their own published wording.
$46.00 an hour is the line between these published classifications
Published classifications that mention this work
Published classifications that mention interior build-out work include wallboard 5446/5447, lathing 5443 and light gauge steel framing 5632/5633; 5020 Ceiling Installation; 5146(1) Cabinet, Fixture or Trim Installation, which names store fixtures and modular office partitions; 5107 door installation and glaziers 5467/5470; electrical wiring 5190/5140, 5195 Communications Cabling and 7605 for fire alarm and life safety systems; automatic sprinkler 5185/5186; heating and air conditioning equipment 5183(3)/5187(3) and ductwork 5538(2)/5542(2); painting 5474(1)/5482(1); and 5348 tile and 9521(2) floor covering. How each worker is placed comes down to the tasks performed and the carrier's determination, and we don't assign classifications. Arizona and Nevada use none of these numbers; the complete WCIRB set is under California workers comp class codes.
Leases and property managers often ask for a certificate of your workers comp before work starts, and some ask for a waiver of subrogation or set wording; requests vary by lease. The guide to the workers comp certificate of insurance explains them. A certificate shows your policy; it does not change how your payroll is classified. Ask subs for the same proof using the sub certificate requirements list. In Nevada, the policy and declarations page must also be available for inspection at each location, temporary worksites included (Nevada Revised Statutes 616A.495).
Illustrative scenario
Illustrative only. A B General Building contractor builds out a second-floor dental suite in an occupied building, and the landlord limits noisy work to nights and weekends. The GC's crew of four tears out the prior tenant's partitions and carpet, frames non-structural metal stud walls and hangs and finishes the board. A ceiling sub installs the t-bar grid, an electrical sub sets the lights in it and a sprinkler sub moves heads. Because the GC hangs the board, its stud framing may fall under wallboard 5446/5447 rather than lathing. Night shifts pay time-and-a-half, and the payroll service shows the overtime premium on its own line, so it stays out of payroll and out of each finisher's wage test. The cabling sub is a licensed owner working alone with an exemption; the GC keeps a CSLB printout dated to the job. Move the suite to Phoenix and the wage test disappears; Arizona would then look at how much control the GC kept over each sub.
Lumping Night-Shift Overtime into Gross Pay
Payroll reports that show one gross figure per person leave the auditor no way to take out the overtime premium. On a TI job run after hours, that premium can be a large share of pay, and without a separate line it may be counted as payroll.
Once the sub ledger and shift payroll are together, get a tenant improvement contractor workers comp quote.
This policy responds to injuries among your own crew and workers treated as your employees. When a tenant's staff member trips through the work area, the lobby below takes water or a move-in date slips, the claim typically goes to general liability or builder's risk coverage, or to a bond.
For work inside homes, see home remodeler workers comp. California GC classes are summarized under California general contractor workers comp, and build-out trades are listed under contractor workers comp by trade.
Send your trade, state and payroll, and a broker reviews the request. If you would rather talk first, leave a number.
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Not when they carry their own coverage for the dates they worked and you hold the certificates. Payments to a sub without coverage may be added to your audited payroll. California presumes an unlicensed worker on licensed tasks to be your employee. Under Arizona's rule, directing work within your trade may make a sub's crew yours, and Nevada's principal contractor rule reaches every sub's workers.
It depends on who frames and what else that firm does there. Non-structural metal studs set by the employer that hangs the wallboard fall within the wallboard wording, 5446/5447. Studs alone by a firm doing no board there appear under 5443 Lathing, and structural light gauge framing is 5632/5633. The carrier makes the determination.
The shift itself doesn't change the classification. In California, the premium portion of overtime is left out of the hourly wage that decides a dual-wage split, and it is left out of payroll when recorded separately. If your payroll reports lump it into gross pay, it may be counted.
The published classification 5610 mentions all of your employees, other than executive level supervisors, on a job where every operation goes to licensed subs. It includes job site cleaning, debris removal and warranty repair. If your crew self-performs any part of that job, the work is placed differently, and the carrier makes the call.
Yes. Cabinet, Fixture or Trim Installation, 5146(1), names store fixtures and modular office partitions, but only for an employer that does no framing at that job. A fixture sub that only installs may be placed there, while your own carpenters who framed the suite report fixture work with carpentry or steel framing.
Whatever the lease or the property manager's insurance exhibit asks for, because requests differ. Some want only proof of a current policy; others ask for a waiver of subrogation or a named certificate holder. Send us the exact wording before the start date, and collect the same proof from your interior subs.
15 official sources
Reviewed by David Gleason, Principal, on .
Next Level Experience. Insurance Done Right.
Tenant improvement contractor workers comp, from metal studs to the landlord's certificate.
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