Workers' Comp for Impact Window & Door Installers in Florida

Last reviewed: November 2026, by Cheap Workers Comp Florida, licensed Florida agency DFS #L077476

Who Needs Workers' Comp in Florida's Window and Door Trade

Florida's building code and hurricane exposure have made impact windows, impact sliding glass doors and hurricane-rated entry doors one of the busiest trades in the state. The work is physically demanding. A single large impact slider or a multi-panel window unit can be very heavy, and crews often carry them up stairs, onto second-floor openings, or across a finished interior. Installers tear out old units with pry bars and reciprocating saws, anchor new frames into block or wood with powder-actuated and impact tools, and work on ladders and scaffolds around broken glass. Strains, lacerations, falls and dropped-unit injuries are the claims that drive this class.

If you replace windows and doors on homes, install storefronts and commercial entrances, set glass and mirrors, or do retrofit work after a storm, you need workers' comp for your employees. That includes the owner-operator with one helper, the dealer-installer with several crews, and the glass shop that sends techs to job sites. It also includes the seasonal labor you add when demand spikes before and after a hurricane.

Florida's Coverage Rule for Construction Employers

Under Florida Statutes Chapter 440, a business outside construction generally must carry workers' comp once it has four or more employees. Construction employers must carry it from the first employee, whether that worker is full time, part time or a relative. Window, door and glazing installation is construction work, so the one-employee rule applies.

For owners, Chapter 440 allows up to three corporate officers of a construction corporation or LLC, each owning at least 10% of the company, to elect an exemption from coverage for themselves. The exemption is filed with the Division of Workers' Compensation, it is good for two years, and it covers only the named officer. Employees on your jobs still need a policy. The enforcement rules are in Florida Administrative Code chapter 69L. Read our Florida exemption guide before you file.

Class Codes for Window, Door and Glass Contractors (2026 Rates)

The rates below are pulled live from our Florida rate table. They are the 2026 filed rates per $100 of payroll, before the experience mod and other pricing adjustments.

The main code for this trade is code 5102, which covers installing metal doors, door frames and pre-glazed metal or metal-covered windows, including impact windows and sliding glass door units. When the glass arrives already set in the frame and your crew installs the whole unit, 5102 is normally the right code.

code 5462 is the glazier code. It applies when your people cut, set and replace glass at the customer's location: storefront glazing, glass replacement in existing frames, mirrors and frameless shower doors. Many Florida companies do both kinds of work. A business can split payroll between 5102 and 5462 only when its payroll records show how much each employee earned in each type of work. Without that, an auditor can assign the payroll to the higher-rated code.

Replacing wood windows and doors on houses, or reframing rough openings, can fall under residential carpentry code 5645 at $7.69, a different rate, so describe your work accurately when you apply. Office staff can go under code 8810, and salespeople who only measure and sell under code 8742. Browse the full Florida code list for anything else.

Cost Example: An Impact Window Dealer-Installer

Consider a company with four install crews and a small glass department. Field installers earn $320,000 a year on code 5102, and two glaziers earn $90,000 on code 5462. Premium is payroll divided by 100, times the rate, times the experience mod.

That last line is why the payroll split matters: clean records are what let you pay each code's rate on the right wages. These figures use filed rates only. Your actual price depends on the program and your history, so run the instant quote tool for your own number.

What Drives the Price

• Experience mod. Once your company qualifies for experience rating, your claims over the past few years produce a mod that raises or lowers premium. A heavy-lift injury can affect your price for years. See what an experience mod is.
• Payroll accuracy. Storm seasons make payroll hard to predict. On a traditional policy, an estimate that runs low turns into an audit bill. Splitting 5102 and 5462 also depends on records an auditor will accept.
• Minimum premium. Standard policies have a minimum premium, so a small installer with one or two employees can pay more than payroll times rate would suggest.
• Subcontractor certificates. Window dealers often use independent install crews. Under Florida law, an uninsured sub's workers become your responsibility. Our subcontractor certificate guide covers what to collect.

Stop-Work Order Risk

The Division of Workers' Compensation runs compliance checks on construction sites, and window and door crews working out of a branded truck in a subdivision are visible. If an investigator finds an employer without required coverage, the Division can issue a stop-work order that shuts down the business operations until the employer gets coverage and pays the penalty or enters a payment agreement. The penalty is tied to the premium the employer should have paid during the period of noncompliance, looking back up to two years, with a minimum amount even for short gaps. Read more in our stop-work order guide.

After a storm, when everyone is hiring fast, it is easy to put a new helper on a job before the paperwork catches up. Make coverage part of onboarding, keep officer exemptions current, and do not let a sub's crew start without a certificate.

How Buying Through a PEO Works

We place window and door contractors through a Professional Employer Organization. The PEO becomes co-employer of your workers for payroll and workers' comp, and your crews are covered under its master policy. You keep control of your jobs, hiring and pay rates. Every payroll, the PEO calculates workers' comp on that period's actual wages and collects it with payroll taxes.

• Pay-as-you-go. Premium rises and falls with real payroll, which suits a business whose crew size changes with storm demand.
• No big down payment. No large deposit at the start of the policy.
• No year-end audit surprise. Premium is figured on actual wages as you go, so there is no year-end bill for underestimated payroll.
• Certificates for GCs and builders. Proof of coverage is available when a general contractor or property manager asks for it.

Coverage is subject to underwriting approval, and the PEO charges an administrative fee for its services, so compare total cost. Our PEO vs standard policy page explains the differences.

Window and Door Installer Workers' Comp FAQ

Related Resources

• FL code 5102 - Door, Door Frame or Pre-Glazed Window Installation: Metal
• FL code 5462 - Glazier: Away from Shop & Drivers
• FL code 5645 - Carpentry: Detached One or Two Family Dwellings
• FL code 8810 - Clerical Employees
• FL code 8742 - Outside Sales Personnel - Collectors or Messengers
• Workers' comp for general contractors in Florida
• Workers' comp for roofers in Florida
• Workers' comp for framers in Florida
• Florida stop-work orders
• Florida workers' comp exemptions
• Subcontractor certificates
• What is an experience mod?
• Florida workers' comp code list