Washington Flooring Contractor Insurance

Washington is a monopolistic workers’ compensation state: a flooring employer secures coverage for its crew with the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (the state fund) or by qualifying as a self-insurer, and the Department says private workers’ compensation is not an option there. Its contractor law also names the trade outright, counting the installation of carpeting or other floor covering as contractor work, so a flooring business registers with the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries before it bids, with a floor covering specialty on the Department’s list.

Two more findings complete the picture. Lead-safe renovation certification is a state credential here, issued by the Washington State Department of Commerce, Lead-Based Paint Program, and asbestos work sits with the same Department of Labor & Industries that registers contractors, under a rule that mentions vinyl asbestos floor tile by name. For a flooring owner that is an unusual amount of state in one place: one department holds your registration, your crew’s injury coverage and your tear-out rules.

Below, a section per finding gives the verified text, the source’s words and what an owner might do with them. Policy mechanics live elsewhere: start at the flooring contractor insurance page, or go straight to residential flooring, commercial flooring, carpet installation or tile and stone.

Washington’s contractor law reaches carpet and floor covering, so registration comes before the bid

Washington requires every construction contractor to register with the Department of Labor & Industries, and its contractor law names floor covering in the work that makes a business a contractor. A flooring business registers either as a general contractor or as a specialty contractor, and the Department’s specialty list includes a floor covering and counter tops specialty and a separate tile, ceramic, mosaic and stone specialty.

Authority: RCW 18.27.010(1)(a), (5), (12); RCW 18.27.020(1), (2)(a); RCW 18.27.040(1); RCW 18.27.050(1), (2); WAC 296-200A-016(22), (56)

Whether the contractor law reaches a flooring installer is settled in Washington by the definition itself, which ends on the trade:

“"Contractor" includes any person, firm, corporation, or other entity who or which, in the pursuit of an independent business undertakes to, or offers to undertake, or submits a bid to, construct, alter, repair, add to, subtract from, improve, develop, move, wreck, or demolish any building, highway, road, railroad, excavation or other structure, project, development, or improvement attached to real estate or to do any part thereof including the installation of carpeting or other floor covering, …”

From there the duty takes one short sentence:

“Every contractor shall register with the department.”

Registration with the Department comes before a flooring business advertises, bids or works, and registration is conditioned on a continuous contractor surety bond and general liability insurance (or an assigned account in place of the insurance) filed with the Department; if the insurance lapses, the registration is suspended automatically until new coverage is filed. A specialty registration limits the business to its specialty, and it may subcontract only work incidental to that specialty, so a firm that runs jobs across several trades registers as a general contractor. Plumbing or electrical work that comes with a flooring job may need its own state certification or license.

The specialty that most flooring shops will recognize is written broadly, from resilient goods and carpet to wood and laminate, with the surface preparation underneath:

“"Floor covering and counter tops"— A contractor in this specialty installs, repairs or replaces floor covering materials and related accessories including preparation of the surface to be covered. Included are: Linoleum, carpets, carpet backings and pads, and materials manufactured of … wood, vinyl, laminates, rubber and material common to the industry installed for sanitary and decorative purposes for nonstructural bearing interior and exterior use.”

Choosing between a specialty and a general registration matters more than it looks, because a specialty registration narrows what you may hand to someone else:

“"Specialty contractor" means a contractor whose operations do not fall within the definition of "general contractor". A specialty contractor may only subcontract work that is incidental to the specialty contractor's work.”

Insurance enters the registration directly. Liability coverage is a condition of being registered at all, at the levels the statute prints:

“At the time of registration and subsequent reregistration, the applicant shall furnish insurance or financial responsibility in the form of an assigned account in the amount of fifty thousand dollars for injury or damages to property, and one hundred thousand dollars for injury or damage including death to any one person, and two hundred thousand dollars for injury or damage including death to more than one person.”

And the link runs both ways, so a policy that ends without a replacement takes the registration with it:

“An expiration, cancellation, or revocation of the insurance policy or withdrawal of the insurer from the insurance policy automatically suspends the registration issued to the registrant until a new insurance policy or reinstatement notice has been filed and approved as provided in this section.”

For an owner, a few habits follow from those passages:

• Decide which registration fits the jobs you actually run. If your crews routinely bring in another trade under your contract, compare that against the specialty limits before renewal, not after a bid goes out.
• Put your liability renewal date on the same calendar as your registration. A gap between policies is a gap in your right to work.
• When a job includes moving a plumbing fixture or an electrical device, name in the proposal who holds the state credential for that piece.

What the liability policy behind that filing covers, completed work included, is set out on the general liability page. Certificates and additional insured requests from general contractors get their own treatment on the commercial flooring contractor insurance page.

Washington’s Department of Commerce, not EPA, certifies a flooring firm for lead-safe renovation

Washington runs its own lead renovation, repair and painting (RRP) program. State law has the Department of Commerce administer and enforce a state renovation, repair and painting program, its rule bars any firm from performing renovation for compensation in covered housing or child-occupied facilities without the Department’s certification, and the Department issues firm and individual RRP certification itself.

Authority: RCW 70A.420.100; WAC 365-230-290(1)(b)(ii); WAC 365-230-310

EPA’s own firm certification page lists the states that run renovation programs in place of the federal one, and Washington is on it:

“Contractors working in these states: Alabama, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin, or in the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe - Bois Forte (Nette Lake) should follow the link provided for the state or Tribe for more information about their training and certification requirements. These states are authorized to administer their own RRP programs in lieu of the federal program.”

On the state side, the statute places the program with the Washington State Department of Commerce, Lead-Based Paint Program and states the rule for the work itself:

“The state renovation, repair, and painting program requires that all renovation activities on pre-1978 residential or child-occupied facilities must be performed by certified renovation firms utilizing certified renovators or individuals trained by certified renovators and that renovation activities are directed by certified renovators.”

Disturbing painted baseboards, trim, thresholds or door casings in covered housing or a child-occupied facility requires a firm RRP certification from the Department of Commerce, and the work is directed by a certified renovator; a renovator certified by EPA or another state registers that certification with the Department. The building-age threshold appears in the quotes below as printed. The same Department certifies lead abatement separately.

Two lines from the rule do most of the work for a flooring crew. The first says who may take paid renovation work at all; the second says what counts as renovation:

“On or after the implementation date, no firm may perform, offer, or claim to perform renovations for compensation without certification from the department under WAC 365-230-360 in target housing or child-occupied facilities, unless the renovation qualifies for one of the exceptions identified in WAC 365-230-300 (1).”

“"Renovation" means the modification of any existing structure, or portion thereof, that results in the disturbance of painted surfaces, unless that activity is performed as part of an abatement as defined under WAC 365-230-200 .”

A crew that holds an individual certificate from elsewhere is not starting over, though the certificate has to be filed:

“Individual RRP Certification from the EPA or another authorized state – an individual who is currently certified with the EPA or another authorized state must file for registration”

Floors rarely carry paint, yet the trim around them does. Practical steps for a Washington walkthrough:

• Learn the building’s age and whether it houses a family, a school or childcare.
• Agree in writing who pulls and resets painted baseboards, shoe molding and door casings.
• If a renovator on your crew trained under EPA or in another state, confirm the Washington registration is filed.

Older occupied homes bring these questions up most often, and the residential flooring contractor insurance page discusses them; lead claims under a liability policy are a subject for the general liability page.

Vinyl asbestos tile under Washington rules: an inspection first, then certified hands for anything that breaks up

Asbestos work in Washington is regulated by a state program at the Department of Labor & Industries, and its rule names asbestos floor tile. Removing vinyl asbestos floor tile by mechanical methods such as chipping, grinding or sanding is an asbestos project that only certified asbestos workers may do, a contractor must hold the Department’s asbestos contractor certificate before an abatement project, and a good faith asbestos inspection is required before renovation work that could disturb asbestos.

Authority: RCW 49.26.013(1); RCW 49.26.100(2); RCW 49.26.120(1), (2); RCW 49.26.130; WAC 296-65-001; WAC 296-62-07722(3)(b)(i)(B), (3)(b)(ii)(A)

The inspection duty attaches before the work and sits, by the statute’s words, with the owner:

“an owner or owner's agent who allows or authorizes any construction, renovation, remodeling, maintenance, repair, or demolition project which has a reasonable possibility, as defined by the department, of disturbing or releasing asbestos into the air, shall perform or cause to be performed, using practices approved by the department, a good faith inspection to determine whether the proposed project will disturb or release any material containing asbestos into the air.”

The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, asbestos certification page does not leave contractors out of it:

“Building owners and construction contractors both share responsibility for asbestos testing when doing work on the building.”

Before a remodel, repair or other project that could disturb asbestos, the building owner has a good faith inspection performed by an accredited inspector, and the Department says owners and contractors share that responsibility. Where the survey finds asbestos flooring or mastic that the job will break up, the removal goes to a certified asbestos contractor with certified workers under a certified supervisor and written notice to the Department; intact flooring work is excluded from worker certification under the rule. Local clean air agencies add their own notification, such as the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency’s notice before any asbestos removal or demolition.

Where flooring meets the rule is the line between intact material and material that comes apart. The rule draws it with a floor tile example on one side:

“All Class II asbestos work where asbestos containing materials do not stay intact (including removal of vinyl asbestos floor (VAT) or roofing materials by mechanical methods such as chipping, grinding, or sanding).”

And intact flooring on the other:

“The following Class II asbestos work is not considered an asbestos project and is excluded from asbestos worker certification: … All Class II asbestos work involving intact asbestos containing materials (for example, intact roofing materials, … and intact flooring/decking materials);”

Past that line, the statute decides who does the removal and what the Department hears before it starts:

“No person may assign any employee, contract with, or permit any individual or person to remove or encapsulate asbestos in any facility unless performed by a certified asbestos worker and under the direct, on-site supervision of a certified asbestos supervisor.”

“The department shall require persons undertaking asbestos projects to provide written notice to the department before the commencement of the project except as provided in RCW 49.26.125 .”

Local clean air agencies keep their own paperwork alongside the state’s. Within its region, the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency states it plainly:

“An Asbestos/Demolition Notification and a filing fee must be submitted to this agency before any asbestos removal or demolition begins.”

Working habits that follow:

• Before pricing a tear-out, ask for the good faith inspection report and read what it says about every layer, adhesive included.
• Write your removal method into the proposal. Chipping, grinding and sanding are the words the rule uses, and a crew working fast reaches for exactly those tools.
• Where the report finds material your job will break up, plan for a certified asbestos contractor ahead of your crew rather than alongside it.

Whether a liability policy answers for an asbestos claim, or for finished work, is a question for the general liability page. Older tile floors get their own discussion on the tile and stone page, and the general contractor’s terms on commercial tear-out are on the commercial page.

Washington workers’ compensation runs through the state fund, with self-insurance as the one alternative

Washington’s workers’ compensation is monopolistic and compulsory for the employments its industrial insurance law covers. The law gives an employer two ways to secure compensation: insuring with the state fund, which the Department of Labor & Industries runs, or qualifying as a self-insurer. The Department says Washington does not allow private workers’ compensation coverage, so coverage for Washington payroll comes from the state fund unless the employer is a certified self-insurer.

Authority: RCW 51.14.010; RCW 51.08.175; RCW 51.08.173; RCW 51.04.010; RCW 51.12.010; RCW 51.12.020(5); RCW 51.12.070; RCW 51.44.010; RCW 43.17.010

The statute offers an employer two methods and lists no other:

“Every employer under this title shall secure the payment of compensation under this title by: (1) Insuring and keeping insured the payment of such benefits with the state fund; or (2) Qualifying as a self-insurer under this title.”

The fund in the first method is the state’s, held and run by a department of government:

“"State fund" means those funds held by the state or any agency thereof for the purposes of this title. The "state of Washington industrial insurance fund" means the department when acting as the agency to insure the industrial insurance obligation of employers.”

On private coverage, the Department’s own page addresses employers directly:

“Washington State does not allow private workers' compensation coverage. You must purchase your coverage from L&I or be a certified self-insured employer”

Put plainly, a Washington flooring employer buys this coverage from the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (the state fund), or holds certification as a self-insured employer. Account setup, premium and claims run through Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, Insurance Services.

The law reaches broadly, by its own statement of purpose:

“There is a hazard in all employment and it is the purpose of this title to embrace all employments which are within the legislative jurisdiction of the state.”

Hiring installers in Washington means opening a workers’ compensation account with the Department of Labor & Industries and paying premium to the state fund, or being certified as a self-insured employer. The law applies to all work done by contract, and the person who lets a contract is primarily responsible for premiums on that work unless the statute’s conditions for a registered subcontractor are met. Sole proprietors and partners are outside mandatory coverage, and certain corporate officers may be excluded.

Two parts of that paragraph deserve a slower read. Contract work stays with whoever lets the contract, unless the statute’s conditions are met:

“The provisions of this title apply to all work done by contract; the person, firm, or corporation who lets a contract for such work is responsible primarily and directly for all premiums upon the work, except as provided in subsection (2) of this section.”

Owners working alone sit outside the mandatory list:

“The following are the only employments which shall not be included within the mandatory coverage of this title: … Sole proprietors or partners.”

Because that coverage sits with the state, it is the one line of a Washington flooring program we do not place. Ask every installer you subcontract to for proof of a current state fund account before the job starts. How underwriters treat flooring payroll and subcontracted installers in general is covered on our workers’ compensation page.

Offices a Washington flooring business deals with, and the role of each

Insurance itself is regulated by the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner; in the record’s words, it is the insurance regulator; workers’ compensation in Washington is written by the state fund or carried by certified self-insurers, not by insurers it licenses. You can look up the license of any insurance agency, ours included, on NIPR.com.

Each remaining body is linked to its own site, with its verified role:

• Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, contractor registration: statewide registration of general and specialty contractors, including the floor covering and tile specialties, with bond and insurance on file
• Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, Insurance Services: the state fund for workers’ compensation: employer accounts, premium and claims, and certification of self-insured employers
• Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, asbestos certification: certifies asbestos contractors, supervisors and workers, receives asbestos project notifications and enforces the asbestos rules
• Washington State Department of Commerce, Lead-Based Paint Program: administers and enforces the state renovation, repair and painting program and the lead-based paint activities program; certifies RRP firms and renovators
• Puget Sound Clean Air Agency: a local clean air agency; it takes asbestos and demolition notifications before removal or demolition work in its region

Several of those lines lead back to Labor & Industries; keep the account details for each desk in one file.

Washington’s metro areas, county by county

The U.S. Census Bureau delineates more metropolitan areas in Washington than appear here; these are the leading ones on its list, each with its Washington counties. One of them crosses a state line.

Putting a Washington flooring insurance program together around the state fund

With the crew’s injury coverage settled by the state, the remaining lines are the ones a flooring business carries anywhere, and each has a page of its own:

• General liability, the policy your registration depends on, for injury to others and damage to their property, tear-out and completed work included.
• Saws, stretchers, sanders and stock in transit, under inland marine for contractors’ tools and equipment.
• Payroll and subcontracted installers, explained on the workers’ compensation page.

Your trade decides which line weighs most: carpet installation crews and tile and stone shops face different owners and different old floors. Send us a quote request for your Washington work and we will start there.

What the state sets

Where we discuss it

Contractor license A state license or registration can reach this work

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General Liability

Lead-safe renovation The state runs its own lead-safe program

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Residential Flooring Contractor Insurance

Asbestos flooring and mastic A state program reaches flooring removal

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General Liability

Workers’ compensation Bought only from the state fund

Written separately with the state fund, not placed in this program, so no connector is drawn.

A panel for Washington in rows. Contractor license: a state license or registration can reach this work. It connects to the General Liability page. Lead-safe renovation: the state runs its own lead-safe program. It connects to the Residential Flooring Contractor Insurance page. Asbestos flooring and mastic: a state program reaches flooring removal. It connects to the General Liability page. Workers’ compensation: bought only from the state fund. It is written separately, so no connector is drawn. Each row pairs a state rule with the page on this site that discusses it. No figures are shown.