Wyoming Flooring Contractor Insurance

Wyoming workers’ compensation is a state monopoly: construction is one of the employments its Act lists as extrahazardous, and a flooring employer gets its coverage from the Wyoming Workers’ Compensation Division, Department of Workforce Services, with a statement of coverage in hand before the work starts, not from a private insurer. Around that, contractor licenses come from counties, cities and towns rather than the state, EPA runs lead-safe renovation certification, and the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality enforces an asbestos rule that names the resilient flooring a crew takes up.

So the first item on a Wyoming flooring program is settled by statute before any quote is written. Your crew’s coverage is arranged with a division of a state department, and every other line is fitted around it. Of the remaining findings, two say where a rule lives (the town hall, and EPA) and one says what a crew may and may not do to an old floor.

Each section below works through one of those findings: the verified finding first, then its source’s own words, then what an owner who bids and staffs flooring jobs can do with it. How the policies work in general is set out on the flooring contractor insurance page and the pages it links to, whichever kind of shop you run: a residential flooring crew working in lived-in homes, a commercial flooring outfit working under general contractors, a carpet installation business, or a tile and stone setter.

Wyoming leaves the contractor license to the county, city or town where the floor goes in

Wyoming issues no statewide contractor license or registration that reaches flooring installation. The state’s professions title licenses water well drilling contractors and not general, building or flooring contractors, and the electrical license the state does issue covers electrical installation only. Contractor licenses in Wyoming are issued by counties, cities and towns.

Authority: W.S. 16-6-1101(a)(iv), (b); W.S. 15-1-103(a)(xiii); W.S. 35-9-123(a)

A short list of state licenses, none of them for floors, is a finding about the state and nothing more. It sends the licensing question down a level, and the record follows it there:

Having no state license does not mean nothing is required. Wyoming law expects counties, cities and towns to license contractors and makes each one recognize a license another Wyoming jurisdiction issued, and a city such as Casper licenses general and sub contractors by class, so the rule for a particular job is set by the local jurisdiction where the work is done. Any electrical work that comes with a flooring job is installed by a state-licensed electrical contractor.

Wyoming’s reciprocity statute is written from the local side. It assumes local governments license contractors, and it tells each of them to honor the others:

“Each county, city, town and other government entity that issues licenses to contractors shall recognize a license issued to a contractor by another county, city, town or other government entity in Wyoming, in accordance with the following:”

Cities and towns also hold a broad licensing power over any business inside their limits:

“The governing bodies of all cities and towns may: … License, tax and regulate any business whatsoever conducted or trafficked in within the limits of the city or town for the purpose of raising revenue”

Casper is the record’s worked example. The City of Casper, Community Development Department, Building Inspection Division licenses by class, and its widest class reads like this:

“CLASS I authorizes the contractor to construct, repair, or alter any structure.”

Flooring has no class of its own there. In the record’s words, the city licenses general and sub contractors by class for the general building construction trades, from a class that may construct, repair or alter any structure down to a maintenance and repair class; the page lists no separate flooring category, so a flooring installer working in the city falls under the general and sub contractor classes. One more state rule touches a flooring job at the edges, wherever a floor meets a wire:

“Licensed electrical contractors employing licensed master or journeymen electricians, or registered apprentice electricians supervised by a licensed master or journeyman electrician shall install all electrical equipment.”

Put to work, those findings suggest a few office habits for a Wyoming flooring owner:

• Before pricing a job in a jurisdiction new to you, ask its licensing office which class, if any, it puts a flooring installer in.
• Keep a copy of every local license you hold. Reciprocity is something you may have to show at a counter, and a paper in the truck is easier to show than a license number.
• Where a job involves moving an outlet, a floor-warming system or a threshold light, decide at the bid who does that work, and put a licensed electrical contractor’s name in the proposal.

The certificate wording and additional insured requests a general contractor sends on a commercial job are discussed on the commercial flooring contractor insurance page; what a homeowner tends to ask for is on the residential flooring contractor insurance page.

Wyoming has no lead program of its own, so EPA certifies a flooring firm for renovation work

Lead-safe renovation firms working in Wyoming get no state certification. Wyoming’s renovation, repair and painting (RRP) rule is EPA’s own, administered directly, so a flooring company that disturbs paint on covered work holds its firm certification from EPA.

Authority: 40 CFR Part 745

Wyoming is missing from the list the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency keeps of places that run their own renovation programs:

“EPA administers the RRP Program in most Tribes, states and territories, but has authorized the following to operate their own programs: Alabama, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin and the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe-Boise Forte (Nette Lake).”

Abatement stays federal as well. In EPA’s list of places where it runs the abatement, inspection and risk assessment program itself, Wyoming is named outright:

“EPA administers the Lead-Based Paint Activities Program in Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, South Carolina, South Dakota and Wyoming, as well as the territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and most Tribal lands.”

For federal purposes, a crew taking out painted baseboards, shoe molding, thresholds or door casings in covered housing or a child-occupied facility is doing renovation work: the firm is certified by EPA, a certified renovator is assigned to the job, and the rule’s work practices apply, with the building-age threshold quoted below as printed. EPA likewise keeps lead abatement, inspection and risk assessment for Wyoming, so no state lead license stands in for the federal one.

EPA states the reach of the certification duty in plain terms, small firms included:

“In general, anyone who is paid to perform work that disturbs paint in housing and child-occupied facilities built before 1978 must be certified. This includes all firms, even sole proprietorships.”

Flooring crews rarely set out to disturb paint, yet baseboards, shoe molding and door casings come off on most replacements. A walkthrough is the place to find out whether the federal rule is in play:

• Get the building’s construction date and its use, whether home, school or childcare space.
• Settle in writing whether your crew or another trade will pull and reset the painted trim.
• Name the certified renovator who will be on the job, and confirm that person will be there.

Lived-in older homes raise these questions more than any other work, which is why the residential flooring contractor insurance page spends time on them. Whatever a general liability policy does with a lead claim is a coverage question, taken up on the general liability page.

Wyoming’s asbestos rule, resilient floor covering and the training a removal crew carries

Asbestos in Wyoming is regulated by a state program at the Department of Environmental Quality, and its rule names resilient floor covering. The Air Quality Division’s asbestos standard for demolition and renovation treats asbestos floor tile and sheet flooring as Category I nonfriable material, which becomes regulated material when it is sanded, ground, cut or abraded. Wyoming has no asbestos license or registration for companies or workers; the rule requires training instead.

Authority: WAQSR Chapter 3, Section 8(b), (i)(i), (i)(i)(D), (i)(ii)(A), (i)(iii)(H)

Here the state speaks directly about flooring. The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, Air Quality Division, Wyoming Asbestos Program describes its own job this way:

“The Wyoming Asbestos Program enforces the state asbestos regulations for asbestos inspections and abatement projects.”

Before renovating or demolishing a facility the rule covers, the owner or operator has the affected area inspected for asbestos, including nonfriable flooring materials. Taking up resilient tile, sheet flooring or mastic by sanding, grinding, cutting or abrading makes it regulated material: above the rule’s quantity threshold the job needs written notice to the Department before work starts and the rule’s emission controls, and anyone supervising or performing the removal must be trained in the rule and keep a current AHERA-type training certificate at the site. Residential buildings with a few dwelling units are outside the rule’s facility definition, as quoted below.

Floor coverings enter the rule through its first category of nonfriable material, which lists them by name:

“… packings, gaskets, resilient floor covering, and …”

And the rule spells out what it means by them:

““Resilient floor covering” means asbestos-containing floor tile, including … vinyl floor tile, and sheet vinyl floor covering containing more than 1 percent asbestos …”

Intact tile sits on the nonfriable side. Crossing over is a matter of method, and the definition of regulated material lists the methods that do it:

““Regulated asbestos-containing material (RACM)” means: (a) Friable asbestos material, (b) Category I nonfriable ACM that has become friable, (c) Category I nonfriable ACM that will be or has been subjected to sanding, grinding, cutting, or abrading, …”

Sanding and grinding are obvious; cutting and abrading are the ones that catch a crew working fast. Ahead of every one of them, the rule wants an inspection:

“prior to the commencement of the demolition or renovation, thoroughly inspect the affected facility or part of the facility where the demolition or renovation operation will occur for the presence of asbestos, including Category I and Category II nonfriable ACM.”

Past a set quantity of regulated material, the full notice and work-practice sections apply. The threshold is printed here exactly as the rule prints it:

“In a facility being renovated, including any individual nonscheduled renovation operation, all the requirements of paragraphs (i)(ii) and (i)(iii) apply if the combined amount of RACM to be stripped, removed, dislodged, cut, drilled, or similarly disturbed is: … At least 80 linear meters (260 linear feet) on pipe or at least 15 square meters (160 square feet) on other facility components, or”

Notice is one of those sections, and the rule states it in one line:

“Provide the Administrator with written notice of intention to demolish or renovate.”

Wyoming does not license asbestos workers. Its rule asks for training, and the Department adds what it expects to see on site:

“No RACM shall be stripped, removed, or otherwise handled or disturbed at a facility regulated by this section unless the individuals supervising and performing the operation have been trained in the provisions of this regulation and the means of complying with them.”

“There is no registration or licensure program for companies or individuals in the State of Wyoming. We do require that each person performing or supervising an asbestos project have a copy of their current AHERA-type training certificate with them at the project site during the entire length of the project.”

Homes are handled through the facility definition, which leaves smaller residential buildings out:

““Facility” means any institutional, commercial, public, industrial, or residential structure, installation, or building (including any structure, installation, or building containing condominiums or individual dwelling units operated as a residential cooperative, but excluding residential buildings having four or fewer dwelling units)”

“Wyoming's asbestos regulations do not require homeowners to obtain asbestos inspections in private residences prior to renovations or demolition, unless the renovation or demolition activity is being performed to allow the property to become public or commercial.”

Taken together, those passages point to some working habits:

• On a commercial job, ask for the inspection results before pricing the tear-out, and read what they say about each layer, adhesive included.
• Name your tear-out tools and technique in the proposal. Planning to cut, grind or sand an old floor is a decision with consequences under this rule, so make it on paper.
• Keep training certificates current for anyone who might supervise or perform removal, and make sure a copy travels with that person.
• In a house, treat the exclusion as an answer about paperwork only. That exclusion is silent about the floor’s makeup, so ask the owner what is known before quoting.

Treatment of an asbestos claim under a general liability policy, and of finished work once a room is back in use, is covered on the general liability page. Commercial tear-out also brings the general contractor’s own insurance terms, covered on the commercial page, and taking up an old tile floor gets its own treatment on the tile and stone page.

Wyoming’s state fund is where a flooring employer’s workers’ compensation comes from

Monopolistic and state-run, Wyoming’s workers’ compensation is compulsory for the employments its Act lists as extrahazardous, which include every worker in the construction sector. The state constitution has the legislature keep a fund for these employments in the state treasury, the Act sends every premium into the worker’s compensation account that pays every award, and an employer subject to the Act needs a statement of coverage from the Department of Workforce Services before work begins, so coverage for Wyoming payroll comes from the state fund rather than from a private insurer.

Authority: Wyo. Const. art. 10, § 4(c); W.S. 27-14-101(b); W.S. 27-14-102(a)(vi), (vii)(B); W.S. 27-14-104(a), (c); W.S. 27-14-108(a), (k); W.S. 27-14-201(a); W.S. 27-14-206(e); W.S. 27-14-207(a); W.S. 27-14-701(a), (b); W.S. 9-2-2601(a)

Wyoming built this into its constitution. For extrahazardous employments, the legislature keeps a fund:

“As to all extrahazardous employments the legislature shall provide by law for the accumulation and maintenance of a fund or funds out of which shall be paid compensation as may be fixed by law”

“The fund or funds shall be accumulated, paid into the state treasury and maintained in such manner as may be provided by law.”

Flooring sits inside those employments because of the trade it belongs to. The Act opens its coverage list with a declaration, then reaches every construction worker by industry sector:

“Regardless of individual occupation, all workers employed in the following sectors, subsectors, industry groups and industries, as each is defined in the most recent edition of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) manual: … Construction, sector 23;”

Coverage must be in place before the first day on a Wyoming job, from the division the Act names:

“Any employer subject to this act shall not commence business or engage in work in this state without applying for coverage under this act and receiving a statement of coverage from the division.”

“"Division" means the worker's compensation division within the department of workforce services;”

Money flows one way and claims flow back the same way. Everything collected goes into one account, and every award comes out of it:

“all money received, earned or collected pursuant to this act shall be credited to the worker's compensation account.”

“All awards and claim determinations shall be paid from the account provided by subsection (a) of this section.”

An employer’s protection from lawsuits by its injured workers is tied to paying in. The constitution says so, and the Act repeats it:

“The right of each employee to compensation from the fund shall be in lieu of and shall take the place of any and all rights of action against any employer contributing as required by law to the fund”

“are in lieu of all other rights and remedies against any employer and any joint employer making contributions required by this act”

Employing installers in Wyoming means registering with the Department of Workforce Services, receiving its statement of coverage before starting work, and paying premium to the state. A contractor that subcontracts on a private job is liable for the premiums of the subcontractor’s employees if the subcontractor has not paid them. Sole proprietors, partners, LLC members and corporate officers are outside the Act unless the business elects coverage for them in writing.

That paragraph contains two points worth a second look. Subcontracting does not move the premium question off your desk on private work:

“In private work a contractor who subcontracts all or any part of a contract is liable for the payment of worker's compensation premiums for the employees of the subcontractor unless the subcontractor primarily liable for the payment of premiums has paid the premiums as provided for in this act.”

And owners are outside the Act until they choose otherwise:

“A sole proprietor or a partner of a business partnership unless coverage is elected pursuant to W.S. 27-14-108(k);”

The Department puts the timing in a single sentence:

“Workers’ Compensation coverage through DWS is required before work begins in Wyoming.”

In practice, employers in covered employment buy this coverage from the state fund, the Wyoming Workers’ Compensation Division, Department of Workforce Services, and not from a private insurer. That makes it the single line of a Wyoming flooring program we do not place; registration, premium and claims run through the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services, Workers’ Compensation Division. Ask every installer you sub work to for proof of that state coverage before the job, since an unpaid premium can come back to you.

Our workers’ compensation page explains how an underwriter reads a flooring payroll and why the installers you pay as subcontractors matter. Those are coverage questions rather than Wyoming questions, so they live there.

Wyoming offices a flooring owner may deal with, and what each one does

For insurance itself, the regulator is the Wyoming Department of Insurance; in the record’s words, its role is insurance regulator; workers’ compensation in Wyoming is written by the state fund, not by insurers it licenses. You can check the license of any insurance agency, ours among them, on NIPR.com.

Below, every other body links to its own site, with the role the record verified for it:

• Wyoming Department of Workforce Services, Workers’ Compensation Division: the state fund for workers’ compensation: employer registration, coverage, premium rates and claims
• Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality: state environmental agency; its Air Quality Division runs the Wyoming Asbestos Program
• Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, Air Quality Division, Wyoming Asbestos Program: asbestos inspection, notification and work-practice enforcement for demolition and renovation; training-based, with no license or registration
• Wyoming Department of Fire Prevention and Electrical Safety: statewide licensing of electrical contractors and electricians and state fire and building code enforcement; it issues no general or flooring contractor license

Missing from that list is the office you will call most: the county, city or town licensing desk for each job. No statewide list can name it, and in Wyoming that is where the licensing question gets its answer.

Wyoming’s metropolitan areas and the counties inside them

Wyoming has a short list of metropolitan areas as the U.S. Census Bureau delineates them, and both appear below, each with its Wyoming county. Neither crosses a state line.

Fitting a Wyoming flooring program around state fund coverage

Once the state fund covers your crew, the remaining coverages are those a flooring business carries in any state, and each one has its own page:

• Injury to others and damage to their property, tear-out and completed work included, under general liability.
• Inland marine for contractors’ tools and equipment, for the saws, sanders, stretchers and stock that ride from job to job.
• How payroll and subcontracted installers are looked at, on the workers’ compensation page.

Which of these weighs most depends on the floors you lay. Each trade meets different owners and different old floors, carpet installation crews one set and tile and stone shops another, and each service page deals with its own. A quote request for Wyoming work is where we begin.

What the state sets

Where we discuss it

Contractor license No statewide license reaches this work

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General Liability

Lead-safe renovation The federal program applies in this state

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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 Wyoming in rows. Contractor license: no statewide license reaches this work. It connects to the General Liability page. Lead-safe renovation: the federal program applies in this state. 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.