Jacksonville masonry contractors: workers' comp rates and a real payroll example

Masonry businesses in Duval County

According to County Business Patterns, 197 people worked at 52 masonry contractors (NAICS 238140) establishments in Duval County in 2023.

That is 3.7% of the 1,392 such establishments statewide, and the seventh highest count among the nine counties that hold the ten cities in this guide series.

Divide their reported annual payroll by headcount and the average is about $37,690 per employee, the base your premium is calculated on.

Narrowing to ZIP codes with a Jacksonville postal address, the same Census program lists 28 masonry contractor establishments in 2023.

Out of 3,171 construction establishments in Duval County, 1.6% are masonry contractor firms.

For masonry contractor firms, Duval County's average pay of $37,690 sits above Alachua County ($35,393) and below Hillsborough County ($40,895).

In the Jacksonville metro, 250 people worked as brickmasons and blockmasons in May 2024, earning a median $27.95 an hour against $24.03 for Florida as a whole.

At that metro median, one full-time worker earns about $58,140 a year, which adds roughly $3,035 of class 5022 premium.

2026 Florida class codes and rates

Rates are the 2026 Florida manual rates published by the FWCJUA, matching the NCCI filing approved by the Office of Insurance Regulation for policies effective on or after January 1, 2026.

How masonry contractors are classified

Block, brick and stone work is 5022, Masonry NOC, at $5.220 per $100. Concrete block is the dominant exterior wall system in Florida homes, so masons here spend more time on structural CMU walls and tie-beams than on decorative veneer. Stucco and plastering use a separate class, so a mason that also applies stucco should record that payroll apart. Two rules shape masonry claims in Florida. OSHA's respirable crystalline silica standard for construction (29 CFR 1926.1153) applies whenever block or stone is cut or ground, so wet saws, vacuum shrouds and respirators are part of the job. And because most Florida exterior walls are reinforced concrete block, masons spend long stretches setting rebar, grouting cells and forming tie-beams at the top of the wall, which is where scaffold falls and overhead strains happen.

At audit

• Stucco and plastering payroll belongs in a separate class, so masons who also stucco should record those hours apart.
• Laborers who mix mortar and stock block for the masons are rated in 5022 with the crew.

Permits and licensing in Jacksonville

Before a Jacksonville masonry job starts, the contractor pulls masonry work under the building permit from the City of Jacksonville Building Inspection Division, and state law requires proof of workers' comp or an exemption as part of that application.

Jacksonville and Duval County have operated as one consolidated government since 1968, so a single Building Inspection Division issues permits and runs inspections across almost the whole county. That makes Jacksonville the largest city in Florida by population and one of the largest in land area in the continental United States, and it means a crew can drive an hour between two jobs without leaving city limits. Drive time between sites is paid time, and it lands in the same class code as the work at the end of the drive.

Jacksonville's construction market spreads across a huge footprint: industrial and distribution buildings along the I-95 and I-295 corridors, port work at JAXPORT's terminals, federal work at the naval stations, new subdivisions in the St. Johns and Nassau county suburbs, and older housing stock in neighborhoods such as Riverside and Springfield. That spread means crews travel, and the payroll for drive time stays in the class code of the work. Many Jacksonville contractors also cross into Georgia, and out-of-state work needs other-states coverage on the policy. JEA, the city-owned utility, provides electric, water and sewer service across most of Duval County, so new services and utility relocations run through a single public utility. Riverfront redevelopment downtown and along the St. Johns River adds marine, park and mixed-use projects to the industrial and suburban work.

• JAXPORT and the naval stations at Mayport and Jacksonville bring port, logistics and federal construction work that often requires higher limits and waiver-of-subrogation endorsements.
• Northeast Florida gets fewer direct hurricane landfalls than South Florida, but nor'easters and tropical storms still drive coastal repair surges at the Beaches.

Common claims for masonry contractors in Jacksonville

Jacksonville masons work on block homes, commercial block buildings and brick veneer, which is more common in older Jacksonville neighborhoods than in South Florida. Coastal block walls carry more reinforcement and storm-hardening scopes, with more time on scaffolds.

• Falls from scaffolds while laying upper courses
• Back injuries from lifting block, which Florida builders use heavily for exterior walls
• Silica dust exposure from cutting block and stone
• Struck-by injuries from dropped block and mortar buckets
• Hand injuries from saws and trowels

What to have ready for a Jacksonville masonry quote

• Payroll for your Jacksonville masonry work, split by class (5022) and with office staff listed separately
• Certificates or exemptions for every sub on your Jacksonville jobs, checked in the Proof of Coverage database
• Three years of loss runs for the masonry business, plus your current experience modifier if you have one
• Recent permits pulled with the City of Jacksonville Building Inspection Division, which show the volume and type of Jacksonville work
• Any jobs planned outside Duval County or outside Florida this year, so the policy covers them

Questions from Jacksonville masonry contractors