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

Masonry businesses in Leon County

According to County Business Patterns, 131 people worked at 15 masonry contractors (NAICS 238140) establishments in Leon County in 2023.

That is 1.1% of the 1,392 such establishments statewide, and the eighth 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 $34,595 per employee, the base your premium is calculated on.

Narrowing to ZIP codes with a Tallahassee postal address, the same Census program lists 8 masonry contractor establishments in 2023.

Out of 705 construction establishments in Leon County, 2.1% are masonry contractor firms.

For masonry contractor firms, Leon County's average pay of $34,595 sits below Alachua County ($35,393).

In the Tallahassee metro, 90 people worked as brickmasons and blockmasons in May 2024, earning a median $23.50 an hour against $24.03 for Florida as a whole.

At that metro median, one full-time worker earns about $48,880 a year, which adds roughly $2,552 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 Tallahassee

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

Tallahassee runs its permit process fully online: building, land-use, environmental and fire reviews all go through the city's Customer Permit Portal, managed by the Growth Management Department's Building Inspection Division. As the state capital and home to Florida State University and Florida A&M University, Tallahassee has a large share of government, university and institutional construction, where general contractors routinely ask every sub for a certificate before mobilizing. The Big Bend also sees tornadoes and inland tropical storms, including Hurricane Hermine in 2016 and the May 10, 2024 tornadoes that hit the city.

Construction owners in Tallahassee are often public: the State of Florida, Leon County, the city, the universities and the hospital systems. Public owners tend to require formal certificates, certified payroll on some projects and clear documentation of every subcontractor's coverage. The private market is smaller than in South Florida and leans toward single-family homes, apartments near the campuses and light commercial work. Lower volume means many contractors cover a wide area across the Big Bend and into South Georgia. The City of Tallahassee owns its electric, gas and water utilities, so service connections and utility coordination run through the city rather than a private provider. With state agencies, two universities, a community college and regional hospitals all building or renovating, public-sector schedules and budget cycles have a visible effect on when local crews are busiest.

• Public and university projects often require certified payroll and strict certificate tracking, so audit records tend to be cleaner and better documented.
• Hard clay soils and tree canopy add excavation and tree-strike exposures on residential sites.

Common claims for masonry contractors in Tallahassee

Tallahassee masons work on block and brick buildings for public owners and on residential foundations and walls. Inland masons work mostly on new single-family block homes, where repetitive lifting is the main injury source.

• 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 Tallahassee masonry quote

• Payroll for your Tallahassee masonry work, split by class (5022) and with office staff listed separately
• Certificates or exemptions for every sub on your Tallahassee 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 Tallahassee Growth Management, Building Inspection Division, which show the volume and type of Tallahassee work
• Any jobs planned outside Leon County or outside Florida this year, so the policy covers them

Questions from Tallahassee masonry contractors