Yes, usually far less. An Arizona office employee who never leaves the office is rated in a much cheaper job category than your field crew, often under $1 per $100 of payroll against $5 to $20 for a trade. The catch is that the category is all-or-nothing, so a bookkeeper who also runs materials to a site loses it for all of their payroll. Who this is for: Arizona contractors whose office staff may be rated like carpenters.
The short version
- Office staff here can be rated in the office job category, often well under $1 per $100 of payroll, while field trades run $5 to $20.
- That category is all-or-nothing. One job site trip as part of the job moves the whole payroll to a field class.
- Estimators and project managers who visit sites do not qualify, but they do not land on your trade rate either.
- Insurers here file their own discounts off the same base rates, so fixing a class and then shopping pays twice.
- You can split payroll between two field classes only with time records by class. Percentages and estimates are not allowed.
Why does a field employee cost so much more to insure in Arizona?
Two things matter before you look at any number. Rates here fell 6.7% on January 1, 2026, the twelfth straight annual decrease. And this is a fully private market with no state fund: NCCI files the base rates, the Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions reviews them, and each insurer files its own discount off that. So fixing a job category and then shopping pays twice.
Your premium is payroll divided by 100, times a rate for each class code (the job category your payroll is rated under). A bookkeeper rarely files a claim. A roofer does. No state class rate table is published here, so the ranges below are national illustrative figures.
| Job | Illustrative rate per $100 of payroll (national range) | Illustrative premium on $50,000 payroll |
|---|---|---|
| Office employee | Roughly $0.15 to $0.40 | About $75 to $200 a year |
| Plumber | Roughly $4 to $8 | About $2,000 to $4,000 a year |
| Framer | Roughly $6 to $12 | About $3,000 to $6,000 a year |
| Roofer | Roughly $12 to $20 | About $6,000 to $10,000 a year |
See what workers comp costs in Arizona and how to reduce it.
Who qualifies for the office rate in Arizona?
National NCCI rules govern here, with no state carve-out, so an agent who says this state treats office staff differently is wrong. Two tests.
| Test | Passes | Fails |
|---|---|---|
| Duties | Correspondence, records, files, data entry, phone work and phone sales, copying and faxing, and similar office work | Outside sales, supervising non-clerical employees, physical labor, demonstrating or instructing, or any exposure to the hazards of the business |
| Location | A work area separated from the shop, yard, or construction site by floors, walls, partitions, counters, or other physical barriers | A desk in the shop, a trailer on the job site, or a truck |
Both tests, all of the time. The office category cannot be shared, so failing either test moves that person's whole payroll to the higher rated class.
Can my estimator or project manager be rated as clerical?
Usually not, but that does not mean your trade rate either. A site visiting estimator loses the office category, because exposure to the hazards of the business is a listed disqualifier. The manual rates construction job site estimators in a separate nonconstruction category, and the payroll moves into the construction class only if they also work or supervise crews on site. Ask which one your insurer used.
Project managers have their own rule. One who supervises only through full time foremen goes entirely to code 5606, which costs far less than a field trade and more than office work. It covers all of that payroll, office time included, and cannot be split. Anyone who directly runs crews goes to the class they supervise. See whether a project manager or estimator can be clerical.
Can I split one employee's payroll between two classes?
Between two field classes, yes, with records. You may divide payroll only if your records show actual hours worked in each class. Estimates and percentage splits are not permitted, and without records the whole payroll goes to the highest rated class.
- Keep office staff in the office. If someone has to run to a job site, send a person already rated for it.
- Have anyone spanning two field classes record hours by class every pay period.
- Before your premium audit (the insurer's year end check of your real payroll), list who is in which class and fix errors first.
- Found someone in the wrong class? Ask your broker in writing for a correction, and ask whether the last two policy years can be reviewed too.
What this looks like in real life
Illustrative example. It is typical of what we see and is not a promise of how any specific situation would be handled.
The setup: A plumbing company in Gilbert has 7 field plumbers, an office manager who never leaves the Gilbert office, and an estimator who drives to a Chandler job site twice a week. Payroll is about $540,000, and the insurer has all nine rated as plumbers at an illustrative $5.50 per $100, a national figure rather than an Arizona rate.
What went wrong: The owner asks whether the office manager and estimator belong in the office category. The office manager does 100% desk work in a separate office and qualifies. The estimator does not, because site visits are a listed disqualifier.
What it cost: Illustrative numbers: moving the office manager from $5.50 to $0.30 per $100 saves about $2,700 a year. The estimator moves into a nonconstruction category. Asking the insurer to review the two prior audits may recover more, but how far back a correction reaches depends on the insurer and your records.
The fix: The office rate is worth claiming for anyone who truly qualifies. Do not stretch it to people who visit job sites. An audit will move them back and charge the difference.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Should office staff cost less to insure than field employees in Arizona?
Yes, much less. An office employee doing 100% desk work in a space separated from job site hazards is rated in the office job category, often under $1 per $100 of payroll against $5 to $20 for a trade, as national illustrative ranges.
Q: Can my Arizona estimator be rated as clerical?
Only if the estimator works 100% in a separated office. One who visits job sites is disqualified, but the payroll does not automatically go to your trade rate. The manual has a separate nonconstruction category for construction job site estimators.
Q: What class does a project manager get in Arizona?
A project manager who supervises only through full time foremen goes entirely to code 5606. Anyone who directly runs crews goes to the class of the work they supervise. Neither is ever the office category.
Q: How do I get a wrong job category fixed after the policy is written?
Ask your broker in writing to request a correction, and attach the job descriptions and time records that support it. The insurer changes the class and reissues the policy, and the premium follows at billing or at audit.
Q: Will my insurer come back for the last two years if I have been overpaying?
Sometimes. Ask for the prior two audits to be reviewed at the same time. How far back a correction reaches depends on the insurer and your payroll records, so get the answer in writing.
Q: What records do I need to split payroll between two field classes in Arizona?
Time records showing the actual hours each employee worked in each class, kept every pay period. Percentage or estimated splits are not allowed, and without records the whole payroll goes to the highest rated class.
How Morrow helps
Morrow is a licensed independent commercial insurance brokerage that works with contractors and trades every day. Checking whether an Arizona contractor's office staff, estimators, and project managers are in the right class codes before renewal or audit is a review we do at no charge.
- Free contract review. Send us the contract or bid documents and we mark up the insurance section in plain English, whether or not you buy anything from us.
- Free, instant certificates. Clients issue their own certificates of insurance online in about a minute, any hour, any day, at no charge.
- Markets you cannot reach online. One application, shopped across many insurance companies for general liability, workers comp, auto, umbrella, and pollution coverage.
One more thing. This article is general information and is not legal advice or a statement of coverage. Your contract and your policy wording control in every case. Requirements vary by customer, by state, and by insurance company, so have a licensed advisor review your own contract and your own policy before relying on any of it.
Last updated: Reviewed by the Morrow commercial lines team. Last updated September 2026.