Trades / Water and sewer line contractors
NAICS 23711 · mid injury risk
Insurance for water and sewer line contractors
Water and sewer line contractors log 1.9 recordable injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers, 17 percent below private industry's 2.3 and number 39 of 54 trades on this site. A middling injury record means the premium is driven as much by what you do for clients as by what happens to your own crew.
- 1Water and sewer line c 1.9 per 100
- 2Private industry 2.3 per 100
- 3Rank of 54 #39
What goes wrong in this trade
Trench collapses and struck-by injuries on site, damage to buried utilities, and backups or flooding traced to completed work.
The checklist for water and sewer line contractors
- GLGeneral liabilityUtility strikes and property damage, including completed-operations claims after the job.Not required by federal law. Required in practice by most contracts, landlords and many state contractor licences.
- WCWorkers' compensationRequired once you have employees in nearly every state.Required by state law in nearly every state once you have employees; the employee-count threshold and exemptions are set state by state and are not reproduced here.
- AutoCommercial auto liabilityDump trucks and service trucks.State minimum auto liability applies to business vehicles. Interstate for-hire carriers of vehicles 10,001 lb GVWR and up must carry the 49 CFR 387.9 minimums ($750,000 non-hazardous property; $1,000,000 oil; $5,000,000 bulk hazmat).
- ToolsInland marine (tools and equipment)Excavators, trench boxes and pumps moving between sites.Not required by law.
- BondSurety bondMunicipal water and sewer work almost always requires performance and payment bonds.Many state contractor licences require a licence bond; public work requires bid and performance bonds under state law and, federally, the Miller Act.
- UmbrellaCommercial umbrella / excessMunicipal contracts commonly ask for limits above a standard GL.Not required by law; required by many general contractors and commercial landlords.
Red tags mark policy types that a law or licence usually requires; green tags are what contracts, landlords and clients ask for. Tailor the list for your situation (no employees, no vehicles, alcohol) with the checklist tool.
What the injury record means for the premium
At 1.9 cases per 100 workers this trade sits in the middle of the 54 trades here, with 58 percent of cases involving days away, restriction or transfer. The workers' compensation class rate will be noticeable but not dominant; the balance of the premium is general liability and, where the checklist lists it, commercial auto. The approximate fatality rate of 17.5 per 100,000 FTE is well above the all-industry level and is the figure that keeps auto and liability limits high.
The nearest trades by injury rate are masonry contractors (1.9), nonresidential building construction (1.9), automotive repair and maintenance (1.9); the same payroll insured in those classes would start from a similar workers' comp base.
Legal, licence or contract?
Fixed by law
- Workers' compensation once you have employees, in nearly every state (threshold and exemptions set by the state; not reproduced here).
- State minimum auto liability on any vehicle the business operates.
Asked for by contracts and licences
Sources: BLS Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, Table 1 (2024), incidence rates per 100 full-time workers; BLS SOII Table 3 (2024), hours worked by detailed industry; BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, Table A-1 (2024). Fatal rate per 100,000 FTE is derived (count ÷ hours × 200,000,000) and approximate. Checked 2026-10-24.