Refrigeration Contractor Insurance in California (C-38)

What the C-38 license covers

The CSLB’s definition

“A refrigeration contractor constructs, fabricates, erects, installs, maintains, services and repairs refrigerators, refrigerated rooms, and insulated refrigerated spaces, temperature insulation, air-conditioning units, ducts, blowers, registers, humidity and thermostatic controls for the control of air, liquid, and/or gas temperatures below fifty degrees Fahrenheit (50°), or ten degrees Celsius (10°).”

Lifting compressors, falls from rooftops, burns and refrigerant exposure are the comp exposures. The liability side is unusual: if a system you installed or serviced fails, the restaurant or grocer’s spoiled food can become your claim. Standard general liability may not cover a customer’s spoiled goods when the only cause is your faulty work, so ask about errors and omissions or spoilage coverage.

The C-38 coverage stack

General Liability — ask how spoiled customer inventory is handled
Workers’ Compensation — rated 5183 or 5187 depending on each worker’s hourly wage
Commercial Auto — service vans with recovery tanks and refrigerant
Inland Marine — gauges, recovery machines and parts inventory
CSLB license bond — the $25,000 bond every C-38 license needs
Excess & Umbrella — grocery chains and cold storage often require more

C-38 requirements

What California requires of a C-38 licensee

Requirement	What applies to C-38 refrigeration contractors
Contractor’s license bond	A $25,000 bond is required to activate and keep the license. LLC licensees also need a $100,000 LLC employee/worker bond. How the bond works
Workers’ compensation	Required now if you have even one employee. With no employees you can file a CSLB exemption, but that option ends for every classification on January 1, 2028. Check your requirement
General liability	Required by the CSLB only for LLC licensees (at least $1 million). General contractors and owners require it anyway, usually with additional insured status.

Workers’ comp class codes and 2026 rates

Class code	Description	Advisory rate per $100 payroll
5183	Refrigeration equipment (not household units), workers paid under $35.00/hr	$5.72
5187	Refrigeration equipment (not household units), workers paid $35.00/hr or more	$2.73

Source: WCIRB California, approved September 1, 2026 advisory pure premium rates and classification descriptions. These are benchmark loss costs, not quotes: each carrier files its own rates, and your experience mod and credits adjust the final premium.

Commercial refrigeration shares this pair of codes with plumbing and HVAC. The $35 wage line matters more here than in most trades: a technician paid $35 an hour costs less than half as much to insure as one paid $34. Household refrigerator repair is a different class, so tell us if you service residential appliances.

$35/hr

the wage line that splits 5183 from 5187

Spoilage

a customer’s lost inventory can become your claim

WC by 2028

every C-38 needs a policy, employees or not

Common questions

C-38 coverage, answered

What is the workers’ comp class code for refrigeration contractors in California?

Commercial refrigeration installation and service is 5183 for workers paid under $35.00 an hour and 5187 at $35.00 or more. The WCIRB’s 2026 advisory rates are $5.72 and $2.73 per $100 of payroll.

Does my insurance cover a customer’s spoiled food if their cooler fails?

Not always. General liability covers property damage, but claims that come only from faulty workmanship can be limited. Errors and omissions or spoilage coverage is worth discussing if you service restaurants or grocers.

Is general liability required for a C-38 license?

Only for LLC licensees, at least $1 million. Commercial customers and general contractors will require it.

Do refrigeration contractors need workers’ comp with no employees?

A C-38 with no employees can file the CSLB exemption until January 1, 2028, when it ends for every classification.

Refrigeration Contractor Insurance in California

The CSLB’s definition

The C-38 coverage stack

What California requires of a C-38 licensee

Workers’ comp class codes and 2026 rates

C-38 coverage, answered

Get a C-38 quote that fits the work