Plumbing contractor insurance in Missouri

Plumbing licenses in Missouri come from cities, not the state

St. Louis won't issue you a plumbing permit unless your company holds a plumbing contractor license certified by the city's Building Division. That's how licensing works across Missouri. The state's Division of Professional Registration (Missouri Division of Professional Registration) licenses electrical contractors but has no plumbing board, so each city sets its own rules.

In the City of St. Louis, licensed plumbing contractors also need a registered trades-contractor account on the STL City Permits system to pull permits.

Springfield certifies individual plumbers through its Building Trades Examination & Certification Board:

• Master plumber: four years as a certified journeyman, or ten years of experience
• Journeyman plumber: four years under a master, or six years of experience

After the board approves you, you pass an ICC exam through Pearson VUE with a score of at least 75%.

Kansas City, St. Louis County, Columbia and other cities run their own programs. This is where growth gets tricky. A Columbia shop that lands a job in St. Louis, or a Springfield crew bidding work in Joplin, may need another local credential before the first permit. Before you take work in a new city, call its building or permit office and ask three questions: which license you need, what insurance certificate it wants on file, and whether it requires a bond.

Missouri workers' comp: the construction exception

Most Missouri employers don't need workers' comp until they reach five employees. Construction is the exception. Employers who build, demolish, alter or repair improvements must carry it with one employee, and that includes a plumbing contractor. Family members within the third degree count toward the total, so a son or nephew on the crew counts.

Owners get some room. Sole proprietors and partners are covered only if they choose to buy coverage for themselves. A corporation with no more than two owners, who are also its only employees, can withdraw from the law by filing notice with the Division of Workers' Compensation (Missouri Division of Workers' Compensation). Once you hire your first non-owner employee, that exit closes.

The penalties for skipping coverage are steep. Knowingly failing to insure is a class A misdemeanor. The state can also collect up to three times the annual premium you should have paid, or $50,000, whichever is greater. A repeat violation is a class E felony. Line up workers' comp for plumbers before your first hire. Get a quote for your plumbing business →

1099 helpers deserve a hard look, too. At a year-end premium audit, a sub who can't show a comp certificate can be counted as your employee. Part of what you paid can then be added to your payroll. Our guide to subcontractor workers' comp covers the details.

Rivers, fault lines and old housing in Missouri

Big-river flooding

Both of Missouri's big rivers hold record crests from 1993. The Mississippi at St. Louis set its record crest of 49.58 feet on August 1, 1993, nearly 20 feet above flood stage, and came back to 46.02 feet in June 2019. The Missouri River at Kansas City crested at a record 48.87 feet that same July. Floods soak shops, vans and stored materials, then bring months of rebuild work.

Rebuild jobs raise a materials question. The owner's or GC's builder's risk policy may not cover your fixtures and pipe before they're installed, or may carve some items out. An installation floater covers the property you're installing until the work is done and accepted.

The New Madrid seismic zone

The 1811-1812 New Madrid sequence included three earthquakes estimated at magnitude 7 to 8 in a zone that covers southeastern Missouri. The U.S. Geological Survey puts the chance of a magnitude 6.0 or larger quake there at 25% to 40% over the next 50 years. Ground shaking can snap rigid piping and water heater connections, and it can wreck a stocked warehouse. USGS also puts the odds of a repeat of the 1811-1812 sequence at about 7% to 10% over the same period.

Example scenario: A shop in the Bootheel keeps its parts inventory on tall steel racks. A moderate quake tips two racks, crushing a pallet of water heaters and a press tool kit. Whether property or equipment coverage pays depends on whether earthquake is covered or excluded on those forms, so ask before you need it.

Very old housing in St. Louis

St. Louis housing is old even by Midwest standards. Of its 174,111 units, 57.9% were built in 1939 or earlier and 75.5% predate 1960, the oldest share of any city in our research. Repairs in those homes carry a real water damage risk.

Missouri cities where we write plumbing coverage

How Missouri plumber insurance gets priced

With no state minimum, your liability limit is set by your cities and your contracts. A common small-contractor setup is $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate, and commercial GCs often ask for more, usually met with an umbrella.

Comp follows payroll and class. In NCCI states, plumbing payroll is usually class 5183, while sewer construction is its own class, 6306. A Kansas City crew that moves into sewer main work should make sure its payroll is split correctly before audit.

Public work adds another layer. State and local public jobs follow their own bond rules, separate from the federal Miller Act, and most larger public jobs call for bid, performance and payment bonds. Sureties decide how much bonded work you can carry based on your financials and track record. See performance and payment bonds for plumbers.

Location and hazards shape the rest: a shop on the Mississippi floodplain or in the southeast corner near New Madrid gets different property questions than one in Columbia. Your price depends on payroll, revenue, claims history, the work you do and the limits you choose. See our plumber insurance cost guide for national medians. Get a quote for your plumbing business →

Where we're licensed in Missouri

Plumbing Insurance Group is a brand of The Allen Thomas Group, licensed in Missouri (License #3002368528, NPN 7642818). We quote plumbing contractors anywhere in Missouri, from the Kansas line to the Bootheel.