Cost
Most solo carpenters pay between $500 and $1,300 a year for general liability. Here's what drives the number — and what you'd likely pay.
Ask two carpenters what they pay for insurance and you'll often get two very different numbers, even at similar revenue. The biggest reason is the type of work: framing and structural carpentry — load-bearing walls, roof systems, subfloor — carries meaningfully higher physical and liability risk than finish work, so it rates higher across almost every carrier. A trim carpenter hanging crown molding in an occupied home and a framing crew putting up a second-story addition are simply not the same underwriting risk, and your premium should reflect which one you actually are.
Revenue is the starting point — carriers use it as a rough proxy for how much work, and how many opportunities for a claim, you're taking on in a year. But revenue alone doesn't set the number. A $150,000/year trim carpenter and a $150,000/year framing crew will get quoted differently because the work itself carries different risk. Add employees or subcontractors and the number moves again, both because payroll increases GL exposure and because most states require workers compensation once you have W-2 staff on a job site where cuts, falls, and repetitive strain are real possibilities.
Carpenters often end up pricing out two separate coverages that get confused for one. Tools and equipment coverage protects the gear you own — table saws, miter saws, nail guns, compressors — wherever it travels. An installation floater is different: it covers custom cabinetry, millwork, or building materials you're bringing to a job that aren't yours to keep, aren't yet part of the structure, and need protection between delivery and completed install. If you do any cabinetry or millwork work, both of these get quoted separately, and skipping the installation floater is one of the more common gaps we catch when we build a quote.
As a rough guide: a solo trim or finish carpenter with no employees typically lands at the low end of the range, since the physical risk and claim severity potential is lower. A framing or structural crew, especially one with W-2 employees, lands meaningfully higher — often two to three times the trim carpenter's baseline once workers compensation and higher GL exposure are factored in. Cabinetmakers and millwork shops tend to sit in the middle, with lower physical risk than framing but higher-value materials moving through an installation floater.
Most residential jobs and smaller GCs are satisfied with $1M per occurrence / $2M aggregate. Larger commercial builds, especially ones involving structural or framing scope, increasingly ask for $2M/$4M before they'll even review your bid. Carrying the wrong limit doesn't just risk a gap in coverage — it can knock you out of contention for jobs before pricing even comes up.
The fastest way to know what you'll actually pay is to request a quote. Tell us the mix of framing versus finish versus cabinetry work you do, whether you're solo or running a crew, and what equipment or materials need coverage — we shop that exact profile across carriers rather than quoting off a generic average.
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FAQ
Framing and structural carpentry carry higher physical risk and higher potential claim severity — a structural failure or job-site injury on framing work tends to cost more than a comparable claim on finish carpentry, so carriers price it accordingly.
Yes, if you need both. Tools and equipment coverage protects gear you own; an installation floater protects materials you're installing that aren't yours to keep. Cabinetmakers and millwork installers often need both, priced independently.
Often two to three times as much, once workers compensation and higher GL exposure from structural work are factored in. The exact gap depends on payroll size and your state's workers comp rates.
Yes — most carriers offer monthly payment plans. You'll typically pay a bit more over the year than paying upfront, but it's a common option for carpenters managing cash flow around slower seasons.
Increasingly $2M per occurrence / $4M aggregate for structural or framing scope, even though $1M/$2M is still standard on smaller residential and commercial jobs. We can quote both so you're not caught short on a bid.
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