By Adrian Middleton, Sword & Shield, PLLC · Updated Saturday, October 24, 2026
What code 5445 covers
- Hanging, taping, finishing and texturing gypsum wallboard, including metal stud framing performed by the drywall crew.
- Installation of acoustical ceilings and ceiling grid by the same crew.
- Removal of existing wallboard as part of the job.
- Drywall crew helpers, stockers and cleanup labor.
What it does not cover
- Plastering and stucco, interior or exterior (5480), where records separate the payroll.
- Painting (5474) by a separate crew with separate records.
- Wood framing beyond furring and backing (5645, 5651, 5403).
- Insulation installation, which has its own codes.
How the Division assigns it on a stop-work order
On a stop-work order worksheet, the investigator assigns a class code to each uninsured worker for each period from two sources: the employer's records (payroll by job, job descriptions, invoices, permits) and the investigator's own observation on the jobsite. With no records, Rule 69L-6.028 directs the Department to impute payroll at the highest-rated class code the investigator observed. Stacks of board, lifts, taping and finishing tools are recorded on the field worksheet. A crew finishing stucco on the exterior of the same house is 5480 for that payroll if the records separate it, and the higher of the two codes for everything if they do not. Under the NCCI basic manual the governing class is the one with the most payroll, and an employee's payroll is assigned to a single code unless the records separate it by operation; interchange-of-labor splits require contemporaneous payroll records, not after-the-fact estimates. Getting a worker moved from code 5445 to a lower-rated code is a records argument, made line by line on Form DFS-F4-1595.
Misclassification patterns the investigator looks for
- Piece-rate hangers paid by check with no policy: employees under s. 440.02(18)(c), and a $5,000 penalty each under s. 440.107(7)(f) if represented as subcontractors.
- A drywall 'company' that is one owner with an exemption and four hangers he pays cash: an uninsured employer for the four, and the general contractor is liable for them under s. 440.10(1)(b).
- Mixed drywall and stucco crews with no payroll split: the Department assigns the higher-rated code to all of it.
- Hangers who work for three contractors a week; each contractor is liable for the hours it paid for, and each shows up in the sweep.
Clerical (8810) and outside sales (8742) are standard exception codes. A worker's payroll goes there only if their duties are exclusively clerical or sales and the records show it. An office manager who also runs materials to the jobsite, or an owner who sells jobs and swings a hammer, is assigned to the governing construction class for all of their payroll. This is the single most common reclassification on a penalty worksheet.
The rate
Florida's approved manual rate for this code is filed by NCCI and approved by the Office of Insurance Regulation effective each January 1. The Department's worksheet uses the rate in effect for each period of non-compliance, so a 24-month lookback can span three rate years. Rates are not stated on this page because they change; your agent, carrier or the current NCCI Florida rate pages have the figure. The free calculator takes the rate as an input.
Why 'construction' matters
Rule 69L-6.021, F.A.C. lists code 5445 as a construction industry classification. That means one employee triggers the coverage requirement (s. 440.02(20)(b)2), no more than three exempt officers per company or affiliated group (s. 440.02(18)(b)2), and a $50 fee for each officer exemption (s. 440.05(8)(a)).
Served with a worksheet that rates your crew at code 5445? We audit it line by line before anything is produced.
(850) 766-6825Pre-submission auditQuestions
Is drywall a construction code in Florida?+
Yes. Rule 69L-6.021 lists 5445 as a construction classification, so one employee triggers coverage and the three-officer exemption limit applies.
My hangers have their own LLCs with exemptions. Am I safe?+
Only for each hanger who is an officer or 10 percent member of the LLC that you pay, with a current certificate, and only if that LLC has no uninsured workers of its own. Collect and verify each certificate under s. 440.10(1)(c).