California Electrical Class Codes 5190 vs 5140 — the Pair That Runs Backwards

Quick answer

California electrical wiring is a dual-wage pair written 5190/5140. 5190 is the low-wage code and 5140 is the high-wage — and cheaper — code. The hourly threshold rises from $36.00 to $40.00 for policies incepting on or after September 1, 2026. A 10.4% advisory pure premium increase lands the same day.

Source: WCIRB September 1, 2026 Regulatory Filing Quick Reference Guide and WCIRB classification search. Verified against the filing rather than secondary summaries.

Will we write it? Tell us the operation, the state, and roughly where the mod sits — we'll come back within one business day with a straight answer: yes, no, or what we'd need to see. No ACORD, no loss runs, no obligation. Agents and business owners both welcome. Run it past us here.

The one pair where the numbers run backwards

Every California dual-wage classification is written as a pair, and the convention is consistent: the first code listed is the low-wage code, the second is the high-wage code, and the high-wage code is the cheaper one. Roofing is 5552/5553. Carpentry is 5403/5432. Masonry is 5027/5028. In each of those the second number is also the larger number, so the pattern looks numeric even though it is not.

Electrical wiring is written 5190/5140. The order is semantic, not numeric. 5190 is where payroll goes when the electrician's wage is below the threshold; 5140 is where it goes when the wage meets or exceeds it. A contractor or CSR who reasons "the bigger number must be the expensive one" will put the well-paid journeymen into 5190 and the apprentices into 5140 — exactly backwards, and expensively so, because the low-wage code carries the higher rate.

This is the single most common electrical-specific classification error we see on California submissions. It survives all the way to audit, because the payroll totals look plausible either way — only the code assignment is inverted.

What changes on September 1, 2026

The electrical threshold moves from $36.00 to $40.00 — a $4.00 increase, in the middle band of the sixteen dual-wage trades. Every electrician earning between $36.00 and $39.99 was high-wage payroll under the old threshold and becomes low-wage payroll under the new one, with no change whatsoever in the work performed, the crew, or the risk. For a shop whose journeyman scale sits in the high thirties, that can move a large share of total payroll into the expensive code on a single renewal.

It does not land alone. The same date brings a 10.4% advisory pure premium increase and a set of Experience Rating Plan amendments. Model all three into the same renewal, not one at a time.

Three mechanics that decide the outcome

• It is a cliff, not a slope. An electrician at $39.99 is entirely low-wage payroll. One at $40.00 is entirely high-wage payroll. Nothing blends, nothing prorates.

• It applies employee by employee. Not to the crew, not to a company average, and not to a prevailing wage determination on a public job. Each individual's regular hourly wage decides where their own payroll is reported.

• "Regular hourly wage" is a defined term. Overtime premium, bonuses, and per diem generally do not count toward it the way contractors assume. An electrician the owner is certain earns "about $42 with overtime" may compute out below $40.00 on the plan's definition — and the auditor computes it, not the owner.

Watch the neighbouring classifications

Electrical contractors rarely do only electrical wiring, and the adjacent trades are separate dual-wage pairs with their own thresholds. A shop that also installs HVAC equipment is in the plumbing/HVAC family — 5183(3)/5187(3), threshold moving from $32 to $35 — while ductwork fabrication and installation sits in 5538(2)/5542(2), moving from $33 to $37. Low-voltage, fire alarm, and automatic sprinkler work each have their own treatment as well; automatic sprinkler installation is 5185/5186, moving from $33 to $36.

Reporting all of that to one electrical code is a common and expensive audit finding, and it compounds with the dual-wage split: the auditor reallocates the work to the correct classification and tests each employee against that classification's own threshold. Two corrections, one audit.

Raise or reclassify? Run it per employee

The decision every affected electrical contractor faces before renewal is whether raising an employee to $40.00 costs less than letting their payroll reclassify into 5190. It is arithmetic, not judgement:

1. List every electrician earning between $36.00 and $39.99. Those are the ones that move.

2. Cost of the raise = ($40.00 − current wage) × annual hours, plus payroll tax and benefit load on the increase.

3. Cost of reclassification = annual payroll ÷ 100 × the rate difference between 5190 and 5140 × the experience mod.

4. Compare, employee by employee.

The asymmetry that decides most of these: the experience modification multiplies the reclassification cost but not the wage cost. The higher the mod, the more the raise pencils out — which means the contractors with the worst mods have the most to gain from running this and are the least likely to have run it. We work the same math across ten verified trades in our break-even-by-trade guide.

The burden of proof sits with the employer

Assignment to a high-wage classification is subject to verification at final audit, and payroll not shown to meet the threshold is assigned to the low-wage code by default. That default is the whole game. Incomplete or ambiguous wage records do not produce a neutral outcome — they produce 5190. Certified payroll on public work helps; a spreadsheet of "approximate" hourly rates does not. Our audit disputes handbook covers the path when an audit comes back wrong, and reading the loss run before renewal keeps the other half of the pricing conversation honest.

Electrical dual-wage FAQ

Which California electrical class code is the cheaper one, 5190 or 5140?

5140 — the high-wage code, and the cheaper of the two. The pair is written 5190/5140, and in WCIRB pair notation the first code is always the low-wage code. Electrical is the pair where that trips people up, because the high-wage code carries the lower number.

What is the California electrical dual-wage threshold for 2026?

For policies incepting on or after September 1, 2026 it rises from $36.00 to $40.00 per hour. At or above $40.00 the payroll goes to 5140; below it, to 5190.

Does the threshold apply per employee or to the whole crew?

Per employee, individually — never to a crew or company average. And it is a cliff: $39.99 is entirely low-wage payroll, $40.00 is entirely high-wage payroll.

What counts toward regular hourly wage?

Less than most contractors assume. Overtime premium, bonuses, and per diem generally do not count the way employers expect, and the classification is verified at final audit. Payroll not shown to meet the threshold defaults to the low-wage code.

Placing a California electrical contractor

CPR Business Solutions is a wholesale workers' comp MGA placing hard California construction risk since 2021 — elevated mods, adverse loss history, prior lapses, and classification-heavy accounts. Send the ACORD 130, five years of loss runs, the mod worksheet, and a wage report, and we'll tell you what markets we can bring. Start with the full dual-wage threshold tracker or submit the account.

Call 714-928-3858 or email proposals@cprbrokers.com to talk through a California account.

Related California class code guides: the full class code lookup table · roofing 5552 vs 5553 · carpentry 5403 vs 5432 · steel framing 5632 vs 5633 · wallboard and drywall 5446 vs 5447 · glaziers 5467 vs 5470 · plastering and stucco 5484 vs 5485 · masonry 5027 vs 5028 · sheet metal and ductwork 5538 vs 5542 · painting 5474 vs 5482 · concrete 5201 vs 5205 · fire sprinkler 5185 vs 5186 · plumbing and HVAC 5183 vs 5187 · excavation, sewer and water mains · the six finish and mechanical trades overview · the dual-wage threshold tracker.