All 50 states + DC · Checked October 22, 2026
Pick your state for the full verdict page: the regime, the class, the threshold, the exam, the real state cost, the sub rule, the city layer and the deductible law — each dated and sourced. Or run the checker and let it compute.
License above a job-value threshold
Alabama has no single roofing license. Residential roofing over $2,500 needs a Residential Roofer license from the Home Builders Licensure Board (HBLB), and broader residential work over $10,000 needs an HBLB home builder license. Commercial, industrial or public roofing at $100,000 or more needs a license from the Licensing Board for General Contractors (LBGC).
Registration + endorsement
Alaska does not license roofers by exam; it registers them. A roofer working for hire must hold a Specialty Contractor registration from the Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing (AS 08.18), with a $10,000 bond and set liability insurance minimums. Building or substantially altering a home also requires a Residential Contractor Endorsement, which does require a course and an exam.
State license
Arizona roofers must be licensed by the Registrar of Contractors (ROC) in the roofing classification for their market: R-42 (residential), C-42 (commercial) or CR-42 (dual). A license is required whenever labor and materials exceed $1,000 or a building permit is required, and the business must have a qualifying party who passes the trade and statutes-and-rules exams.
Registration only
Since January 1, 2022, anyone doing residential roofing on a single-family home for more than $2,000 must register as a Residential Roofer with the Residential Contractors Committee of the Arkansas Contractors Licensing Board, post a $15,000 bond and pay a $20 filing fee — no exam. Commercial roofing at $50,000 or more instead requires a full commercial contractor license, which does require the Business and Law exam.
State license
Roofing in California is C-39 work licensed by the Contractors State License Board. You need a C-39 license when the combined labor and materials reach $1,000, when a building permit is required, or when employee labor is used. The qualifier must show four years of journey-level experience and pass the Law and Business and C-39 trade exams, and every C-39 licensee must carry workers' compensation — even with zero employees.
No state license
Colorado has no statewide roofing license or registration. Roofing is licensed by the city or county where the work is done — Denver, for example, requires a Specialty Class D contractor license held through a certified supervisor — and every roofing job needs a local permit. State law still regulates the contract itself, especially insurance-paid residential roofing.
Registration only
Connecticut has no roofing trade license or exam. A roofer doing home improvement work for a homeowner must register as a Home Improvement Contractor with the Department of Consumer Protection under the Home Improvement Act (Conn. Gen. Stat. ch. 400), show at least $20,000 of general liability insurance, and pay the registration fee plus the Home Improvement Guaranty Fund assessment. Commercial work on larger structures falls under the separate Major Contractor regime, not the HIC registration.
Registration only
Delaware has no roofing trade license or exam. Before doing any construction work — residential or commercial, including roofing — a contractor must hold a Contractor Registration Certificate from the Department of Labor under 19 Del. C. ch. 36 and a Delaware business license from the Division of Revenue, file an OSHA-compliant safety plan, and show Delaware workers' compensation coverage.
State license
DC has no roofing trade license or exam. Roofing a home for a homeowner requires a Basic Business License with a Home Improvement Contractor endorsement from the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection (DLCP), a $25,000 surety bond, set liability insurance minimums and a designated licensed home improvement salesperson. Larger or commercial roofing is done under a General Contractor/Construction Manager license, which is classed by single-project value and carries much higher insurance minimums.
State license
Florida licenses roofers under Chapter 489 through the Construction Industry Licensing Board. A Certified Roofing Contractor (CCC) may work statewide after passing both state exams and showing four years of experience; a Registered Roofing Contractor (RC) works only in the local jurisdiction that issued its certificate of competency. There is no small-job exemption — a license is required for roofing at any price, including as a subcontractor.
No state license
Georgia has no state roofing license. Roofers are exempt specialty contractors under the Residential and General Contractors law (O.C.G.A. 43-41-17): a roofer doing roofing work within the specialty does not need a state residential or general contractor license. What the state does require is a local business license (occupational tax certificate) and building permits where the city or county requires them, plus the insurance-claim contract rules in O.C.G.A. 10-1-393.12.
State license
Hawaii licenses roofers at the state level. Anyone doing roofing work over the $1,500 handyman threshold — or any job that needs a building permit, at any price — must hold a Contractors License Board license, normally the specialty C-42 Roofing classification, working through a Responsible Managing Employee (RME) who has passed the trade and business-and-law exams. Licenses renew every two years on September 30 of even-numbered years.
Registration only
Idaho does not license roofers, but a contractor doing construction work over $2,000 must be registered with the Idaho Contractors Board (Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses) under the Idaho Contractor Registration Act, Idaho Code Title 54, Chapter 52. Registration is paperwork and insurance only — there is no trade exam and no experience test — and the registration number must appear on contracts, permits, ads and jobsite documents.
State license
Illinois requires a state roofing contractor license from the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) for roofing work — general contractors who roof need it too; there is no separate general-contractor license that covers roofing. The business licenses through a qualifying party who passes the Continental Testing exam: a Limited license covers residential buildings of 8 units or fewer, an Unlimited license covers residential, commercial and industrial work, and a Commercial/Industrial-only path also exists. Bond, liability/property-damage insurance, workers' compensation and unemployment-insurance compliance are all conditions of the license.
No state license
Indiana has no state roofing license and the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency does not regulate roofers. Roofing is governed locally: some cities license general contractors (Indianapolis is the big one) and require permits, while many places require little beyond a business registration. The statewide rules that do bite are consumer-contract rules — the Home Improvement Contracts Act, IC 24-5-11, including its ban on offering to pay or rebate an insurance deductible.
Registration only
Iowa does not license roofers as a trade, but every construction contractor earning $2,000 or more a year must register annually under Iowa Code Chapter 91C (administered today through the Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing / Division of Labor, historically Iowa Workforce Development). Registration checks the business, unemployment-insurance account and workers' compensation — it does not test roofing skill — and out-of-state contractors must also post a $25,000 bond.
Registration only
Kansas does not license roofers, but since July 1, 2013 every roofing contractor — residential and commercial — must hold a roofing contractor registration certificate from the Attorney General under the Kansas Roofing Registration Act (K.S.A. 50-6,123 et seq., part of the Consumer Protection Act) before offering or doing roofing work for pay. There is no exam: registration turns on age 18+, insurance ($500,000 liability plus workers' compensation), a tax clearance, and good-standing disclosures.
No state license
Kentucky has no state license, registration or exam for roofing or general contractors — the state licenses only trades such as electrical, plumbing and HVAC through the Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction. A roofer's state-level duties are consumer-law duties: the residential roofing contract and prohibited-acts rules in KRS 367.620-367.628, including the ban on offering to pay or rebate an insurance deductible. Everything credential-shaped is local (city/county occupational licenses) or voluntary (Kentucky Roofing Contractors Association certification).
License above a job-value threshold
Louisiana licenses contractors by project value through the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors (LSLBC): commercial work at $50,000+, new residential construction over $75,000, and home improvement registration for residential remodel work from $7,500. From January 1, 2026 (Act 422 of 2025), residential roofing at $7,500 or more specifically requires the new Residential Roofing classification (a subclassification of Residential Construction) or a Residential Construction license, with a residential roofing trade exam — the old idea that a roofer could sit entirely inside home improvement registration for roof work is over.
No state license
Maine does not license roofers — or general contractors at all. The Attorney General states it plainly: in Maine, general contractors and trades such as roofing and framing are not licensed or regulated. The law that protects homeowners instead is the Home Construction Contracts Act (10 M.R.S. ch. 219-A): any home construction or repair job over $3,000 needs a written contract with required terms, and a contractor generally cannot demand more than one-third down.
State license
Maryland has no roofer-only license. Roofing work on an existing home for a homeowner is home improvement, so the contractor needs a Maryland Home Improvement Commission (MHIC) license, with an exam, two years of experience, financial solvency, and at least $500,000 of general liability insurance. MHIC does not cover new-home construction or purely commercial work, which follow separate routes.
Registration + endorsement
Massachusetts splits the credential in two. Anyone doing residential contracting on an existing one-to-four-family owner-occupied home must be registered as a Home Improvement Contractor (HIC) — no exam — and pay into the Guaranty Fund. Supervising roof-covering work takes a separate Construction Supervisor License, Specialty Roof Covering, which does require experience and an exam, and structural roof work needs a full or restricted CSL.
State license
Michigan licenses residential roofers through LARA. Trade work on an existing home — including roofing — needs a Residential Maintenance and Alteration (M&A) Contractor license that names the Roofing craft, or a full Residential Builder license. Both take 60 hours of pre-licensure education and a state exam, and there is no state license for purely commercial work.
State license
Minnesota licenses the roofing business, not the individual worker. A company that contracts directly with homeowners for roofing needs a DLI Residential Roofer license, a $15,000 surety bond, statutory liability insurance, and a designated qualifying person who has passed the Qualifying Roofer (QR) exam — with no experience or education prerequisite to sit that exam. The roofer license covers roofing only: gutters, downspouts, soffit and fascia require a Residential Building Contractor or Remodeler license instead.
State license
Mississippi licenses roofers through the State Board of Contractors (MSBOC) once a job passes a dollar threshold. Residential roofing, remodeling or repair over $10,000 needs a Residential Roofer license — a subclass of Residential Remodeler limited to roof coverings and roof drainage — with a Law and Business exam plus a trade exam. Below $10,000 no state license is required, though cities can still require registration and permits.
No state license
Missouri does not license roofers or general contractors at state level at all. The credential that matters is local: Kansas City, the City of St. Louis, St. Louis County, Springfield and other jurisdictions run their own contractor licensing or registration, bonds and insurance rules. State law still controls how roofers sell insurance work — §407.725 bans advertising or promising to pay a deductible.
Registration only
Montana does not test roofers for skill. Businesses in construction — expressly including installation or repair of roofing or siding — that have employees must hold the Department of Labor and Industry credential, which until Dec. 31, 2025 was called Construction Contractor Registration and from Jan. 1, 2026 is a Construction Contractor License under House Bill 239. It is a workers' compensation and compliance credential: $70 for two years, no exam and no experience requirement. A solo worker with no employees instead needs an Independent Contractor Exemption Certificate or their own workers' compensation cover.
Registration only
Nebraska has no roofing license and no contractor exam. Every contractor and subcontractor doing construction business in Nebraska — roofers included — must register with the Department of Labor under the Contractor Registration Act and renew annually. Registration is about tracking the business and its workers' compensation cover, not about proving roofing skill, and some cities, notably Omaha, add their own contractor licensing on top.
State license
Nevada fully licenses roofers through the State Contractors Board. Roofing work needs a Classification C-15 license (which covers all its subclasses) or the C-15a Roofing subclass alone, with four years of qualifying experience, a Contractor Management Survey (business and law) exam plus a trade exam, a board-set bond, a monetary limit, and participation in the Residential Recovery Fund for home work.
No state license
New Hampshire issues no state license or registration for roofers or general contractors. There is no state board that vets roofers, no exam, and no state fee — the checks that substitute are local building permits, the state building code the contractor is still responsible for meeting (RSA 155-A), workers' compensation for employers, and the homeowner's own verification of insurance and references. Asbestos work is the exception, with its own licensing.
Registration only
New Jersey has no separate roofer license and no general contractor license. Anyone doing roofing or other home improvement work on an existing home must register as a Home Improvement Contractor business with the Division of Consumer Affairs, carry at least $500,000 in liability insurance, post tiered compliance security, and put the 13VH registration number on contracts, ads and vehicles. A 2024 law creates a true individual license with training and an exam, but registration is still the operative requirement while the new Board finishes its rules.
State license
New Mexico licenses roofers through the Regulation and Licensing Department's Construction Industries Division (CID). Roofing work needs the GS-21 Roofing specialty classification — or a broader building license that includes it — with a designated Qualifying Party who has two years of foreman-level experience and passes the trade and Business and Law exams. There is no roofing work exemption for a real roofing business; the only carve-out is a narrow handyman certificate capped at $7,200 a year in total pay.
No state license
New York State does not license roofers or general contractors. Whether a roofer needs a license depends entirely on where the home is: New York City and the downstate counties of Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Putnam and Rockland each run their own Home Improvement Contractor license, and the City of Buffalo does too. Outside those jurisdictions there is generally no county HIC license, though building permits and local rules still apply, and public-works contractors must register separately with the State Department of Labor.
License above a job-value threshold
North Carolina has no roofing-specific license. Roofing is a specialty classification, S(Roofing), inside the general contractor license run by the NC Licensing Board for General Contractors. If the cost of your own contract is $40,000 or more, you must hold a GC license in a classification that covers the work (Building, Residential, or the S(Roofing) specialty under a covering classification) with a Limited, Intermediate or Unlimited limitation; below $40,000 no state GC license is required for the job.
State license
North Dakota has no separate roofer license. Under NDCC Chapter 43-07, anyone doing construction, repair or alteration work — including roofing — on a job valued over $4,000 must hold a Secretary of State contractor license in the class that covers the job's value: Class D up to $100,000, Class C up to $300,000, Class B up to $500,000, and Class A with no limit. There is no exam and no state license bond; the application turns on insurance, workers' compensation standing and business registration.
No state license
Ohio does not license roofers at the state level, for homes or for commercial work. The Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board (OCILB) licenses only five trades — electrical, HVAC, hydronics, plumbing and refrigeration — and roofing is not one of them. A roofing business registers its entity with the Secretary of State, carries Bureau of Workers' Compensation coverage if it has employees, and then meets whatever registration or license the city or county where the job sits requires.
Registration + endorsement
Oklahoma roofers must register with the Construction Industries Board (CIB) under the Roofing Contractor Registration Act, 59 O.S. 1151.1 et seq., and hold the endorsement for the work they do: a Commercial Endorsement (exam-based) for commercial work, and a new Residential Roofing Endorsement that becomes required for all residential roofing on January 1, 2028 after a 2027 grandfather transition. Registration renews every year, and since July 1, 2026 there is no first-offense warning — unregistered work draws immediate misdemeanor enforcement.
State license
Oregon requires anyone who works for pay on construction improvements to real property — roofing is listed by name — to hold a Construction Contractors Board (CCB) license. There is no separate roofer license and no minimum job size: the roofer picks an endorsement (for example Residential Specialty for trade-only work, Residential General, or the commercial levels, or dual), completes 16 hours of pre-license training, passes the Oregon exam at 70%, and files the bond and liability insurance for that endorsement. The license costs $400 for two years.
Registration only
Pennsylvania does not license roofers or general contractors at the state level and has no trade exam. A roofer who does $5,000 or more of home improvement work a year on existing homes must register with the Attorney General's Bureau of Consumer Protection under the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act (HICPA), show at least $50,000 of liability coverage, and put the PA registration number on contracts, estimates and ads. Commercial roofing is largely unlicensed at the state level; Philadelphia and Pittsburgh add their own city licensing on top.
State license
Rhode Island splits roofing in two. Every contractor doing work over $500 — residential or commercial — must register with the Contractors' Registration and Licensing Board (CRLB), complete pre-registration education for residential work, and carry at least $500,000 in liability insurance. On top of registration, roofing contractors must hold a Board roofing license under R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 5-73 — with an exam, $2,000,000 of insurance and OSHA 10 for all field personnel — except that the licensing requirement does not apply to contractors applying shingles only; the Board administers the license as its Commercial Roofing License for work on nonresidential structures.
Registration + endorsement
For houses, roofers register as Residential Specialty Contractors with the LLR Residential Builders Commission — roofing is a listed specialty trade, with no trade exam for the registered category. Commercial roofing over $5,000 needs a Contractors' Licensing Board general contractor license in a General Roofing or Specialty Roofing classification, with exams and financial limits.
No state license
South Dakota has no state license for roofing or general contractors — only electricians and plumbers are state-licensed trades. Every contractor improving real property must hold a free state Contractor's Excise Tax License and pay the 2% contractor excise tax, and cities such as Sioux Falls and Rapid City license roofers locally.
License above a job-value threshold
Tennessee licenses by project value, not by a stand-alone roofing license. A Board for Licensing Contractors contractor license — with a roofing classification/monetary limit — is required at $25,000 or more, including for roofing subcontractors whose portion is $25,000 or more. Smaller home roofing in nine counties needs a Home Improvement license from $3,000 to $24,999.
No state license
Texas does not license or register roofing contractors at the state level — TDLR does not administer roofing, and anyone may legally roof without a state credential. What controls the work is city contractor registration and permits, plus a strict state ban on paying, waiving or advertising away an insurance deductible. The voluntary RCAT Licensed Roofing Contractor credential is a private certification, not a license.
State license
Utah licenses roofers through DOPL. The dedicated route is the S280 Roofing Contractor specialty classification; a B100 General Building or R100 Residential & Small Commercial license also covers roofing. A qualifier with experience, a pre-license course and the Utah Business & Law exam, plus $1M/$2M liability insurance, are the core gates.
Registration only
Vermont has no contractor or roofing license and no exam or experience test. Since April 1, 2023, anyone contracting with a homeowner for residential construction — expressly including roofing — over $10,000 including labor and materials must first register with the Secretary of State's Office of Professional Regulation, carry $1M/$2M liability insurance, and use a written contract.
State license
Virginia licenses the business, not a stand-alone roofer. Any roofing job over $1,000 needs a DPOR Board for Contractors license: Class C for smaller jobs, Class B in the middle, Class A for large work, each with a Building (BLD) or Home Improvement classification/specialty covering roofing. A designated employee passes the business exam and a qualified individual proves trade experience.
Registration only
Washington does not license roofers and gives no exam. Every contractor — general or specialty — must register with Labor & Industries before bidding, advertising or doing work, post a surety bond ($30,000 general / $15,000 specialty), and carry general liability insurance. Roofing is one of L&I's 63 specialty trades under a specialty registration.
License above a job-value threshold
West Virginia requires a Contractor Licensing Board license, issued through the Division of Labor, for contracting work at or above the statutory dollar threshold. Roofers take a specialty/general classification, pass Business & Law and trade exams through the exam vendor at 70%, and file workers' comp, unemployment and wage-bond paperwork — the license itself is only $90 a year.
Registration + endorsement
Wisconsin has no general contractor or roofing license. For roofing and other general construction on one- and two-family homes where you pull the building permit, the business needs a DSPS Dwelling Contractor Certification and at least one person must hold the Dwelling Contractor Qualifier Certification (12-hour course, no trade exam). Commercial roofing has no state credential.
No state license
Wyoming issues no statewide general contractor or roofing license — at the state level only electricians (and a few other trades) are licensed. Roofers are credentialed, if at all, by the city they work in: Cheyenne, Casper, Laramie and others run their own contractor licensing, exams, insurance and bonding.
