Hawaii · Checked October 22, 2026
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.
| Item | Hawaii |
|---|---|
| Regime | State license — C-42 Roofing Contractor (Contractors License Board, HRS Chapter 444) |
| Exam | Part I Business & Law + Part II C-42 Trade exam (PSI) — pass mark Not published. Both parts must be passed within 6 months of Board approval of the application or the applicant must reapply. Exam fee reported at about $65 per part by exam-prep summaries of Board requirements (secondary). The Board's own pages checked for this dataset did not publish a passing score, so no pass percentage is stated. |
| Experience | 4 years of supervisory experience in the classification within the last 10 years (as journeyman, foreman, supervisor or contractor), documented with experience certificates/project history. A relevant degree can substitute for part of the experience under HAR 16-77-32 (reported up to 3 years for an accredited bachelor's in engineering/architecture/construction management — secondary summary; verify with the Board). |
| Application fee | $50 per application (not-returned) |
| License / registration fee | Initial license fee is prorated by issue date in the biennial cycle; DCCA publishes renewal at $338 for an active contractor entity or sole proprietor and $208 for an active RME (2026-2028 cycle). Initial-cycle license-fee figures vary by source ($415-$663 ranges reported secondarily). |
| Total state cost | Not published as a single verified total — $50 application + prorated initial license fee + exam fees; use the DCCA renewal figures ($338 entity / $208 RME) as the verified anchor. — Fees verified from the DCCA Contractors License Board page for renewal/restoration ($338 entity active, $208 RME active, $160 inactive; restoration $388/$258/$210). The initial license fee is set after approval and prorated, so it is shown here as Not published rather than guessed. |
| Bond | A $5,000 surety bond may be required by the Board based on financial review/credit; it is not an automatic flat requirement for every applicant. If imposed it must be maintained with evidence on file; after at least 1 year of continuous coverage a waiver may be requested (secondary summaries of Board practice). |
| Insurance minimums | Continuous coverage must be maintained and evidence kept on file with the Board: general liability at least $100,000 per person / $300,000 per occurrence for bodily injury plus $50,000 per occurrence for property damage, and workers' compensation if the contractor has employees. Lapse can result in automatic forfeiture of the license. |
| Who qualifies | Responsible Managing Employee (RME): for an entity, the RME is the individual who meets the experience test and passes both exams; a sole proprietor qualifies and tests personally. The license belongs to the entity/sole proprietor acting through its RME. |
| Timeline | Realistically about 3-4 months: the Board meets monthly (applications due by the first Tuesday of the month for review the following month, no December meeting), then the RME has up to 6 months to pass both exams; commonly 12-16 weeks application-to-license if exams are passed first try. |
| Renewal | Biennial: all licenses expire September 30 of even-numbered years (next: Sept. 30, 2026 for the Oct. 1, 2026-Sept. 30, 2028 period). Renewal requires the fee ($338 entity/sole proprietor active, $208 RME active), current insurance evidence, and a Hawaii tax clearance within 6 months matching the license name. Forfeited licenses may be restored only within 60 days, after which the person must apply as a new applicant. No continuing education requirement. |
| Credential | Scope | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| C-42 Roofing Contractor (specialty, Class C) | both | Covers installing weather-tight roof coverings (metal, composition/cementitious shingles, wood shingles/shakes, tile, built-up, modified bitumen, single-ply and fluid systems, spray foam), protective/reflective coatings, deck coatings, and roof flashing in connection with that work. Sub-classifications C-42a (aluminum/metal shingles) and C-42b (wood shingles/shake) also exist and are held automatically by General Building (B) licensees for those sub-scopes. |
| General Building Contractor (B) | both | A B licensee automatically holds certain specialty categories including C-42a and C-42b, but full C-42 roofing is a separate specialty classification — verify scope on the Board's classification descriptions before relying on a B license for roofing. |
License trigger: $1,500 — Aggregate contract price for labor and materials (HRS 444-2(4) handyman exemption). Exemption does NOT apply if a building permit is required at any price, and a job may not be split into $1,500-or-less pieces to evade licensing.
Subcontractors performing contracting work over the threshold (or permit work) must themselves be licensed in the proper classification; an unlicensed person may only work as an employee with wages as sole compensation (HRS 444-2(6) exemption). Hawaii has no reciprocity — out-of-state licensees must qualify fully.
State license governs statewide; there is no separate county roofing license. Counties (Honolulu, Maui, Hawaii, Kauai) control building permits, and a permit job needs a licensed contractor at any dollar amount.
No specific deductible-waiver statute found. No enacted Hawaii statute specifically banning roofing contractors from paying/waiving/rebating an insurance deductible was found. A 2021 bill (SB 601) would have prohibited exactly that advertising/promise, plus rescission rights, but it was a proposal in the material reviewed, not a cited enacted law — so no ban is claimed here. General unfair-practices law (HRS 480) may still reach deceptive offers.
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