How to start a roofing business in 2026

Learn the roof first, or hire the person who has. Roofing is not a trade you learn from a video on the way to the first job, and the states that license it say so in years: California's qualifier needs "four years within the last ten years as a journeyperson, foreperson, supervising employee, contractor, or owner-builder" (CSLB), and Florida's certified roofing contractor "four years of experience or a combination of college and experience" (Florida DBPR). Where no license exists, the homeowner's roof is still the test. Work a season or two for a roofer, or start with a foreman who has, and keep the sales and the business side for yourself.

Do you need a license to start a roofing business? In the US it depends on the state, and the differences are large: some states license roofing as its own trade, some fold it into a general contractor or home-improvement license — often above a dollar line, in Washington from the first job — and Texas and Georgia have no state license at all. One line to read twice: California’s small-job limit is $1,000; it was $500 until 2025. Almost everywhere a re-roof needs a building permit, pulled by the contractor — HomeAdvisor puts it at $100 to $1,400 (HomeAdvisor, 2026 data). The license is another matter:

• California licenses roofing as the C-39 classification — "A roofing contractor installs products and repairs surfaces that seal, waterproof and weatherproof structures" (CSLB). The application is $450 and the initial license $200 for a sole owner, renewed at $450 (CSLB fee schedule); the qualifier needs the four years above, passes the trade and/or business-and-law exams the CSLB sets, and posts a $25,000 contractor bond, the amount since January 1, 2023 (CSLB). Since January 1, 2025, "Contractors can now perform jobs costing up to $1,000 without needing a license, if the work does not require a building permit and no employees are involved" — and "any contractor with employees must have a valid license to operate, regardless of the project's size or cost" (CSLB, Winter 2025). And the roofing classification is one of the few that must carry workers' compensation even with no employees (Bus. & Prof. Code §7125).
• Florida licenses roofing contractors under chapter 489 as certified — "allowed to contract in any jurisdiction in the state" — or registered, licensed by a local jurisdiction and registered with the state (Florida Statutes 489.105). The statute caps the certification application fee at $150, or $350 if the exam cost is included, and the certification fee at $250; a registration application at $100 and the registration fee at $200 (Florida Statutes 489.109). The DBPR's checklist adds a credit report with a FICO score, liability insurance "in the amounts determined by Board rule", and workers' compensation or an exemption within 30 days of the license (Florida DBPR).
• Illinois issues a limited roofing license for "roofing residential properties consisting of 8 units or less" and an unlimited one, with "a continuous bond to the Department in the amount of $10,000 for a limited license and in the amount of $25,000 for an unlimited license", liability insurance, workers' compensation for employees and a passed exam (225 ILCS 335). The license number goes on every contract, bid and permit application (Illinois IDFPR).
• Arizona licenses roofing through its Registrar of Contractors, and exempts only work whose "aggregate contract price, including labor, materials and all other items" is under $1,000 and "of a casual or minor nature" — never work that needs a building permit (A.R.S. 32-1121); a residential specialty contractor's bond is "not more than $7,500 and not less than $1,000" (A.R.S. 32-1152). The Registrar's own fee pages would not open for us, so we print no Arizona fee.
• Texas has none: "Texas does not currently require a state-issued license for reroofing contractors" (Texas Legislature, 2025). Your city's permit office is the rule, and one state law binds every roofer — the deductible, below.
• Georgia lists flat roofing, sheet metal roofing, and shingles and shakes among the traditional specialty trades whose contractors "do not have to hold a license" but must "comply with all applicable national, state, and local codes and ordinances" (Georgia Secretary of State).
• Louisiana created a residential roofing license in 2025, in force since January 1, 2026: “On and after January 1, 2026, any person who advertises, solicits, undertakes, attempts, offers, or submits a price, bid, quote or estimate to construct, supervise, direct, oversee, or perform any construction, modification, repair, or maintenance of any portion of a roofing system on a residential structure for which the project value is seven thousand five hundred dollars or more shall hold the classification of Residential Roofing or Residential Construction,” the new class with its own trade exam (La. R.S. 37:2156.4); a companion law “requires permitting and inspection of roof construction and reroofing” for projects begun on or after August 1, 2025 (Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors, August 2025).
• Minnesota: “Residential contractors who perform roofing work must be licensed” — as a residential roofer, building contractor or remodeler — while “Roofing subcontractors do not need a license but must register,” and contractors with under $15,000 a year in residential gross receipts are exempt with a yearly certificate (Minnesota DLI). The residential roofer license is $180, with “A $15,000 surety bond” and a qualifying person who passes the exam (Minnesota DLI, roofer license).
• North Carolina, Washington and Oregon fold roofing into a contractor license. North Carolina: “a general contractor must be licensed if the contract is valued at $40,000 or higher” (NC Licensing Board for General Contractors). Washington, from the first dollar: “Washington State requires all construction contractors to register with L&I,” roofing among the specialties, at a “$150.20” application with a “$15,000 for specialty contractors” bond (Washington L&I). Oregon’s board lists roofing first among the work that needs its license (Oregon CCB).
• Cities license too. Denver's roofing license is a $250 Specialty Class D license every three years plus a $60 supervisor certificate, also every three years (City of Denver); the certificate comes first and the license review takes about 14 to 20 business days (City of Denver).

Check your state contractor board and your city before you bid, and read our guide to whether you need a business license for the general one.

In the UK: GOV.UK lists no license to trade as a roofer; what it lists is the "Replacement of roof coverings on pitched and flat roofs" among the building work an installer can self-certify under a competent person scheme instead of applying for building regulations approval, with NAPIT and the National Federation of Roofing Contractors as the scheme operators (GOV.UK, September 2026). In Australia: in New South Wales you need a contractor license to carry out, advertise or contract for roof plumbing work — guttering, downpipes, flashing and roof coverings — or roof tiling work valued at more than $5,000 in labor and materials including GST, and unlicensed work can be fined $22,000 for an individual or $110,000 for a company (NSW Government, June 2026; NSW Government, June 2026). Other states and countries differ — check your local rules.

How to register a roofing business. The same four steps in every state, with different fees. Form the business — an LLC is $40 in Kentucky (Kentucky SOS), $300 in Texas (Texas SOS) and $70 in California plus a $20 statement of information (California SOS), where every LLC also owes an $800 yearly tax (California FTB) — or file a DBA if you'll trade as a sole proprietor under a business name. Get the free EIN (IRS) and open a business bank account. Get a city business license where your city wants one: Seattle's is $73 a year for a business with under $20,000 of revenue in the city and $147 from $20,000 to $499,999 in 2026 (City of Seattle). Our guide to whether you need an LLC walks through the choice state by state.

Fall protection is the law from the first employee. OSHA's residential construction rule: "Each employee engaged in residential construction activities 6 feet (1.8 m) or more above lower levels shall be protected by guardrail systems, safety net system, or personal fall arrest system", and on a steep roof with unprotected edges six feet up, "guardrail systems with toeboards, safety net systems, or personal fall arrest systems" (OSHA, 29 CFR 1926.501). The rule covers employees — OSHA lists "self-employed workers" among those the OSH Act doesn't cover (OSHA) — but the fall doesn't know the difference, and the manufacturer programs and the general contractors you'll sub for will ask. Workers' compensation: California requires it from the first employee (California DIR); Texas leaves it optional for most private employers (Texas Department of Insurance).

Insurance and the bond. General liability pays when a ladder goes through a window or a tarp fails in the rain; Insureon's own line is that "A fall from a ladder or a lawsuit from a homeowner could bankrupt your small roofing company" (Insureon). Its averages for roofing companies are $317 a month ($3,808 a year) for general liability, $125 a month ($1,503 a year) for a business owner's policy, $175 a month ($2,101 a year) for workers' compensation, $268 a month ($3,212 a year) for commercial auto, $42 a month for tools and equipment cover, and $9 a month ($112 a year) for a surety bond (Insureon, August 2026). The bond is the one your license may require — $25,000 in California (CSLB), $10,000 or $25,000 in Illinois (225 ILCS 335) — and the premium is a fraction of the face value. Get quotes from more than one insurer, and ask what the policy says about work above a certain height and about subcontractors.

The kit. Fall protection before anything: a roofer's kit with a harness, a 50-foot lifeline, a lanyard and a reusable roof anchor is $216.85, on sale $193.60, at one safety dealer (Traffic Safety Store); a 28-foot Type IA aluminum extension ladder is $715 at an industrial supplier's list price (Hanes Supply); a coil roofing nailer is $249 at a tool dealer (Coastal Tool). Add a pancake compressor and hose, tear-off forks and pry bars, a chalk line, tin snips, hook blades, tarps and a magnetic sweeper — no retailer's page we could open prices that set, so the plan carries it as a planning range of $400 to $1,000. Everything else, including the truck, can come from the first roof's income or be rented by the job.

What's left: the margin. Two companies that sell software to roofers put the numbers plainly. JobNimbus: "Gross profit margins in the roofing industry generally range from 25% to 40%", "Overhead for roofing companies typically runs 18-24% of revenue" and "Net profit margins for roofing companies generally land between 6% and 12%" (JobNimbus, August 2026); ServiceTitan: "The average gross profit margin in the roofing industry is between 20 and 40 percent" (ServiceTitan, November 2024). On what owners take home, an insurance agency's blog puts an owner-operator at $60,000 to $150,000 or more a year and a company with two to ten employees at $100,000 to $300,000 or more, and calls them "illustrative estimates only and not guarantees" (Wexford Insurance, September 2026). Read it as the shape, not a promise.

How to price: by the square, from a measured roof. A square is 100 square feet of roof. Measure it, count the squares, and price the pitch, the layers to tear off, the material, the waste and the dump fee before you add labor and margin — the cost guides above put architectural asphalt at $4 to $6 a square foot (HomeAdvisor), $500 to $1,500 a square (Fixr) or $550 to $750 a square (RoofingCalc), with materials for basic 3-tab shingles at $150 to $200 a square (RoofingCalc, February 2025) and a bundle of architectural shingles at $66.60 to $333 (Fixr, August 2025). A typical home in one Utah company's area "runs between 20 and 35 squares", takes "three to five days" and a crew of "two to five people" (Bob Harvey Roofing). Our free roofing estimate template is the per-square sheet most new roofers start from. Whatever you charge, write the price, the scope and the payment schedule down before the first shingle comes off.

The deposit, and the first job's materials. You buy the shingles before you're paid in full, so the deposit matters, and some states cap it. In California "a contractor may request a down payment, but it must not exceed $1,000 or 10 percent of the contract price, whichever is less" (CSLB, Winter 2025). One roofing company's page says "It's not uncommon for roofing companies to ask for anywhere from 10-60% upfront" and that it asks its own clients for 40% (RoofCrafters, March 2025). Plan to front the materials for one roof: at $150 to $200 a square for basic shingles (RoofingCalc) plus $50 a square to tear off and dump (Fixr), a 20-square roof is $4,000 to $5,000 before the final check.

Storm work, and the rule you must not break. An insurance roof is paid as the carrier pays: a bookkeeping company's guide to storm restoration describes a $30,000 roof with a $1,000 deductible paid first at an actual cash value of $19,000, then the recoverable depreciation once the work is documented, and warns that "An insurance roof can produce four separate payments — initial Actual Cash Value, recoverable depreciation, supplement, and overhead-and-profit recovery — arriving across ninety to one hundred eighty days" (Beancount, read October 2026); the deductible is the homeowner's share — on a $10,000 roof with a $1,000 deductible, the homeowner pays $1,000 (IKO, April 2024). Never offer to cover it: in Texas "It is illegal for contractors or roofers to offer to waive a deductible or promise a rebate for all or part of a deductible", with "up to a $2,000 fine and up to six months in jail" (Texas Department of Insurance, 2019), and in Illinois a contractor "must not advertise or promise to pay (or rebate) any portion of any insurance deductible" and cannot file the claim on the homeowner's behalf (Illinois IDFPR). Winter is the slow season and summer and fall the busy ones (JobNimbus), so price the year, not the month.

Sales tax on roofing work. In Texas, "Labor to repair, remodel, or restore residential real property is not taxable", while "The total amount charged for remodeling, repairing, or restoring nonresidential real property is taxable"; under a lump-sum contract you pay tax on the materials when you buy them and don't charge the customer tax, under a separated contract you buy the materials tax-free and collect tax from the customer on the materials line (Texas Comptroller). Other states tax contractors differently — ask an accountant before you write your first contract.

The business, and the manufacturer program. For one owner starting with residential re-roofs and repairs, our free roofing business plan puts the start at $9,479–$14,888: the nailer, harness kit and ladder, a year of general liability, the license where your state has one, registration, the website, and the materials for the first roof. A truck and your own living costs come on top. Once you're licensed and insured, the manufacturer programs open: GAF's certified tiers ask for a state license where the state requires one, "1 Million in Liability Insurance" and workers' compensation (GAF, March 2026). The roofing website templates show what a good roofer's site looks like, Zarla's roofing website builder is how homeowners searching for a roofer near them find yours, and our guide to SEO for roofers covers getting roofing leads without an agency. If your trade is the whole house, read our guide to becoming a general contractor; if it's the gutters, starting a gutter cleaning business.