How do you know if a roofer is good?

A good roofer is licensed where required, carries general liability and workers’ comp, gives you an itemized written scope, pulls the permit in their own name, and has recent local references you can actually call. Vague answers, missing paperwork, or pressure to sign are the opposite signal.

Are roofers required to have a license?

In about 22 states, yes, and that leaves 28 where the answer is no. Roughly 14 states take a registration instead, which is a form and a fee rather than a test of skill. The other 14, which include Texas, Ohio, Colorado and Georgia, issue no roofing credential at all. Check what your own state actually offers before you go looking for a number, because in more than half the country there is no number to find, and the empty search result means nothing about the roofer.

How to check if a roofing company is legit online?

Online gets you less than you have been led to expect. Where your state licenses roofers, type the number into the board’s own site yourself rather than trusting a screenshot, and confirm it is active and held in the company’s legal name. Where your state licenses nobody, the search bar returns nothing and that is the correct output, not a verdict. The check that actually holds up in all fifty states happens on the phone. Ask for the insurance certificate, then call the carrier and the agent named on its face and make them confirm both policies are in force this week: general liability for damage to your house, and workers’ compensation for a man who gets hurt on your roof. That paper proves only that coverage existed on the morning it printed.

Should you tell a roofer your budget?

Not up front. Leading with your maximum, or with which competing bid is lowest, gives away your bargaining power. Give each roofer the scope you want and let them price it. Keep your insurance adjuster’s estimate to yourself until you’ve chosen a contractor.

What are signs a roofer is reputable?

Proof of license and both insurances, an itemized written estimate, a permit pulled in their name, milestone-based payments, a real workmanship warranty, and references from local jobs in the past year.

What to Look for When Hiring a Roofer

Published by TradeIQ · Updated July 12, 2026

Hiring a roofer is one of the biggest checks most homeowners ever write, and the work you do before the first estimate is worth more than anything you do after it. Here is how to verify a roofing contractor: what your state actually issues for roofing, why an empty database is not the answer you think it is, and the one check that holds up in all fifty states. Give it ten minutes. Most of what you are afraid of does not survive it.

Homeowner reviewing a roofing quote next to a sign showing four contractor prices with licensed, insured, and local badges, and a crew working on a tile roof behind.

Key takeaways

Find out what your state issues before you search. About 22 states license roofers, 14 only register them, and 14 issue nothing at all.
Do not read an empty database as a verdict. In more than half the country it is simply the correct output.
His insurance certificate proves only that coverage was in force on the morning it printed. Phone the carrier and make them confirm both policies are live this week.
Where there is no license to check, verification is the permit, the insurance, the supply-yard credit, and three local references from the last year.

Check what your state issues before you go looking

Almost every guide tells you to look up the license. Almost none of them tell you that in half the country there is no license to look up, and that is the sentence that gets an honest roofer accused.

Roofing licenses: 22 states, and 28 that do something else

Roughly 22 states issue a real roofing license. Another 14 only ask a roofer to register, which is a form and a fee and a test of nothing. The last 14, Texas, Ohio, Colorado and Georgia among them, hand out no roofing credential whatsoever. Several of those 14 still run a public lookup tool for other trades, so the search bar is right there, it works, and it returns nothing for your roofer. Nothing is what it is supposed to return. An empty result in a state that licenses nobody is not evidence of anything at all, and treating it as evidence is how a homeowner talks himself out of the best bid he got.

So establish what exists where you live before you go hunting. Where your state does license roofers, get the number, type it into the board's own site yourself rather than trusting a screenshot, and confirm it is active and held in the company's legal name and not a person who left in 2019. The dollar threshold is worth a second of thought too: only about 15 states tie the license to the size of the job, and in California, Nevada, Arizona and Hawaii the small-job exemption evaporates the moment a permit is required. A reroof always pulls a permit. There is no small job.

What to do when your state issues nothing

You are not left with nothing. You are left with the checks that were always the real ones, and they happen to work in all 50 states. Can the roofer produce a certificate of insurance whose carrier will confirm it. Will he pull the permit in his own name. Does the supply yard know him, meaning does his material arrive on credit rather than on your deposit. Can he hand you three addresses within a few miles, from the last twelve months, of people who will pick up the phone. A roofer who clears those four is verified in the only way that would have mattered anyway, license or no license.

Insurance: the check that works everywhere

Ask him for the insurance certificate, then do the part almost nobody does. That sheet of paper proves one thing: a policy was in force on the morning it printed, which could be eleven months and one cancellation ago. Phone the carrier and the agent named on the face of it and make them confirm the coverage is in force this week. Two policies have to be named. General liability, which pays when a bundle goes through your bay window. And workers compensation, which quietly decides whether a man who falls off your roof becomes his problem or yours. Uninsured roofers are cheaper for a reason, and the reason lands on your homeowner’s policy.

The questions to ask a roofer before you hire

Bring this list to the estimate. How a roofer answers tells you as much as the answers themselves: a good one welcomes the questions, a bad one gets cagey.

1Are you licensed for roofing in this state, and can I have the number?
2Do you carry general liability and workers’ comp? Can I see both certificates?
3Is this your own crew, or do you sub the work out? Who supervises the job?
4What’s the full scope: tear-off, underlayment, flashing, and ventilation?
5What shingle brand and line, and what’s the wind and warranty rating?
6What’s your workmanship warranty, and is it separate from the manufacturer’s?
7What’s the payment schedule, and how much is due upfront?
8Who pulls the permit?
9What happens if you find rotted decking once the old roof is off?
10Can you give me three local references from jobs in the past year?

When the record exists and he is lying about it

Everything on this page assumes the man is answering you honestly and the records are simply thin. Sometimes the records are not thin and he is inventing them, which is a different animal and calls for a different list. We keep that one on our page about roofing contractor red flags. Read it if anything in the driveway sounded rehearsed.

What a reputable roofer does differently

Puts a detailed, itemized scope in writing before asking for a signature
Carries and shows proof of both general liability and workers’ comp
Pulls the permit in their own name, not yours
Offers real local references and can point to recent jobs nearby
Explains the flashing and ventilation plan without being prompted
Asks for a reasonable deposit and ties the rest to milestones

A word on the deposit, before you get to the contract

Whatever number he says out loud at the estimate, do not treat it as normal until you have read your own state's rule, because a couple of states cap a roofing deposit far below anything a salesman will quote you and New York bars one outright. That belongs to the contract rather than to the vetting, and the questions to ask a roofer before signing take the deposit statute by statute. For now, write down what he asked for and keep it in your pocket.

The check came back strange?

A license number that returns a different company name. A carrier who will not confirm the paper. A state that issues no roofing credential at all, so there is nothing there to find. Send a TradeIQ roofer what you turned up, and he will name which of those three you are actually holding.

Get a verification you can actually act on

The ten minutes above are yours to spend, and we would rather you spent them. Bring us the result when it does not come back clean. Then notice who you would otherwise be asking: the next roofer on your list, the one who gets the job if your man fails the check. He is a poor choice of referee. A TradeIQ roofer is not on your list and is not next in line, which is why he is free to give you the unprofitable answer: your state licenses nobody, the empty page is correct, and the roofer in your driveway is fine.

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Frequently asked questions

How do you know if a roofer is good?: A good roofer is licensed where required, carries general liability and workers’ comp, gives you an itemized written scope, pulls the permit in their own name, and has recent local references you can actually call. Vague answers, missing paperwork, or pressure to sign are the opposite signal.
Are roofers required to have a license?: In about 22 states, yes, and that leaves 28 where the answer is no. Roughly 14 states take a registration instead, which is a form and a fee rather than a test of skill. The other 14, which include Texas, Ohio, Colorado and Georgia, issue no roofing credential at all. Check what your own state actually offers before you go looking for a number, because in more than half the country there is no number to find, and the empty search result means nothing about the roofer.
How to check if a roofing company is legit online?: Online gets you less than you have been led to expect. Where your state licenses roofers, type the number into the board’s own site yourself rather than trusting a screenshot, and confirm it is active and held in the company’s legal name. Where your state licenses nobody, the search bar returns nothing and that is the correct output, not a verdict. The check that actually holds up in all fifty states happens on the phone. Ask for the insurance certificate, then call the carrier and the agent named on its face and make them confirm both policies are in force this week: general liability for damage to your house, and workers’ compensation for a man who gets hurt on your roof. That paper proves only that coverage existed on the morning it printed.
Should you tell a roofer your budget?: Not up front. Leading with your maximum, or with which competing bid is lowest, gives away your bargaining power. Give each roofer the scope you want and let them price it. Keep your insurance adjuster’s estimate to yourself until you’ve chosen a contractor.
What are signs a roofer is reputable?: Proof of license and both insurances, an itemized written estimate, a permit pulled in their name, milestone-based payments, a real workmanship warranty, and references from local jobs in the past year.

Related Roofing resources

How to Compare Roofing Contractor Quotes Roofing Contractor Red Flags to Avoid Questions to Ask Before You Sign a Roofing Contract