How to Vet a Roofer: Licensing, Insurance, Certifications, and the Complete Checklist

Picking the wrong roofer is one of the most expensive mistakes a homeowner can make. A bad roof job will look fine for a year or two, then start leaking, shedding granules, or failing at the flashing — and by then the contractor is either out of business or refusing to honor the workmanship warranty. This post is the complete checklist for vetting a roofer before you sign.

The 10-step vetting checklist

Each step is a pass/fail. Any contractor who fails one is disqualified. Plenty of good contractors pass all ten.

1. Licensing (verified on the state contractor board)

Every state except a handful require a contractor license for roofing work. Google "[your state] contractor license lookup" and search for the company. Verify:

License is current (not expired, suspended, or revoked)
License covers roofing specifically (some states have separate classifications)
License is in the company's name, not just an owner's personal name from a different company
No recent disciplinary actions or unresolved complaints

If your state doesn't require contractor licensing (Texas for some categories, for example), check city or county licensing.

2. Insurance (request the COI directly from their insurer)

A legitimate roofer carries two types of insurance:

General liability: minimum $1 million coverage. Pays if the crew damages your property.
Workers' compensation: covers crew injuries. Without workers' comp, an injured roofer can sue you (the homeowner) for medical costs.

Don't accept a certificate the contractor hands you.Request the Certificate of Insurance (COI) directly from the insurance company, with your name listed as the certificate holder. A contractor who balks at this request is hiding something.

3. Physical business address (verified real)

Every legitimate contractor has a real business address — typically a commercial building, not a residential house. Search the address on Google Street View. A P.O. box, a residential home with no signage, or a shared mailbox store ("Suite 300" at a UPS store) is a storm-chaser warning sign.

4. Local presence (minimum 5 years in your state)

A contractor who just moved to your state last month has no local reputation and no local accountability. Storm chasers follow disasters — they operate for 6–12 months in one state, then move. Require:

5+ years registered in your state (verifiable on state business filings)
Physical office in your metro area, not 500 miles away
Active local advertising (Google business profile, Facebook page, local publications) for at least 2 years

5. Manufacturer certifications (verified on the manufacturer's site)

Top-tier certifications — GAF Master Elite, CertainTeed SELECT ShingleMaster, Owens Corning Platinum Preferred — are publicly verifiable on the manufacturer's contractor locator. If a contractor claims one, look them up directly.

See this post on certifications for the full breakdown of which ones matter.

6. Workmanship warranty in writing (10+ years)

The shingles come with the manufacturer's warranty (30–50 years on materials). Your contractor should offer their own workmanship warranty covering installation errors:

Minimum 10 years
In writing on the contract, not just "we stand behind our work"
Transferable to the next homeowner if you sell
Covers leaks caused by installation, not just manufacturing defects

7. References from local completed projects

Ask for 3 references from projects completed in the last 12 months, within 10 miles of your home. Call them:

Did the crew show up on the scheduled date?
Was the cleanup thorough? Any nails in tires or pets' paws?
Did they find wood rot? How was the change order handled?
How long did the install take vs. the estimate?
Any leaks in the first rain? How were they handled?
Did the warranty registration come through?

Generic references from 2 years ago in other states don't count. Fresh local references do.

8. Online reviews (read the 3-star reviews)

Everyone has Google reviews. The useful ones are the 3-star reviews, where an honest customer explains one thing that went wrong and how the contractor handled it. A company with only 5-star reviews is either small, young, or review-manipulating. Look for:

50+ Google reviews (indicates volume)
Average 4.6+ (above 4.6 indicates quality)
Recent reviews (within 90 days)
Owner responses to negative reviews that are professional, not defensive
No pattern of canceled jobs, no-shows, or payment disputes

9. Better Business Bureau profile (not a rating)

The BBB rating itself isn't that meaningful, but the BBB profile is. Check:

How long has the business been tracked by BBB?
Are there unresolved complaints?
Read the complaints — what patterns emerge?

A BBB profile with 40 complaints in 2 years, mostly about unfinished work or warranty refusals, is disqualifying regardless of the letter grade.

10. Written contract with full line items

The contract should be detailed — see our estimate-decoding post for the full breakdown of what a good contract looks like. Summary:

Brand, color, and quantity of every material
Labor scope including tearoff, install, cleanup
Ventilation work explicitly specified
Wood-rot pricing per sheet
Payment schedule with clear triggers
Workmanship warranty in writing
Start and completion dates

The bonus checks

These aren't disqualifying but they separate good contractors from great ones:

EagleView or drone measurement report

Measuring a roof by climbing and tape-measuring is error-prone and slow. Professional contractors use aerial measurement services (EagleView, Hover, Roofr) that produce a precise sq-ft, linear-ft, and pitch-verified report. Ask to see it.

Project manager or superintendent on-site

On larger or premium jobs, a project manager — not just the crew foreman — oversees the work. This matters for quality control and for handling mid-project questions.

In-house crew vs. subcontracted

Ask: "Will your W-2 employees be on my roof, or a subcontractor?" W-2 employees are trained by the company and share its reputation. Subcontractors work for multiple companies and don't share the same accountability. Both can do good work, but it matters to know.

Post-install drone inspection

Premium contractors fly a drone post-install to verify workmanship from above. Photos are part of the completion package. This is something to request explicitly; it separates contractors who are proud of their work from ones who hope you won't check.

The hard-no disqualifiers

Any one of these and you walk away. No exceptions:

Demands cash only. Legitimate businesses accept checks, cards, and financing.
Shows up door-knocking after a storm. Often a storm chaser; see our separate post.
Refuses to put the contract in writing. No contract, no deal.
Pressures you to sign today. "Special price expires in 24 hours" is always a scam.
Won't show proof of insurance. Non-negotiable.
Wants you to file an insurance claim you don't need. Insurance fraud exposure.
Asks for more than 30% deposit. Cash flow shouldn't be your problem to solve.
Out-of-state license plates with no local address. Chaser.
Offers to waive your deductible. Illegal in most states; definitely fraud.

The interview questions

When you meet a contractor, ask these and listen to the answers:

How long have you been in business in this state?
Who will be on my roof — employees or subcontractors?
What manufacturer certifications do you currently hold?
What's your workmanship warranty, and will you put it in the contract?
Can I see your state contractor license and insurance COI?
How do you handle wood rot discovered at tearoff?
What's your change-order policy?
How long will my project take, start to finish?
Who registers my manufacturer warranty, and when do I receive proof?
Can you give me three local references from jobs completed this year?

A contractor who answers all 10 confidently, specifically, and verifiably is worth your business. A contractor who dodges or gets defensive on any of them isn't.

The negotiation stance

Once you've vetted the contractor, you're not fighting them — you're negotiating. Reasonable asks:

Cash discount (5–8%) if you're paying cash instead of using their financing
Upgrade to a premium shingle at a partial material cost
Extended workmanship warranty in exchange for a slightly faster payment
Include gutter cleaning or minor repair work as a throw-in

Unreasonable asks: cutting warranty, skipping starter course, skipping drip edge, skipping ice-and-water shield where code requires it, using lower-grade shingles without disclosure.

The hidden lever: the referral contractor

Most homeowners pick a contractor by searching Google or responding to a door-knocker. Both paths are saturated with storm chasers and low-reputation operators. The highest-quality path is a referral-based network that pre-vets contractors against all 10 criteria before you meet them.

Our free inspection form does exactly that — matches you with a local contractor who has already passed licensing, insurance, certification, local presence, warranty, and reference checks, so you start the conversation with someone who has already met the bar.