Roofing Business Guides

What makes roofing different

Roofing runs on the same basics as any trade, but five things shape a roofing company more than most: licensing, work at height, weather and storms, the way homeowners buy, and the way roofs are priced and paid for. Each section below covers one and links the guide that goes deeper.

Licensing: check your state, then your city

Contractor licensing is set by states and local governments, and the rules for roofers vary widely. Some states license roofing contractors as their own category, some fold roofing into a general or home improvement license, some only require registration, and cities and counties can add their own registration and permit rules. Before you bid, ask your state's contractor licensing board and each local building department what you need. If you follow storms into another state, check that state's rules before you sign a contract there.

Shingle manufacturers also run contractor certification programs, often tiered, that can unlock extended warranties. They are voluntary credentials, not licenses. How to start a roofing business covers the questions to ask your board, the insurance quotes to get before you price a roof, supplier accounts and tear-off debris.

Safety: fall protection shapes every job

Falls define the risk in roofing, and the federal rules are specific. BLS notes that roofers have one of the highest rates of injuries and illnesses of all occupations ¹.

• The 6-foot rule. In residential construction, OSHA requires each employee working 6 feet or more above a lower level to be protected by a guardrail system, a safety net system or a personal fall arrest system, unless another part of the rule allows an alternative ².
• Training and records. Each employee who might be exposed to fall hazards must be trained by a competent person, and you verify that training with a written certification record ³.
• No roofers under 18. Federal child labor rules generally prohibit anyone under 18 from working in roofing occupations, on the roof or on the ground, with a narrow exception for apprentices and student-learners ⁴. Your state may add limits of its own.

The fall protection glossary entry explains each system. Hiring your first roofing employee covers training, the gear you pay for, heat safety for new hires, workers' comp, and employees versus subcontracted crews.

Weather sets the calendar

Roofers generally don't work in rain or high wind, and roofs can get hot enough in summer to cause heat-related illness ¹. Storms then add demand on their own schedule:

• Hail. Nebraska, Colorado and Wyoming usually have the most hailstorms, and the area where they meet, known as hail alley, averages seven to nine hail days a year ⁵.
• Hurricanes. The Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30 ⁶.

In many markets that means prime install windows in spring and fall, a written heat plan for summer, crew days held back for storm season, and winters spent on repairs, inspections, training and next year's sales. Install in the cold only as the shingle manufacturer's cold-weather instructions allow. The roofing seasonal playbook walks through the year, including how to fund the slow months.

How homeowners buy a roof

Trust is the first thing you sell. A homeowner may go years between roofing jobs, can't see the damage on their own roof, and often meets you right after a storm, when crews they've never heard of are knocking on the same doors. What earns the job is an inspection with photos they can see from the ground, a written estimate they can compare line by line, and time to decide.

Two habits keep the sale clean:

• Respect cancellation rights. The FTC Cooling-Off Rule can give a buyer until midnight of the third business day to cancel a sale of $25 or more made at their home ⁷, so build the cancellation notice into every contract signed at a kitchen table.
• Leave the claim to the homeowner. Document the damage and write your scope, but never promise what an insurer will pay.

How to get more roofing customers covers honest inspections, storm response without pressure, job-site marketing, agent referrals and follow-up on estimates that wait on an adjuster. How to write a roofing estimate covers the measurements, line items, photos and warranty terms that show a homeowner, and an adjuster, exactly what they're paying for.

The money: squares, layers and claim checks

Price by the square, built from the bottom up

Roofs are measured, ordered and priced by the roofing square, which is 100 square feet of roof surface ⁸. A price per square is a result, not a starting point: two roofs with the same squares can cost very different amounts once pitch, waste on a cut-up roof, layers coming off and hidden decking damage are counted. Layers also decide whether you can roof over at all: under the 2021 International Residential Code, a recover isn't permitted when the existing roof already has two or more layers ⁹. Confirm the edition your jurisdiction enforces. How to price roofing jobs builds a full price from measurements, waste, tear-off by the layer and a per-sheet decking allowance, with a worked example.

Insurance jobs pay in pieces

On a claim job, most of the money comes from the homeowner's insurer, on the insurer's schedule. The Texas Department of Insurance, for example, tells homeowners that replacement cost coverage pays in two checks ¹⁰. Depending on the policy, the amount held back for depreciation, called recoverable depreciation, may not be released until the work is finished and documented, so your final invoice and photos are part of getting paid.

The deductible is the homeowner's to pay. Texas makes it illegal for a contractor to offer to waive, rebate or absorb a policyholder's deductible ¹¹. Other states set their own rules, so check with your state's department of insurance before you write insurance contracts. How to invoice roofing jobs covers retail and insurance invoicing, supplements, mortgage-company checks and lien waivers.

Materials come due first

On a re-roof, the supplier's bill can come due before you're paid, and on a claim the last check can trail the finished roof. Size your deposit to the materials order where your state allows it; how much deposit to ask for covers state limits and contract wording.