Oklahoma · Remodeling licensing · official-source guide
Oklahoma licenses no remodeling or general contractor at state level. The Construction Industries Board says general contractors are not currently required to have a state license, but it does license plumbing, electrical, mechanical and roofing work. Roofers must register with the board and carry at least $500,000 liability. Oklahoma City and Tulsa require their own contractor registration.
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Verify a licenseVerified against agency sources on 2026-10-05. Rules and fees change; confirm with the named authority before relying on this guide.
Oklahoma issues no state remodeling license and no state general contractor license. The Construction Industries Board says so on its own home page: general contractors are not currently required to have a state license in Oklahoma, but trade licenses and registrations are required for performing, or offering to perform, licensed or registered trade work. The board gives the same answer in its general FAQ. That makes Oklahoma a two-layer state for anyone who remodels houses. The first layer sits at CIB and covers the regulated trades. The second layer sits at city hall, and CIB tells contractors in the same statement to contact local jurisdictions for any local requirements. A kitchen, bath, basement or whole-house remodeler can therefore hold no state credential at all and still work legally in Oklahoma, provided every regulated trade portion of the job is performed by a CIB licensee and the city registration and permits are in place. There is no state remodeling classification, no state remodeling exam, no state remodeling bond and no statewide contract-price threshold that turns a handyman into a licensed contractor. The practical effect is that your compliance work moves to two places you can actually control: the municipal registration you pull before you bid, and the trade licenses carried by the plumber, electrician, mechanical contractor and roofer you put on the job. Verify this from the CIB page itself, because several commercial licensing sites describe an Oklahoma contractor license that does not exist.
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CIB lists the skilled trades it regulates: plumbing, electrical, mechanical, roofing, building and construction inspectors, and home inspectors. Those are the pieces of a remodel that carry a state credential. A plumbing, electrical or mechanical contractor license is the top tier in each trade, with a journeyman tier below it and apprentices below that. CIB caps apprentices at a three-to-one ratio to contractors in electrical, mechanical and plumbing alike, and every apprentice application has to be signed by an active contractor. Once the exams are passed, the license stays inactive until CIB receives the bond and the insurance described in the next section. Renewal money is published on the board's own renewal form. A plumbing, electrical or mechanical contractor renewal is $200.00. A journeyman renewal is $75.00. A late fee kicks in thirty days after expiration and brings the contractor total to $300.00 and the journeyman total to $100.00. An electrical alarm endorsement renewal adds $25.00. A contractor who wants to move an active license to inactive status pays the same fee but carries no insurance or bond. For a remodeler, the number that matters is not your own license fee, because you do not have one. It is whether the trade license number on your subcontractor's paperwork is active rather than inactive, because an inactive license cannot lawfully contract for services.
CIB publishes exact minimums for the trade contractors a remodeler hires. An active plumbing, electrical or mechanical contractor has to carry a $5,000.00 corporate surety bond payable to the Oklahoma Construction Industries Board, with original signatures, seals and a power of attorney attached. The bond must be written in the individual license holder's name, must be continuous, and must provide thirty days of cancellation notice. The same contractor has to file a certificate of insurance showing at least $50,000.00 of commercial general liability coverage, again in the individual license holder's name, with the Construction Industries Board named as the certificate holder. CIB puts the renewal burden on the licensee and spells out the consequence: failure to keep current insurance causes the license to become inactive, and it is a violation to contract for services without current insurance and an active license. Whenever a policy is replaced or renewed, the licensee has to send CIB the name, license number and proof of insurance. Two things follow for a remodeler running subcontractors. First, a certificate of insurance dated eighteen months ago proves nothing, because the license may have gone inactive the day the policy lapsed. Second, $50,000.00 of general liability is a floor set for licensing, not a figure sized to a gut remodel in an occupied house, so your own policy and your subcontractor requirements will normally sit well above it.
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If your remodeling work touches a roof, Oklahoma does regulate you directly. The Roofing Contractor Registration Act requires resident and nonresident roofing contractors to hold a valid registration from CIB before engaging in, or offering to engage in, roofing-related services in the state. The statutory definition of roofing contractor work is written broadly and names installation, renovation, remodeling, reroofing, reconstruction, repair, maintenance, improvement, alteration and waterproofing. Advertising counts: the act defines advertise to include contracts, bids, business cards, vehicle signage, radio, television and electronic solicitations, and a person may not offer to engage in the business by advertisement or otherwise without a registration. To register, the contractor submits qualifications, proof of general liability insurance of at least $500,000.00 for residential roofing work, proof of workers compensation coverage or an affidavit of exemption, and proof of lawful presence. Commercial roofing work needs a commercial endorsement and general liability of at least $1,000,000.00. CIB must be listed as a certificate holder, and the insurer has to notify CIB if the policy is cancelled or lapses, at which point the registration is suspended as of the cancellation date. Registration and any commercial endorsement renew annually. The act carves out a handyman who is paid by the property owner, performs the roofing repair alongside other repairs to the property, and does not perform more than two roofing jobs per year. Past that, a remodeler who reroofs needs the registration.
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The roofing fees are published in the Construction Industries Board rules at Title 158, Chapter 85, and in the statute. The statute sets a fee of $75.00 for the annual registration certificate. The rule schedule breaks out the rest. Initial roofing contractor registration is $75.00, and initial registration by reciprocity is also $75.00. Renewal of a roofing contractor registration is $75.00. An application for a commercial endorsement on a registration is $30.00, the initial commercial endorsement is $200.00, and renewal of a commercial endorsement is $100.00. An initial commercial endorsement with registration by reciprocity is $275.00, renewal of that combination is $175.00, and an initial roofing endorsement by reciprocity alone is $200.00. Late money is where this gets expensive. A registration renewed 31 to 60 days after expiration carries a $100.00 late fee. A registration suspended for cause carries a $150.00 late fee. A revoked registration carries a $300.00 reinstatement fee on top of the renewal. Registrations expire on the registrant's birth month, so the renewal date is personal rather than calendar-based, which is how people miss it. Examination fees are separate and paid directly to the testing provider, not to CIB. All registration and endorsement fees are due when the application is filed, and the statute says application and renewal fees are not refundable. Fee revenue goes to the Roofing Contractor Registration Revolving Fund and is spent administering the act.
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This is the part competitors skip, and it is written into the statute in detail. A registered roofing contractor has to display the roofing firm name and the roofing contractor registration number, with the initials OK in front of that number, on all vehicles used to transport materials and tools in the operation of the business. The lettering and numerals must be at least two inches high, in a conspicuous location on both sides of each vehicle, in a color that contrasts with the background. A contractor holding a commercial roofer endorsement has to display the firm name and the fact of the endorsement on those vehicles too, also at two inches minimum. Separately, each registrant has to post the name, the existence of any endorsement, the registration number and the telephone number for the registration in a conspicuous place on the job site, and on all media containing the registrant's name. The statute lists what counts as media: magnetic signs on vehicles, business cards, contracts, bids, letterhead, signs and advertisements. Your website, your proposal template and your yard sign all fall inside that list. The registration number also has to be submitted when applying for any state or local permit for roofing work, and the permit official enters it on the permit. A prime contractor has to supply the registration number of each roofing subcontractor before the job is inspected.
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CIB states the headline consequence plainly: failure to register is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500.00, initiated by the district attorney's office having jurisdiction. The statute puts that at up to $500.00 for each violation and treats more than one misdemeanor violation in a single period as a separate matter. CIB also has administrative options short of referral. On a residential job, a first violation can draw an administrative fine of up to $500.00, a second up to $1,000.00, a third up to $3,500.00, and any further violation can cost the registration and the endorsement outright. On commercial work the administrative fine can reach five percent of the job. The list of violations in the act includes advertising, directly or through another, for roofing contractor work without a valid continuing registration, and advertising without displaying the registration number on the advertisement. In other words, an unregistered ad is a violation on its own, and a registered contractor who leaves the number off an ad has also committed one. Keeping a permit for roofing work from a governmental agency does not substitute for registration. The same misdemeanor penalty is attached to violations of the insurance-funded contract cancellation rules described below. For a remodeler, the cheapest control is simple: no roofing ad, bid, truck wrap or web page goes live without the OK-prefixed number on it.
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Oklahoma gives homeowners a specific cancellation right on storm and casualty work, and the statute writes it against a residential contractor rather than only a roofer. When a person tells a residential contractor the work will be paid from the proceeds of a property and casualty insurance policy, and signs a written contract on that understanding, the person may cancel within seventy-two hours after receiving written notice from the insurer that all or any part of the claim has been denied. Cancellation is by written notice to the contractor at the address stated in the contract, is effective on deposit in the mail if mailed, and needs no particular form. Before signing, the contractor has to furnish two documents. The first is a statement in boldface type of at least twelve points telling the insured about the seventy-two hour right. The second is a fully completed Notice of Cancellation form, in duplicate, attached to the contract but easily detachable, in boldface type of at least ten points, naming the contractor and the business address and stating that payments will be returned within ten business days. Within ten days of a cancellation the contractor has to tender back any payments and any note or evidence of indebtedness, though a contractor who performed emergency services the insured acknowledged in writing as necessary to prevent damage is entitled to the reasonable value of those services. A violation carries the act's misdemeanor penalty.
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There is a second homeowner cancellation right most contractors never read. The registrar classifies a roofing contractor's registration as not in good standing for a list of failures: letting liability insurance lapse, letting workers compensation coverage or the exemption affidavit lapse, failing to file or renew a fictitious name certificate or trade name registration, failing to keep an entity active with the Secretary of State, failing to maintain or renew the registration, failing to notify the registrar of a change in name, address, entity, qualifying party or legal service agent, failing to hold a required registration in another state as a nonresident, and failing to file and pay state taxes when due. Once the registrar sends written notice, the contractor has to stop soliciting or entering new roofing services and projects that day. Work already physically started may be finished. The contractor has to disclose the change in standing to any homeowner or other interested party, and on that notice the homeowner gets the option to cancel the contract. If the homeowner cancels, the contractor is owed the actual cost incurred for materials and the market value of labor already performed. Continuing an existing job requires updated written authorization from the homeowner. Thirty days to cure. A registration still not in good standing is suspended on the sixtieth day and revoked on the ninetieth day from the notice date.
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Oklahoma restricts a specific marketing promise. A residential or commercial roofing contractor providing repair or improvement services to be paid by an insured from property or casualty insurance proceeds may not, as an inducement to the sale, advertise or promise to pay all or part of any applicable insurance deductible, directly or indirectly, and may not offer to compensate the insured for providing any service to the insured. The penalty is commercial rather than criminal in the first instance: if the contractor violates the section, the insurer the claim was tendered to is not obligated to consider the estimate the contractor prepared. Every roofing contractor also has to provide written notification of the requirement with its initial estimate, and the adjuster or insurer has to do the same in the initial estimate on the claim. Any person may file a verified written complaint with the registrar alleging a violation, on a form the registrar approves, and all complaints filed are open to public inspection. The registrar forwards those complaints to the Insurance Department and the Office of the Attorney General, and refers them to the district attorney. CIB notes on its consumer page that a complaint to the registrar is not a prerequisite to other remedies for a deductible dispute. So the free-deductible pitch is not a gray area in Oklahoma. It can cost you the estimate itself.
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Registration alone involves no exam, but endorsements do. The commercial roofer endorsement requires an examination, and CIB states the retake rule: thirty days after a first failure, ninety days after any later failure. In a declared state of emergency the exam is offered as often as the registrar can manage. Continuing education is tied to the endorsement rather than the registration. CIB says qualifying parties of commercial roofing contractors, beginning three years after passing their current endorsement exam, must complete four hours of approved continuing education every thirty-six months, within the thirty-six months before license expiration. No commercial endorsement renews without it. A larger change is already in statute. Beginning January 1, 2027, every roofing contractor offering to engage in or engaging in residential roofing contractor work in Oklahoma must hold a residential roofing endorsement. The exam requires a minimum score of seventy percent. Contractors registered and in good standing on January 1, 2027 get a twelve-month window to January 1, 2028 to either pass the exam or complete an additional ten hours of continuing education approved in advance by the Committee of Roofing Examiners. A contractor who holds a current commercial roofer endorsement on that date is exempt from both. New applicants not registered by then receive the endorsement no sooner than thirty days after passing, and may not sell, offer, bid, inspect or perform residential roofing work until it is issued.
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Oklahoma City is where a remodeler's real registration lives. The city defines a building contractor as any person contracting to make or provide any beneficial or valuable change or addition, betterment, enhancement or amelioration upon or to any new, proposed or existing structure on private property for which a building permit is required, and says that person must register as a building contractor. The category is listed as Building Contractor, residential only, under municipal code 12-1. That definition covers additions, remodels and alterations, not just new houses. The registration fee is $100.00. The city requires general liability insurance with a minimum of $50,000.00 for each occurrence and workers compensation with a minimum of $100,000.00 for each occurrence, plus the Oklahoma Workers Compensation Commission affidavit of exempt status where that applies, an immigration affidavit where applicable, and payment. Applications and annual renewals run through the city's online business licensing portal, and the Residential Builder Application is posted as a PDF. Oklahoma City runs this program separately from CIB, so a contractor who holds no state license still has a registration number, an insurance file and a renewal date inside the city. That registration is also what makes you eligible to pull the building permit rather than sending a homeowner to pull it, which is the practical difference between quoting a remodel and running one in Oklahoma City.
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Around the building contractor registration, Oklahoma City registers trades and specialties separately, and most remodels touch two or three of them. An electrical contractor registers a current CIB state license with the city for $100.00 initially and annually, under municipal code 18-77. A mechanical contractor registers the state license for $95.00 initially and annually, per category, under code 29-77. A master plumbing contractor registers the state license for $100.00 initially and annually, under code 42-77. Each of those requires the current state license, a contractor information sheet, photo identification, an immigration affidavit and payment, and the city points applicants to CIB for the underlying license. Specialty categories carry their own fees and bonds. An insulation license is $100.00 with a $5,000.00 bond, under code 12-270. A fence contractor license is $100.00 with a $1,000.00 bond and a written test scheduled through the city's chief building inspector, under code 19-1. A sidewalk contractor license is $75.00, with $150.00 to renew after expiration, a $2,000.00 bond, a written test, a field test and an ADA certificate, under code 50-126. A boiler contractor registration is $115.00 the first year and $57.00 annually, with a $100.00 charge after the ninety-day grace period, and requires a current Oklahoma Department of Labor license. House moving is $63.00 with a $3,000.00 bond. Price a remodel without checking which of these the scope triggers and the registration cost lands on your margin.
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Tulsa runs its own program out of Development Services at the Permit Center, 175 East Second Street, Suite 455. The city's Account Information and Contractor Registration form opens an account and registers a license at the same time, and the trade checkboxes on it show which categories Tulsa tracks: Building, Mechanical, Demolition, Plumbing, Electrical, Sidewalk and Driveway, Paving Cut, Portable Fire Extinguisher, Commercial Fire Sprinkler, Pre-Engineered Fire Suppression Systems and Fire Alarm. A remodeler checks Building, and whichever trades the company holds licenses in. The form carries a contractual agreement clause that matters more than it looks: where insurance is required, the contractor or account holder agrees to provide proof of general liability insurance in the amount required by law, to name the City of Tulsa as an additional insured, and to give the city thirty days of prior written notice before cancellation. That additional-insured language has to be handed to your agent rather than assumed, because a standard certificate will not carry it. Tulsa's applications and forms page also posts the related paperwork a remodel needs: residential building and zoning clearance, addendum to an existing building permit, a repair worksheet, certificate of occupancy applications, electrical, mechanical and plumbing permit request forms, demolition, and the workers compensation exemption affidavits for a firm, a corporation, a limited liability company, an individual doing business or an individual homeowner. The account comes first, then the permits.
Because Oklahoma has no state remodeling license, there is nothing at state level for another state to reciprocate with. Reciprocity exists only inside the regulated trades. For roofing, the Construction Industries Board may, on the advice and recommendation of the Committee of Roofing Examiners, enter into a written reciprocity agreement with another state when that state's registration requirements are substantially the same or equivalent to Oklahoma's, and may then issue a registration by reciprocity to a qualifying party already licensed or registered there. The rules price that route: initial roofing contractor registration by reciprocity is $75.00, an initial roofing endorsement by reciprocity is $200.00, an initial commercial endorsement with registration by reciprocity is $275.00, and renewal of that combination is $175.00. The statute defines a nonresident contractor as one who has not established and maintained a place of business as a roofing contractor in Oklahoma within the preceding year, or who claims residency in another state, or who has not filed an Oklahoma resident income tax return in the preceding year, and the registration requirement reaches nonresidents the same way. Losing a required registration in another state while registered here as a nonresident puts your Oklahoma registration out of good standing. For public work, any administrative or governing body with authority to enter public contracts must require individual roofing contractor registration before a person submits or enters any bid or contract involving roofing work.
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Oklahoma maintains public verification, and the statute requires it. The registrar must verify a roofing contractor registration number to city, county and state enforcement officials and to the public, and must run an internet verification or direct access system that confirms registration certificates and status. That system also notes each complaint received, the contractor's admission or denial, any court disposition and any conviction under the act. The registrar keeps a roster of names, last known addresses and status of all registrants, with the complete record open to public inspection on written request. CIB puts both searches on one page, Are They Licensed, with separate tools for registered roofing contractors and for building and home inspectors, electrical, mechanical and plumbing licensees. Set expectations about what a complaint can do. CIB states that its authority is limited to enforcing registration and endorsement requirements, and that it does not have authority over workmanship or general business practices including financial disputes, insurance disputes or unfinished work. Oklahoma operates no homeowner recovery fund for remodeling: roofing fees go to a revolving fund spent administering the act, and adjudicated fine revenue can move to a skilled trade workforce development fund. Disputes outside CIB's reach go to the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Unit, reachable at 405-521-2029 or 833-681-1895, which mediates complaints, or to court. The Attorney General's office says callers can also ask whether complaints have been filed against a contractor.
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These are common details other guides publish about Oklahoma, but we could not verify them from the agency source. Confirm them directly before relying on them.
No. The Construction Industries Board states that general contractors are not currently required to have a state license in Oklahoma. There is no state remodeling classification, exam or bond. Trade licenses and registrations are still required for regulated trade work, and the board tells contractors to check local jurisdictions for city requirements.
CIB regulates plumbing, electrical, mechanical, roofing, building and construction inspectors, and home inspectors. So the plumbing, electrical, mechanical and roofing portions of your remodel have to be performed by a CIB licensee or registrant. The framing, drywall, cabinetry, tile and finish work carry no state license requirement in Oklahoma.
Yes, in almost every case. The Roofing Contractor Registration Act covers installation, renovation, remodeling, reroofing, repair, maintenance, alteration and waterproofing. The only narrow carve-out is a handyman paid by the owner who performs roofing repair alongside other repairs and does not perform more than two roofing jobs per year.
The statute sets $75.00 for the annual registration certificate, and the board rules price renewal at $75.00 as well. A commercial endorsement application is $30.00, the initial endorsement is $200.00 and endorsement renewal is $100.00. Renewing 31 to 60 days late adds a $100.00 fee.
At least $500,000.00 of general liability for residential roofing contractor work, and at least $1,000,000.00 for commercial roofing work under a commercial endorsement. CIB must be listed as a certificate holder. If the policy is cancelled or lapses, the registration is suspended as of the cancellation date until proof of new coverage arrives.
A registered roofing contractor does. The statute requires the firm name and the registration number, with OK in front of it, on both sides of every vehicle used to haul materials and tools, in contrasting letters at least two inches high. The number also goes on job site postings, business cards, contracts, bids and advertisements.
The act lists advertising without displaying the registration number on the advertisement as a violation, and advertising without a valid continuing registration as another. CIB can levy administrative fines starting at up to $500.00 for a first residential violation and rising to revocation, and unregistered activity is a misdemeanor carrying a fine up to $500.00.
Yes. When the work is to be paid from property and casualty insurance proceeds, the homeowner may cancel within seventy-two hours after receiving written notice from the insurer that all or part of the claim was denied. The contractor must supply a boldface notice and a detachable Notice of Cancellation form before signing.
No. Oklahoma bars a residential or commercial roofing contractor from advertising or promising to pay all or part of an applicable insurance deductible as an inducement, and from offering to compensate the insured for providing a service. If you do, the insurer is not obligated to consider the estimate you prepared.
A building contractor registration, residential only, under city code 12-1, covering any change or addition to a structure requiring a building permit. The fee is $100.00. The city requires general liability of at least $50,000.00 per occurrence and workers compensation of at least $100,000.00 per occurrence, plus the exempt status affidavit where it applies.
An account and contractor registration through Development Services at the Permit Center, with Building checked among the trade categories. The registration form commits you to carry general liability in the amount required by law, name the City of Tulsa as an additional insured, and give the city thirty days of written notice before cancellation.
Oklahoma operates no homeowner recovery fund for remodeling. Roofing fees go into a revolving fund spent administering the registration act. CIB says its authority does not reach workmanship, financial disputes, insurance disputes or unfinished work, so those claims go to the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Unit or to court.
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