Ohio · Roofing licensing · official-source guide
Ohio does not license roofing contractors at the state level. The Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board, under Ohio Revised Code Chapter 4740, licenses only HVAC, refrigeration, electrical, plumbing and hydronics contractors. Roofers instead register locally, most visibly in Columbus and Cleveland, and must follow the state's home construction, home solicitation sales, and public adjuster statutes.
State-level license
No — see local details
Public lookup
Not published
Verified against agency sources on 2026-09-18. Rules and fees change; confirm with the named authority before relying on this guide.
Ohio does not issue a statewide roofing contractor license. The state agency that licenses construction trades, the Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board, operates under Ohio Revised Code Chapter 4740, and section 4740.01 defines a licensed trade as work performed by a heating, ventilating and air conditioning contractor, a refrigeration contractor, an electrical contractor, a plumbing contractor, or a hydronics contractor. Roofing is not one of the five trades the board covers. A search of the full Title 47 Occupations-Professions table of contents on the state's official codes site confirms there is no separate chapter for roofing contractors, unlike the specific chapters that exist for real estate brokers, physicians, or secondhand dealers. This means a roofing company can operate anywhere in Ohio without holding a state-issued roofing license and without a state exam, state bond, or state renewal cycle tied to the trade itself. It also means Ohio has no statewide public database where a homeowner can look up a roofer's state license number, because no such number exists. What fills the gap is a mix of local city and county registration, general consumer protection law aimed at home construction contracts, and insurance-specific statutes that apply regardless of trade. A roofing contractor working in Ohio should not describe itself as state licensed, because that claim is not accurate. The correct claim, where true, is that the business is registered with the city in which it is working, carries the insurance and bonding that city or state law requires, and complies with the consumer protection statutes described in the sections below. Contractors who work across several Ohio metro areas should expect to register separately in each one, since Ohio is a home-rule state and cities set their own contractor registration rules independent of each other and independent of the state.
The Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board exists to license five specialty trades: heating, ventilating and air conditioning; refrigeration; electrical; plumbing; and hydronics. Ohio Revised Code section 4740.01 defines a 'contractor' as an individual or company that has responsibility for the means, method, and manner of construction on a project with respect to one or more of those trades, and that either performs the work itself or employs tradespersons who do. The same section defines a 'tradesperson' as someone who works under a contractor without assuming responsibility for the means, method, or manner of the work. None of this language reaches roofing, siding, general carpentry, or general contracting. Those trades were left to local governments to regulate, the same treatment Ohio gives painting, drywall, flooring, and most other specialty construction work outside the five licensed trades. This is a deliberate structure, not an oversight: Ohio Revised Code Chapter 4740 lists the licensed trades by name, and roofing has never appeared on that list. A contractor who also performs HVAC, electrical, plumbing, or hydronics work as part of a larger roofing and exteriors business does need a state license for those specific portions of the job, issued by this same board, even though the roofing portion itself remains unlicensed at the state level. Homeowners and general contractors hiring a roofing company should not expect to find that company in the state board's licensee database, and a roofing company that claims to hold an 'Ohio state roofing license' issued by this board is making a claim the board does not support, since the board has no roofing category to issue a license under.
Sourcescodes.ohio.gov
Ohio Revised Code Chapter 4722, the Home Construction Service Suppliers Act, is the closest thing Ohio has to a statewide framework for residential construction contracts, and it applies to roof work on houses when the contract terms fit its definitions. Section 4722.01 defines 'home construction service' as the construction of a residential building, including repair, improvement, remodeling, or renovation of an existing structure, which covers most roof replacement and roof repair work on houses. The act applies to a 'home construction service contract,' defined as a contract between an owner and a supplier for an amount exceeding twenty five thousand dollars, including cost-plus contracts. A 'home construction service supplier' is defined in the same section as a person who contracts to provide these services for compensation and who maintains in force a general liability insurance policy of not less than two hundred fifty thousand dollars. That insurance figure is written directly into the statutory definition, so a roofing company handling a residential re-roof over twenty five thousand dollars needs that coverage level to fit the act's own definition of a qualifying supplier. 'Residential building' under the act means a one, two, or three family dwelling, and it excludes industrialized units, manufactured homes, and mobile homes as those terms are defined elsewhere in the Revised Code. The act also defines 'workmanlike manner' by reference to standards the Ohio Home Builders Association promulgates. This chapter is not a licensing statute and it does not create a state registry, but it sets contract-value and insurance thresholds that a roofing contractor doing larger residential jobs in Ohio needs to meet to be treated as a supplier under the act.
Sourcescodes.ohio.gov
Ohio has come close to licensing part of the roofing trade before. House Bill 129 of the 135th General Assembly, introduced by Representative Patton, proposed amending Ohio Revised Code sections 715.27, 3781.102, 4740.01, 4740.02, 4740.04, 4740.12, and 4764.03 to require licensure of commercial roofing contractors through the Construction Industry Licensing Board. The bill text, as introduced, would have added a commercial roofing category to the same chapter that currently covers only HVAC, refrigeration, electrical, plumbing, and hydronics contractors. As of the verification date of this page, that change has not taken effect. The current, official version of section 4740.01 published on the state's codes site still lists its effective date as September 17, 2014, tied to Senate Bill 78 of the 130th General Assembly, with no newer amendment reflected, and the section's text still names only the five original trades. This confirms that whatever became of House Bill 129 in the legislative process, it has not resulted in a currently effective roofing license requirement in the Ohio Revised Code. A roofing contractor bidding commercial work in Ohio should not assume a state commercial roofing license exists or is required, but should watch for future legislative activity on this point, since the state has considered the idea more than once and industry groups have pushed for it. Any contractor relying on this page for commercial bid qualification should independently confirm current law before submitting a bid, since legislative status can change between verification dates.
Columbus is the largest city in Ohio and regulates roofing contractors through its own Department of Building and Zoning Services rather than through any state board. Under Columbus City Code Chapter 4114, the department issues several categories of contractor license and registration, and roofing work falls under two of them depending on the building type. A City of Columbus Home Improvement Limited Contractor license covers a defined list of specialty scopes on one, two, and three family dwellings, and 'residential roofing' is named explicitly on that list, alongside siding, windows and doors, deck installation, and several other exterior trades. To perform structural roof work, or any work on buildings with four or more units or on commercial structures, a contractor instead needs to register as a Columbus General Contractor. The General Contractor license requires a completed and notarized application, a bond in the amount of twenty five thousand dollars using the bond form in the city's license packet, and a certificate of liability insurance naming the Department of Building and Zoning Services as a certificate holder, written by an insurer licensed to do business in Ohio. Columbus does not currently require board approval for the General Contractor license itself, though general contractors can appear before the city's Board of Home Improvement and General Contractors for complaint and due process matters. General contractors registered this way are required to subcontract structural work on existing one, two, and three family dwellings to Columbus licensed home improvement, mechanical, electrical, or plumbing contractors, rather than performing that residential work directly.
Sourcescolumbus.gov
Columbus splits its home improvement licensing into a general track and a limited track, and the two have different entry requirements. The Home Improvement Limited Contractor license, the category that covers residential roofing, requires the applicant to have a minimum of one full year of hands-on experience in the specific field for which the license is sought, and the application goes to the city's Board of Home Improvement and General Contractors for approval before the license is issued. The city's published materials do not describe a written exam for this limited category. The Home Improvement General Contractor license, by contrast, requires passing the International Code Council exam numbered 767, titled Ohio Home Improvement Contractor, with a score of seventy percent or higher, and requires a minimum of three full years of hands-on experience in the one, two, and three family home improvement field. A passing score on the exam is valid for one year from the date it was achieved, after which the applicant must retake it before applying for licensure. Applicants for either category submit their application and any required payment at least one week before the next scheduled board meeting, and applicants are not required to be present at that meeting. A roofing contractor who only performs residential roofing should generally pursue the Limited Contractor category rather than the General Contractor or Home Improvement General Contractor category, since the city scopes roofing to the limited license and reserves the exam-based general license for broader remodeling work across multiple trades.
Sourcescolumbus.gov
Cleveland, Ohio's second largest city by the metro's historical building stock and a market with heavy storm and hail exposure off Lake Erie, regulates contractors through its Department of Building and Housing. The city's own guidance states plainly that to build or rehabilitate Cleveland homes, contractors must be bonded, insured, and registered, and that electricians and plumbers must additionally be licensed, which by omission signals that roofing falls under the general bonded, insured, and registered category rather than a separate licensed trade category. The city directs homeowners who have hired a contractor to call the Department of Building and Housing at 216-664-2910 to verify that the contractor is currently registered before work begins, and recommends asking the contractor for copies of permits before any work starts. Cleveland's rules apply this registration requirement broadly: even owner-occupants of one or two family homes who choose to perform their own alterations without hiring a contractor are still subject to the same permitting, plan examination, and inspection requirements that apply to registered contractors, though they are not required to register as a contractor themselves. This structure means a roofing company planning to pull permits in Cleveland needs to complete the city's contractor registration, carry the bonding and insurance the city requires, and keep that registration current, separate and apart from whatever registration it holds in Columbus or any other Ohio city. The two cities do not share a registration system.
Sourcesclevelandohio.gov
Because Ohio is a home-rule state and does not license roofing at the state level, every city and, in unincorporated areas, every county building department sets its own rules for who may pull a roofing permit. Columbus and Cleveland publish detailed, board-reviewed contractor registration programs, and a roofing company working across Ohio's largest metro areas, including Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo, and Akron, should expect each city's building department to have its own separate registration or permitting requirement, its own fee schedule, and in some cases its own bond and insurance minimums that differ from Columbus and Cleveland. Suburban jurisdictions inside a metro area frequently defer to the county building department rather than running a separate contractor registration program of their own, so a roofing contractor working in the suburbs around a large Ohio city should confirm whether the applicable building department is the city itself or the surrounding county. Because no state agency compiles these local rules in one place the way it does for the five state-licensed trades, a roofing contractor expanding into a new Ohio market should contact that city or county's building or zoning department directly before bidding work there, rather than assuming a registration obtained in one Ohio city will be honored in another. This local, non-uniform structure is the main practical difference between roofing and the five trades the Construction Industry Licensing Board covers, where a single statewide license is valid everywhere in Ohio without separate city-by-city registration.
Because no single state roofing license exists, insurance and bonding requirements for an Ohio roofing contractor come from whichever statute or local ordinance applies to the specific job. Where the Home Construction Service Suppliers Act applies, meaning a residential construction service contract on a one, two, or three family home for more than twenty five thousand dollars, Ohio Revised Code section 4722.01 defines a qualifying 'home construction service supplier' as one who maintains in force a general liability insurance policy of not less than two hundred fifty thousand dollars. That is a statutory floor written into the definition itself, not merely a recommendation. Separately, a contractor registering with the City of Columbus as a General Contractor must post a bond in the amount of twenty five thousand dollars using the city's own bond form, and must provide a certificate of liability insurance naming the Department of Building and Zoning Services as certificate holder, though the city's published contractor license page does not state a specific dollar minimum for that liability policy. Cleveland requires contractors to be bonded and insured as a condition of registration but its public contractor permits page does not publish the specific bond or insurance dollar amounts, directing applicants instead to the Department of Building and Housing for those figures. A roofing contractor operating in multiple Ohio cities should expect to satisfy each city's bonding and insurance requirement separately, in addition to the two hundred fifty thousand dollar insurance floor the Home Construction Service Suppliers Act sets for qualifying residential contracts, and should confirm current bond and premium figures directly with each city's building department rather than assuming one policy or bond satisfies every jurisdiction.
Ohio's storm restoration and hail damage roofing market is governed less by a roofing statute and more by the state's general Home Solicitation Sales Act, Ohio Revised Code sections 1345.21 through 1345.28, because so much storm damage roofing work is sold through in-person solicitation at the homeowner's residence after a hail or wind event. Section 1345.21 defines a 'home solicitation sale' as a sale of consumer goods or services in which the seller personally solicits the sale at the buyer's residence and the buyer's agreement is given there, or where the agreement is made somewhere other than the seller's fixed place of business, with narrow exceptions for very small purchases, buyer-initiated mail or phone orders, and genuine emergencies the buyer documents in writing. A door-knocking storm restoration sale on a homeowner's porch fits squarely within this definition. Section 1345.23 requires the contract to be in writing, in the language used in the sales presentation, and to include the seller's name and address, with a signed copy left with the buyer. That copy must carry, in at least ten point bold type next to the buyer's signature line, a clear statement that the buyer may cancel the transaction at any time before midnight of the third business day after the transaction date, along with an attached, detachable Notice of Cancellation form using the specific statutory language. A roofing contractor who signs a homeowner up for storm damage work on the spot, at the home, without including this notice and cancellation form is not complying with Ohio's home solicitation sales law, regardless of whether the contractor holds any local registration.
Ohio law draws a firm line between repairing a roof and negotiating the insurance claim that pays for it, and roofing contractors who cross that line without authorization can run into Ohio Revised Code Chapter 3951, the state's public insurance adjuster law. Section 3951.01 defines a 'public insurance adjuster' broadly, as any person, firm, or corporation who, for compensation, acts on behalf of an insured in negotiating or effecting the settlement of a property insurance claim, or who advertises, solicits business, or holds itself out to the public as an adjuster of such claims. Section 3951.02 then states the operative rule: no person shall act within Ohio as a public insurance adjuster, or receive compensation for adjusting a claim under the types of policies covered by the chapter, unless that person holds a certificate of authority issued by the Superintendent of Insurance under sections 3951.01 to 3951.09. A holder of that certificate is styled a 'certified public insurance adjuster.' Read together, these sections mean a roofing contractor can inspect a roof, document damage for its own estimate, and submit its own invoice to an insurer, but a contractor that takes over negotiating the value of the claim with the insurance company on the homeowner's behalf, for compensation tied to that negotiation, is acting as a public adjuster and needs the certificate of authority this chapter requires. This is the primary statutory guardrail Ohio places on the contractor-adjuster overlap that shows up constantly in hail and storm restoration work, and it applies regardless of whether the roofing contractor is registered with any city.
Because the Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board does not license roofing, a roofing contractor operating anywhere in Ohio has no state-issued roofing license number to display on a truck, a website, or a written estimate, and should not claim to hold one. Contractors who advertise themselves as an 'Ohio licensed roofer' or a 'state licensed roofing contractor' are making a claim the state cannot support, since Ohio Revised Code section 4740.01 limits the board's licensed trades to HVAC, refrigeration, electrical, plumbing, and hydronics contractors, none of which is roofing. The accurate claim, where true, is city specific: a contractor registered as a Columbus Home Improvement Limited Contractor for residential roofing can say so, and a contractor registered with Cleveland's Department of Building and Housing can describe itself as a registered Cleveland contractor. A roofing business that also holds a genuine state license for HVAC, electrical, plumbing, or hydronics work performed as part of the same company may advertise that specific license accurately, but should not let that create the impression that the roofing side of the business is separately state licensed, since it is not. Ohio's general consumer protection law treats false or misleading representations about a seller's licensing status as the kind of deceptive practice the Consumer Sales Practices Act and related home construction statutes are designed to address, which gives homeowners a legal basis to challenge a false licensing claim even in a trade the state itself does not license. The safest advertising posture for an Ohio roofing company is to state exactly which city registrations, bonds, and insurance policies it holds, and to avoid the word 'licensed' unless a specific, real license backs it up.
Sourcescodes.ohio.gov
There is no statewide public lookup where a homeowner can search a roofing contractor by name and see a state license status, because Ohio issues no such license for the trade. Verification instead happens at the city level, and the two largest cities handle it differently. Cleveland's Department of Building and Housing publishes a direct phone number, 216-664-2910, and tells homeowners who have hired a contractor to call and confirm that the contractor is currently registered before allowing work to begin, and to ask the contractor directly for copies of any permits pulled for the job. Columbus routes contractor licensing through its Department of Building and Zoning Services and the Board of Home Improvement and General Contractors, and a homeowner working with a contractor who claims Columbus registration can confirm that status by contacting the department directly, since the licensing and board approval process runs through that office. In both cities, and in any other Ohio city or county, the general pattern is the same: the building department that issues construction permits is the entity that also tracks contractor registration status, so a homeowner should call that department, not search a statewide database, to confirm a roofer's standing. A homeowner should also ask to see the certificate of liability insurance and, where applicable, confirm the bond is currently in force, since a lapsed bond or policy can mean a contractor's registration is no longer valid even if it was valid when originally issued. Because there is no single statewide system, verification takes an extra step compared to trades the Construction Industry Licensing Board directly licenses.
Even without a state roofing license, an Ohio roofing contractor still carries the same baseline obligations every business in the state carries. A roofing company operating as a corporation or limited liability company must register that entity with the Ohio Secretary of State before doing business under that name. A contractor with employees must maintain workers compensation coverage through the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation, since Ohio is a monopolistic workers compensation state and employers cannot buy that coverage from a private insurer. Roofing labor performed on new construction and most services tied to real property construction, repair, or improvement generally fall outside Ohio's sales tax on services in the way retail sales of goods do not, though material purchases and certain service categories can be taxable, and a contractor should confirm its specific tax treatment with the Ohio Department of Taxation rather than assume none of its work is taxable. On the local side, working in a city like Columbus or Cleveland without the registration those cities require does not typically expose a contractor to a state criminal penalty, since roofing is not a state-licensed trade, but it does expose the contractor to the consequences the city itself imposes, which can include permit denial, inability to pull further permits until registered, and referral to the city's contractor licensing board for a hearing. A contract signed with a homeowner that fails to meet the Home Construction Service Suppliers Act's requirements, or the Home Solicitation Sales Act's cancellation notice requirement, can also expose the contractor to remedies a homeowner pursues under Ohio's general consumer protection statutes, separate from any local registration issue.
These are common details other guides publish about Ohio, but we could not verify them from the agency source. Confirm them directly before relying on them.
No. The Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board licenses only HVAC, refrigeration, electrical, plumbing, and hydronics contractors under Ohio Revised Code Chapter 4740. Roofing is not on that list, so Ohio has no state-issued roofing license, state roofing exam, or state roofing bond.
Yes. House Bill 129 in the 135th General Assembly proposed requiring licensure of commercial roofing contractors by amending Ohio Revised Code section 4740.01 and related sections. As of the verification date of this page, that change has not taken effect in the current Revised Code.
Residential roofing falls under the City of Columbus Home Improvement Limited Contractor license, issued by the Department of Building and Zoning Services under Columbus City Code Chapter 4114. It requires at least one year of hands-on experience in roofing and approval from the Board of Home Improvement and General Contractors.
Not for the Home Improvement Limited Contractor category that covers residential roofing. Columbus only requires a written exam, the ICC test numbered 767, for the broader Home Improvement General Contractor category, which also requires three years of hands-on experience.
Cleveland's Department of Building and Housing requires contractors who build or rehabilitate Cleveland homes to be bonded, insured, and registered. Homeowners can call 216-664-2910 to confirm a contractor's registration is current before allowing work to start.
Ohio Revised Code section 4722.01 defines a qualifying home construction service supplier under the Home Construction Service Suppliers Act as one who maintains general liability insurance of at least two hundred fifty thousand dollars, for residential contracts over twenty five thousand dollars. Local city bond and insurance rules apply separately.
It can solicit in person, but the sale is then a home solicitation sale under Ohio Revised Code sections 1345.21 and 1345.23. The contractor must give the homeowner a written contract with a bold-type cancellation notice and a right to cancel until midnight of the third business day.
Only if the contractor holds a certificate of authority as a public insurance adjuster. Ohio Revised Code section 3951.02 prohibits anyone from acting as a public insurance adjuster or receiving compensation for negotiating a property claim without that certificate from the Superintendent of Insurance.
Not currently under state law. House Bill 129 proposed a state license specifically for commercial roofing contractors, but the Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board's current statute, section 4740.01, still lists only HVAC, refrigeration, electrical, plumbing, and hydronics as licensed trades, with no separate commercial roofing category yet enacted.
There is no statewide lookup, since Ohio does not license the trade. Contact the building department in the city where the work will happen. Cleveland residents can call 216-664-2910, and Columbus applicants can contact the Department of Building and Zoning Services directly.
The contractor is not committing a state licensing violation, since Ohio does not license roofing, but the city can deny or refuse to issue building permits, and the contractor can be referred to the local contractor licensing board for a hearing under that city's own code.
Any Ohio roofing contractor with employees needs workers compensation coverage through the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation, since Ohio is a monopolistic workers compensation state where employers cannot purchase that coverage from a private insurance carrier.
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