Guide
Ohio roofing contractor license: the state does not issue one
Updated
If a roofer tells you they are state licensed in Ohio, ask which license. The state issues five, and roofing is not one of them.
The five trades Ohio licenses
The Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board licenses contractors in heating, ventilating and air conditioning; refrigeration; electrical; plumbing; and hydronics. Those five are the trades named in the chapter that creates the board (Ohio Revised Code 4740.01). Roofing is not among them. There is no Ohio state roofing license to look up, and nobody can hold one.
Saying it plainly matters, because a great deal of roofing marketing in Ohio implies a state credential that does not exist. What does exist is municipal registration, insurance, and the permit.
Where the real check lives: your city
Ohio municipalities run their own contractor registration and licensing for work inside their limits, and the requirements differ from city to city. Cleveland handles it through its Department of Building and Housing; Cincinnati through its buildings department; other cities, villages and townships have their own arrangements and their own building departments. Ask the department that will inspect your roof what it requires, and do it before you sign.
The checklist that replaces a state lookup
- Ask which municipality they are registered in, and for the registration number there. Verify it with that city.
- Ask for the certificate of general liability insurance and check the named insured matches the business on the contract, not a similar-sounding trade name.
- Ask for the workers' compensation certificate. Crews on steep Ohio roofs in November are exactly the situation this exists for.
- Ask who pulls the permit and confirm the inspection sequence with the building department.
- Get the whole scope in writing, including the ice barrier coverage, the tear-off and the per-sheet decking rate. See the ice barrier requirement.
If the contract was signed at your home after a knock at the door, you also have a statutory exit: see storm claims and the three-day cancellation right.