Florida Roofing Contractor License: Scope and Requirements

Fla. Stat. 489.105(3)(e) defines a roofing contractor’s services as unlimited in the roofing trade — all kinds of roofing, waterproofing and coating, except coating not represented to protect or extend the roof’s life. Fla. Stat. 489.113(3)(g) adds a restriction unique to roofing: a general, building or residential contractor certified after 1973 may not act as, hold out as, or advertise as a roofing contractor without roofing certification or registration.

“(e) “Roofing contractor” means a contractor whose services are unlimited in the roofing trade and who has the experience, knowledge, and skill to install, maintain, repair, alter, extend, or design, if not prohibited by law, and use materials and items used in the installation, maintenance, extension, and alteration of all kinds of roofing, waterproofing, and coating, except when coating is not represented to protect, repair, waterproof, stop leaks, or extend the life of the roof. The scope of work of a roofing contractor also includes all of the following and any related work: skylights; required roof-deck attachments; any repair or replacement of wood roof sheathing or fascia as needed during roof repair or replacement; and the evaluation and enhancement of roof-to-wall connections for structures with wood roof decking as described in Section 706 of the Florida Building Code-Existing Building, provided that any enhancement, which was properly installed and inspected in accordance with the Office of Insurance Regulation uniform mitigation verification inspection form, the Florida Building Code, or project specific engineering that exceeds these requirements, is done in conjunction with a roof covering replacement or repair.”

Quoted from Fla. Stat. 489.105(3)(e).

Where the roofing scope stops

Two limits sit inside the definition. Under Fla. Stat. 489.105(3)(e), coating falls outside the class “when coating is not represented to protect, repair, waterproof, stop leaks, or extend the life of the roof.” The roof-to-wall connection work the paragraph adds is conditional: in scope only where the enhancement “is done in conjunction with a roof covering replacement or repair.” Skylights, required roof-deck attachments and wood roof sheathing or fascia work during a roof repair or replacement are granted outright. For how the other trade scopes are written, see the Division II trade class definitions.

Roofing is on the 489.113(3) reserved list

Fla. Stat. 489.113(3) opens: “A contractor shall subcontract all electrical, mechanical, plumbing, roofing, sheet metal, swimming pool, and air-conditioning work, unless such contractor holds a state certificate or registration in the respective trade category, however:” — and roofing is named in that list. The duty runs on the licensed contractor; the seven lettered exceptions that follow qualify it, as does Fla. Stat. 489.113(2) on supervised work. An unlimited Division I scope and a roofing certification remain separate credentials. The full duty and all seven exceptions are quoted on the page covering when trade work must be subcontracted; the two bearing on roofing follow here.

The shingle exception is limited to a new building of his or her own construction

Fla. Stat. 489.113(3)(b) provides:

“(b) A general, building, or residential contractor shall not be required to subcontract the installation, or repair made under warranty, of wood shingles, wood shakes, or asphalt or fiberglass shingle roofing materials on a new building of his or her own construction.”

Every clause is limiting. The exception reaches three named materials, not roofing generally; installation and repair made under warranty, not repair at large; and only “on a new building of his or her own construction” — not a building someone else built, and not a re-roof. Whether an arrangement meets those conditions is for DBPR, the board and the local authority to determine.

Advertising as a roofing contractor — 489.113(3)(g)

Fla. Stat. 489.113(3)(g) provides:

“(g) No general, building, or residential contractor certified after 1973 shall act as, hold himself or herself out to be, or advertise himself or herself to be a roofing contractor unless he or she is certified or registered as a roofing contractor.”

This is a holding-out restriction rather than a scope rule, and it is specific to roofing: no other lettered exception in 489.113(3) limits what a Division I contractor may call themselves. It reaches acting as, holding out as, and advertising as a roofing contractor. Certification or registration in that category is what lifts it.

The roofing examination

DBPR’s Bureau of Education and Testing states that “Division I contractors (General, Building, and Residential) must pass three examinations” while “Division II contractors (all other specialties) must pass two examinations: Business and Finance and General Trade” knowledge. Roofing is Division II, so the examination is two parts. The DBPR examination schedule lists the Roofing trade knowledge examination at 80 questions over 5 hours and the Business & Finance examination at 120 questions over 6.5 hours, both as daily computer-based testing. Content outlines and current dates sit on DBPR’s construction examinations page.

No degree equivalent is listed for roofing

Rule 61G4-15.001(4), F.A.C., lists the baccalaureate degrees the board treats as appropriate to a particular classification, and it does so classification by classification — Civil Engineering, Building Construction or Architecture for the General, Building and Residential classes; Mechanical Engineering for Sheet Metal, Class A and B Air Conditioning and Mechanical; and further named degrees for Plumbing, the three Pool classes and Underground Utility. Roofing is not among the classifications listed in that subsection. That is a statement about what the rule contains, not an inference about any other provision.

Financial responsibility, insurance and the application

Rule 61G4-15.006, F.A.C., is written for “an applicant” generally rather than by category, so it reaches a roofing applicant unchanged. The financial stability ground for refusal is “failure to provide proof of a credit score, FICO derived, of 660 or higher,” and an applicant unable to provide that score “shall meet the financial stability requirement by completion of a 14-hour financial responsibility course approved by the Board.” On insurance, DBPR puts “all other categories” — the tier roofing falls in — at $100,000 public liability and $25,000 property damage, which are coverage minimums, not premiums. Fees are prescribed by action rather than by category, so the governing figure is the one on the current DBPR application form for the category, on the Construction Industry licensing-forms index.

Common questions

Does a Florida general contractor need a separate roofing license?

Only to self-perform it. Fla. Stat. 489.113(3) requires a contractor to subcontract roofing work unless that contractor holds a state certificate or registration in the roofing category, subject to the exceptions at (a)–(g). Fla. Stat. 489.113(3)(g) separately bars a general, building or residential contractor certified after 1973 from acting as, holding out as, or advertising as a roofing contractor without that credential.

When may a builder install shingles without subcontracting the work?

Fla. Stat. 489.113(3)(b) removes the subcontracting requirement for “the installation, or repair made under warranty, of wood shingles, wood shakes, or asphalt or fiberglass shingle roofing materials on a new building of his or her own construction.” The exception is bounded by all three of those conditions — those materials, that work, and a new building of the contractor’s own construction.

How many questions are on the Florida roofing contractor exam?

DBPR’s examination schedule lists the Roofing trade knowledge examination at 80 questions over 5 hours, delivered as daily computer-based testing. As a Division II class, roofing also requires the Business & Finance examination, listed at 120 questions over 6.5 hours.

Related pages

When trade work must be subcontracted quotes 489.113(3) in full; the Division II trade class definitions compares the 13 trade scopes; the board that regulates roofing contractors covers the CILB. Start from Florida’s contractor licensing framework.

This page summarizes Florida law and is general information, not legal advice. Verify class scope, examination detail and the current application form with the Florida DBPR before acting.