Short answer: As of October 2026, the two highest-scoring roofing contractors in the Billings, MT metro on The Roofing Brief Contractor Score are Sprague Construction Roofing (77.3), Kirkness Roofing (72.2). Each is certified by a manufacturer whose register we checked by hand, each rating has been tested against a source outside that register, and nobody bought a place on this page.
The Roofing Brief scored 2 certified roofing contractors serving the Billings metro on a published, reproducible formula, then researched each of the top two individually to confirm its record. Billings sits on one of the busiest hail corridors in the northern Plains: 275 hail reports in Yellowstone, Carbon and Stillwater counties over the past decade, 26 of them two inches or larger, all falling between May and August. Montana turned its contractor registration into a licence on 1 January 2026, but there is still no roofing exam, and the state’s insurance regulator warns that older roofs may be paid only at depreciated value. Two certified firms appear in the directory, both based in Billings, and both are ranked.
Hail, codes and what they cost a Billings homeowner
Since 1 January 2026 Montana has required a construction contractor licence from the Department of Labor and Industry, replacing the old registration; the law expressly covers installing or repairing roofing. There is no exam and no roofing-specific licence, and two exemptions matter: jobs under $2,500, and independent contractors with no employees, so a one-person roofer can work lawfully without the licence. Cities may not add licences of their own. The department polices fraud, misrepresentation and worker classification, with penalties of up to $5,000, but says it does not judge workmanship.
Montana’s insurance regulator warns that once a roof is 10 to 15 years old, hail damage may be paid at actual cash value rather than replacement cost: its example is a 12-year-old roof costing $20,000 to replace, depreciated by half to $10,000 before the deductible. Split wind and hail deductibles can be large, such as $16,250 on a 5 percent deductible on a $325,000 policy. Montana’s residential contract disclosure law applies only to new homes, not reroofs, and we did not confirm any state ban on deductible rebates.
The City of Billings requires a building permit for roofing, applied for online, priced on the higher of the bid or the table value: $45 for the first $2,000 plus $9 per $1,000, so a $15,000 reroof costs $162. The city enforces the 2021 International Residential Code, with a 30 psf minimum roof snow load, a 110 mph design wind speed and an R-49 ceiling insulation default. Outside city limits the state issues building permits.
The hail record is heavy and lumpy: 63 reports in 2019 and 57 in 2018, against three in 2023, with July alone producing 109 of the decade’s 275. The federal damage total of $2.5 million is a single entry for the 2019 storm at Shepherd schools. Half of the city’s homes predate 1980, its median home was built in 1980, and 35.2 percent of homes in Billings are rented.
The 2 best roofers in Billings, MT
Scored 2026-10-06. The metro mean rating used as the Bayesian prior for Billings is 4.8, across a pool of 2 certified contractors.
| Rank | Company | TRB Score | Certification | Rating (reviews) | Adjusted | In business since | Based in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sprague Construction Roofing | 77.3 | Master Elite | 4.7 (168) | 4.723 | not published | Billings, MT |
| 2 | Kirkness Roofing | 72.2 | Certified | 4.9 (211) | 4.881 | not published | Billings, MT |
1. Sprague Construction Roofing — TRB Score 77.3
Sprague Construction Roofing is based in Billings, MT, led by Phil Cathey, owner; Katie Gauslow, manager (BBB), BBB accredited since 1 January 2012, A+ rating, no complaints in three years, and holds Master Elite standing on the GAF certification registry.
| Score component | Points | Max |
|---|---|---|
| Certification tier | 24 | 35 |
| Adjusted rating | 28.9 | 40 |
| Review corpus depth | 14.4 | 15 |
| Metro proximity | 10.0 | 10 |
| Total | 77.3 | 100 |
Independently corroborated:
- Construction contractor licence CCP-CCL-LIC-0162248, active to May 2027, held by Sprague Construction Roofing LLC. A different company, Sprague Lawrence Construction LLC, also appears in Billings.. Montana DLI record search
- Accredited since 1 January 2012 with an A+ rating, business start 2009, no complaints closed in three years.. BBB business profile
What they actually do. Residential and commercial roofing, storm and insurance work, siding, windows and doors.
Why it ranks here. A roofing-first Billings company on Main Street in the Heights, the part of the city hit by the 2019 and 2010 storms, with Master Elite certification, an active Montana contractor licence and BBB accreditation since 2012 with no complaints.
Best fit for: Heights and north Billings homeowners after a hail storm.
What we would want clarified. Its founding year rests on BBB alone. Do not confuse it with Sprague Lawrence Construction, a different Billings company. Certification tier and reviews are unverified. We publish this because a ranking that only prints the flattering findings is an advertisement, not an assessment.
Verify the certification yourself on the GAF registry listing. The number carried on that listing is (406) 534-1222, which is the registry’s contact line and is often a directory tracking number rather than the contractor’s own: take the number from the company’s own website and compare the two.
2. Kirkness Roofing — TRB Score 72.2
Kirkness Roofing is based in Billings, MT, led by Cybil Carney, President, BBB accredited since 26 January 2021, A+ rating, one complaint closed in three years, and holds Certified standing on the GAF certification registry.
| Score component | Points | Max |
|---|---|---|
| Certification tier | 12 | 35 |
| Adjusted rating | 35.2 | 40 |
| Review corpus depth | 15.0 | 15 |
| Metro proximity | 10.0 | 10 |
| Total | 72.2 | 100 |
Independently corroborated:
- Construction contractor licence CCP-CCL-LIC-0258818, active to December 2026, held by Kirkness Roofing & Exteriors Inc.. Montana DLI record search
- Kirkness Roofing, Inc., accredited since 26 January 2021 with an A+ rating, business start 1978, new ownership from 24 October 2020, one complaint closed in three years.. BBB business profile
- Kirkness Roofing & Exteriors Inc., active and in good standing, registered agent Cybil Carney; an older Kirkness Roofing, Inc. also remains on record.. Montana Secretary of State via OpenCorporates
What they actually do. Residential roofing in asphalt, shake, tile and metal; commercial flat roofing; siding, gutters and windows.
Why it ranks here. A Billings roofing name dating to 1978, with a 4.9 across 211 reviews, the deepest record of the two, and the capacity for shake, tile, metal and commercial flat roofs as well as shingle.
Best fit for: Shake, tile or metal roofs, and commercial flat roofs.
What we would want clarified. The business changed hands in October 2020 and now operates through a new corporation, so its 1978 history belongs to the earlier owners, though its website still calls it family owned. BBB shows one complaint in three years. It says it has a licensed insurance adjuster on staff; keep control of your own claim. Its licence renews in December 2026. Certification tier and reviews are unverified. We publish this because a ranking that only prints the flattering findings is an advertisement, not an assessment.
Verify the certification yourself on the GAF registry listing. The number carried on that listing is (406) 256-1798, which is the registry’s contact line and is often a directory tracking number rather than the contractor’s own: take the number from the company’s own website and compare the two.
Other roofers serving Billings
Only two certified firms are ranked here. These four are based in Billings with long BBB accreditation or top-tier Owens Corning status. They are not scored and we are not recommending them; the state’s licence search blocked us before we could check them, so ask each for its Montana licence number.
| Company | Verified credential |
|---|---|
| Donahue Roofing & Siding, LLC | Top tier in Owens Corning’s network on Avenue D, Billings; BBB accredited since 2014 at A+, no complaints in three years. |
| Lyman Exteriors, LLC | A roofing-first firm on Florine Lane; BBB accredited since 2014 at A+, trading since 2010, no complaints. |
| Swagg Roofing & Siding | Top tier in Owens Corning’s network on Wicks Lane, Billings, with a Bozeman office; BBB accredited since 2021 at A+, founded 2019, one complaint closed in three years. |
| MDJ Roofers | A small owner-run residential roofer trading since 2009; BBB accredited since 2022 at A+, no complaints. |
What 3.0 inch hail does to a Billings roof
Aggregate hail counts tell you very little about a specific roof. These are the individual events: every severe-weather report logged by the National Weather Service across the 3 counties of the Billings, MT statistical area over ten years, with the dates, the stone sizes and the towns they landed on. Over that decade the metro logged 275 hail reports, 161 severe thunderstorm and high wind reports and 1 tornado. Reported property damage from hail, severe wind and tornado over that decade totalled $2.5 million; flood and winter-storm losses are counted separately and are not included.
The biggest hail to fall on Billings in a decade
| Date | Stone size | Reported near | County |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 August 2019 | 3.0 in | Yellowstone | Yellowstone |
| 5 July 2022 | 2.75 in | Huntley | Yellowstone |
| 11 August 2019 | 2.75 in | Molt | Stillwater |
| 27 July 2016 | 2.75 in | Pompeys Pillar | Yellowstone |
| 27 July 2016 | 2.5 in | Pompeys Pillar | Yellowstone |
| 5 July 2022 | 2.0 in | Shepherd | Yellowstone |
The largest stone on record for this metro fell on 11 August 2019 near Yellowstone, measured at 3.0 inches. That is baseball sized, comfortably past the point where a roof is written off rather than repaired.
Wind. The strongest thunderstorm gust logged in the metro was 80 knots, about 92 mph, near Bridger on 12 August 2025. Asphalt shingles begin lifting at roughly 67 mph when they are correctly nailed, and considerably below that when they are not.
Tornadoes. 1 tornado touched down in these counties over the decade, the strongest rated EF1 near Pompeys Pillar on 21 May 2016.
What the National Weather Service wrote about it
The NWS logs a written account of each severe-weather episode. This is its description of the 12 August 2025 event near Bridger, reproduced verbatim:
Tree damage, 2 large trees uprooted, grain silo destroyed. Very localized damage suggestive of a microburst. Gust estimated via damage information provided.
That account is the design case for a roof here, and it comes from the agency that recorded it rather than by a contractor selling the repair.
When it happens. Severe weather reports cluster in July (159), August (130), June (78). The worst years on record were 2019 (97), 2018 (65), 2025 (61). If you are scheduling non-urgent work in Billings, the months outside that window are when crews are least stretched and least likely to be triaging emergency callouts ahead of your job.
Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, county-level detail files 2016 to 2025, filtered to the counties of this statistical area by The Roofing Brief. Damage figures are as reported to the NWS and undercount insured losses.
What to do with this. At 218 damaging-hail reports in ten years, impact resistance in Billings is a specification question, not an upsell. Ask every contractor you shortlist to quote a UL 2218 Class 4 impact-rated shingle alongside the standard option, and ask your insurer whether a Class 4 roof earns a premium discount, because many carriers offer one in high-hail territory.
Hail on the Yellowstone
On 21 May 2016 a supercell came off the Beartooth foothills, crossed Carbon County and swept the northwest and north of Billings with golf-ball hail and some stones the size of tennis balls. NWS recorded substantial damage to buildings and vehicles, wind-driven hail damaging many homes, and a 66 mph gust at the airport.
On 11 August 2019 hail up to three inches fell at Billings Logan International Airport, the largest stone in the metro’s record for the decade, with a 71 mph gust; NWS Billings ranked it among its ten biggest weather events of the decade. The storm damaged the roofs of the Shepherd schools and broke every west-side window, damaged two airliners at the airport, destroyed about $400,000 of grain near Molt, and killed or maimed 11,000 to 13,000 waterfowl at Big Lake.
Eleven days later, on 22 August 2019, another storm drove hail through windows and damaged roofs and siding, especially in the Heights. In July 2022 Huntley, just east of the city, logged hail up to 2.75 inches. And the Father’s Day tornado of 20 June 2010, NWS Billings’s top event of that decade, took the roofs off three buildings in the Heights and much of the roof off the Metra arena.
The hail comes in bursts: 63 reports in 2019, 57 in 2018, 42 in 2016, and then only three in 2023 and four in 2024. That makes roof age, and the insurer’s depreciation of it, a large part of what a Billings homeowner pays after the next big year.
So the questions to ask are about impact rating and the policy: whether the shingle carries an impact-resistance rating, what the insurer will pay on a roof of your age, and whether the roofer will document existing damage before a storm season. Then check the contractor’s Montana licence, unless it is a genuinely one-person firm.
Billings hail and the rules on a Montana reroof
| Item | Figure or rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Hail reports, 2016 to 2025 | 275, of which 26 were 2 inches or more | NOAA NCEI Storm Events |
| Largest stone | 3.0 inches at Billings airport, 11 August 2019 | NWS Billings via NOAA NCEI |
| 21 May 2016 | Golf to tennis ball hail across north Billings; 66 mph gust | NWS Billings |
| Busiest hail years | 63 reports in 2019, 57 in 2018 | NOAA NCEI Storm Events |
| Roof depreciation warning | Roofs 10 to 15 years old may be paid at actual cash value | Montana Commissioner of Securities and Insurance |
| Contractor licence | Required from 1 January 2026; no exam | MCA 37-45-201 |
| Exemptions | Jobs under $2,500; contractors with no employees | MCA 37-45-104 |
| Local contractor licences | Not allowed | MCA 37-45-204 |
| Billings permit on a $15,000 reroof | $162 | City of Billings |
| Design values | 30 psf roof snow load; 110 mph wind | City of Billings |
Source: NWS Billings event reviews and NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; MCA 37-45 (HB 239, 2025) and 28-2-2201; Montana Department of Labor and Industry; Montana Commissioner of Securities and Insurance; City of Billings building division and fee schedule; Montana Secretary of State records via OpenCorporates; US Census Bureau ACS 2020 to 2024.
Three things to confirm before work starts in Billings
Licensing is required in MT. Since 1 January 2026 Montana requires a construction contractor licence from the Department of Labor and Industry for anyone in the business of installing or repairing roofing (MCA 37-45-201). It replaced the old contractor registration, and there is no exam or roofing-specific licence.
The licence requires proof of workers’ compensation compliance. Sole contractors with no employees and jobs under $2,500 are exempt, so a one-person roofer may legitimately hold only an Independent Contractor Exemption Certificate. Cities may not impose their own contractor licences, and unprofessional conduct carries penalties of up to $5,000.
Check here: Montana DLI construction contractor record search. Licence numbers look like CCP-CCL-LIC-0000000. The department polices fraud, misrepresentation and worker classification but does not judge workmanship, so check warranties, references and the contractor’s insurance separately.
Four checks to run before you sign anything, in any state.
- Verify certification at the source. Use the GAF verification tool rather than trusting a badge image on a company website.
- Get the certificate of insurance from the insurer, not the contractor, and confirm general liability and workers compensation are both active on the day work starts.
- Confirm who pulls the permit. If a contractor asks you to pull it as the homeowner, that moves liability onto you. Decline.
- Get warranty terms in writing before any deposit, and check the manufacturer warranty being promised actually requires the certification tier the contractor holds.
The shape of the Billings contractor market
2 certified roofing contractors serve the principal cities of the Billings, MT statistical area, of which 0 hold the top President’s Club tier. The pool carries 379 customer reviews between them at a mean rating of 4.8. The statistical area had a 2024 population of 192,531, a change of 4.54% against the 2020 census base, per the U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2024 estimates.
How these Billings rankings were produced
Every contractor in the Billings, MT pool was scored out of 100 on four published components: certification tier, a Bayesian adjusted rating, review depth and distance from the metro centre. In this metro that meant scoring 2 certified contractors, of whom 0 hold President’s Club standing and 1 Master Elite, against a metro mean rating of 4.8. The top two were then researched individually against Better Business Bureau records, state licence registers and manufacturer directories. Anything unflattering that research surfaced appears above alongside the rest, and no company bought its position.
The full method, the weightings, what the GAF certification tiers actually mean, who is eligible to be ranked and what we do not claim are all set out on our roofer ranking methodology page. Last updated: October 2026. Scoring run: 2026-10-06. Corrections go to the editor and are actioned on verification.
The questions that come up most in Billings
Who is the best roofer in Billings, MT?
Sprague Construction Roofing of Billings, MT scores highest in the Billings metro on The Roofing Brief Contractor Score, at 77.3 out of 100 as of October 2026. It holds Master Elite certification with a 4.7 rating across 168 reviews. Highest-scoring is not the same as best fit for your specific job, and the company behind it scores within 5.1 points.
How many certified roofing contractors serve Billings?
2 contractors on the GAF certification registry serve the principal cities of the Billings, MT statistical area as of October 2026, of which 0 hold President’s Club status.
How much damaging hail does Billings get?
The Billings, MT statistical area recorded 218 hail reports of 1 inch or larger and 26 of 2 inches or larger between 2016 and 2025 in the NOAA Storm Events Database. The largest hailstone reported measured 3.0 inches.
Did any contractor pay to appear on this list?
No. The Roofing Brief takes no placement fees, no lead fees and no affiliate commission from any roofing contractor. Ranking comes entirely from the published formula applied to public registry data, followed by an individual research pass on the top two.
What was the worst hailstorm in Billings in the last ten years?
The largest hailstone logged by the National Weather Service in the Billings, MT statistical area between 2016 and 2025 measured 3.0 inches, reported near Yellowstone on 11 August 2019. That is baseball sized, comfortably past the point where a roof is written off rather than repaired. Across the decade the metro recorded 275 hail reports. Reported property damage from hail, severe wind and tornado over that decade totalled $2.5 million; flood and winter-storm losses are counted separately and are not included.
When is the worst time of year for roof damage in Billings?
Severe-weather reports in the Billings, MT statistical area cluster in July, August, June, on the NOAA record for 2016 to 2025. Booking non-urgent roof work outside those months usually means shorter lead times, because local crews are not simultaneously triaging storm callouts.
Do roofers need a licence in MT?
Since 1 January 2026 Montana requires a construction contractor licence from the Department of Labor and Industry for anyone in the business of installing or repairing roofing (MCA 37-45-201). It replaced the old contractor registration, and there is no exam or roofing-specific licence. The licence requires proof of workers’ compensation compliance. Sole contractors with no employees and jobs under $2,500 are exempt, so a one-person roofer may legitimately hold only an Independent Contractor Exemption Certificate. Cities may not impose their own contractor licences, and unprofessional conduct carries penalties of up to $5,000.
What should I check before hiring a roofer in Billings?
Licence numbers look like CCP-CCL-LIC-0000000. The department polices fraud, misrepresentation and worker classification but does not judge workmanship, so check warranties, references and the contractor’s insurance separately.
Hail on the Yellowstone?
On 21 May 2016 a supercell came off the Beartooth foothills, crossed Carbon County and swept the northwest and north of Billings with golf-ball hail and some stones the size of tennis balls. NWS recorded substantial damage to buildings and vehicles, wind-driven hail damaging many homes, and a 66 mph gust at the airport.
Is Billings a hard market to find a good roofer in?
Billings sits on one of the busiest hail corridors in the northern Plains: 275 hail reports in Yellowstone, Carbon and Stillwater counties over the past decade, 26 of them two inches or larger, all falling between May and August. Montana turned its contractor registration into a licence on 1 January 2026, but there is still no roofing exam, and the state’s insurance regulator warns that older roofs may be paid only at depreciated value. Two certified firms appear in the directory, both based in Billings, and both are ranked.
Roofer rankings for other metros
The Roofing Brief scores certified roofing contractors in the 400 largest U.S. metropolitan and micropolitan areas on the same formula.
- Best roofers in Bowling Green, KY, a metro of comparable size
- Best roofers in Dover, DE, a metro of comparable size
- Best roofers in Ogden, UT, also scored, about 358 miles away
See the full index of all 400 metro roofer rankings, or read how to find and vet a roofing contractor anywhere in the country.
Cite this analysis
The Roofing Brief. “Best Roofers in Billings, MT: The Roofing Brief Contractor Score.” Published October 2026. Inputs: GAF certification registry; NOAA Storm Events Database 2016-2025; U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2024 population estimates; Better Business Bureau and independent review-platform records for each ranked contractor.