Commercial roofing specialists are low-slope contractors approved by a membrane maker (GAF, Carlisle, Elevate, Sika, Johns Manville) to install that maker’s warranted systems, and the first choice is scale: a national branch network or a regional firm that has worked your metro for decades. On Roofing Contractor’s 2026 Top 10, Tecta America reported $1.6 billion in revenue, all commercial, and Nations Roof reported $500 million, 98% commercial; regional specialists such as Baker Roofing in the Southeast, Latite Roofing in Florida, A.W. Farrell in upstate New York and Maxwell Roofing in Tennessee work from crews based near your roof. The vetting is the same for both: manufacturer tier, EMR, insurance, bonds and a portfolio you can walk.
By The Roofing Brief Team. Last reviewed: October 2026.
Decision table: matching the specialist to the project
| If your project is | Shortlist | Rule or source |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-site portfolio in 5 or more states | 1 national branch network plus 1 regional per metro, bid on the same spec | Editorial rule: one contract, one warranty desk |
| Single building or 2 to 3 buildings in one metro | 2 or 3 regional specialists plus 1 national branch | Editorial rule: local crews and local inspector history |
| Federal construction contract over $150,000 | Only bidders able to post performance and payment bonds | 40 U.S.C. 3131 as applied by FAR 28.102-1 |
| Federal contract over $35,000 and up to $150,000 | Bidders able to provide the payment protection the contracting officer selects | 40 U.S.C. 3132; FAR 28.102-1(b) |
| GAF system with an NDL guarantee longer than 25 years | GAF PlatinumElite contractors only (up to 35 years) | GAF commercial contractor certification page |
| Contractor EMR above 1.00 | Ask for 3 years of loss runs and the corrective safety plan before shortlisting | NCCI: a mod above 1.00 is a debit against expected losses |
| Roof edge 6 ft or more above the lower level | Written fall protection method (guardrail, net, personal fall arrest, or warning line plus monitor) | OSHA 29 CFR 1926.501(b)(10) |
The national players: who actually counts as national
A roofer with offices in 3 states is regional, not national. On this page, a national commercial roofer means a company-owned branch network spread across many states, with central safety and training staff, and the surety backing to bond large projects. The commercial-majority firms on Roofing Contractor’s 2026 Top 10 are listed below, compiled from that table (2025 revenue, self-reported).
| 2026 rank | Company | Headquarters | Peak staff | Revenue | Commercial share | Private equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Tecta America | Rosemont, Ill. | 5,500 | $1,600,000,000 | 100% | Yes |
| 3 | Flynn Group of Companies | Mississauga, Ont. | 6,000 | $841,000,000 (U.S. revenue only) | 100% | No |
| 4 | Roofing Corp of America | Atlanta, Ga. | 1,970 | $652,000,000 | 90% | No |
| 6 | Nations Roof | Mobile, Ala. | 1,250 | $500,000,000 | 98% | Yes |
| 7 | Baker Roofing Company | Cary, N.C. | 1,040 | $356,000,000 | 90% | No |
| 9 | Greenwood Industries | Worcester, Mass. | 1,106 | $350,000,000 | 100% | Yes |
CentiMark, which Roofing Contractor says topped or placed second on the list for the previous 10 years, did not submit for 2026, so it does not appear in the table.
Tecta America. Reported $1.6B in revenue, all commercial, on Roofing Contractor’s 2026 Top 100, the highest among commercial roofers that submitted; its website lists more than 110 locations. Altas Partners has been majority owner since 2018, and Leonard Green & Partners took a minority stake in 2021. Tecta operates as a roll-up: each location was a regional roofer (often family-owned) acquired and integrated under the Tecta brand, retaining local crew leadership while adding national systems for safety, manufacturer certifications, and project management. Roofing Contractor reports 6 acquisitions in 2025. Confirm manufacturer approvals for the specified system with each manufacturer. If you have a multi-site portfolio (chains, REITs, public school districts), Tecta is a likely national bidder.
CentiMark. Canonsburg, Pennsylvania-based (Pittsburgh area), with over 100 offices across North America per its website. Founded in 1968 by Edward B. Dunlap and led by CEO Tim Dunlap, CentiMark describes itself as family and employee-owned, with an Employee Stock Ownership Program. It runs new installation alongside 24/7 emergency repair, preventive maintenance and an Asset Alert roof evaluation program, covers the U.S. and Canada, and lists manufacturing, warehousing and retail among the industries it serves. Its contractor-issued warranty covers materials and workmanship together; see how CentiMark’s Single Source Warranty works.
Nations Roof. Headquartered in Mobile, Alabama per Roofing Contractor, which placed it sixth in 2026 with $500M in revenue, 98% commercial. Its website lists more than 40 branch locations and more than 100 crews; it owns its locations, and AEA Investors acquired the company in July 2024. It offers reroofing, new roofing and maintenance for single sites and multi-location portfolios.
KPost Company. Dallas-based, opened in 2004, with more than 400 employees and 60-plus crews per its website. It works mainly in North Texas, covers roofing and waterproofing, and lists partnerships with the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers. It is a large regional firm rather than a national branch network.
The case for a national specialist is consistency: one safety program across branches, centrally handled manufacturer paperwork, and institutional surety backing. The case against is price on small jobs: on a $40,000 repair, a national branch may bid higher than a regional specialist that needs the work to fill a crew-week, so get both kinds of bid on any job under $100,000.
The regional specialists: who to take seriously
Regional specialists are firms that have roofed the same metro for 50 to 100 years, often under multi-generational or employee ownership. The four below are profiled from their own websites and trade-press coverage.
Baker Roofing. Founded in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1915; Roofing Contractor lists its headquarters in Cary, NC, and placed it seventh in 2026 with $356M in revenue, 90% commercial. The company says it became 100% employee-owned in 2025. Baker serves the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic with residential and commercial work, and its project pages include churches, schools and university buildings.
Latite Roofing. Pompano Beach, Florida, dating to 1943 per its website. Latite serves commercial and residential customers across several Florida regions and, through its family of companies (including Roof Management Inc. and Invictus Roofing), Georgia, Tennessee and Texas. A Sun Capital Partners affiliate acquired Latite in January 2025. Florida commercial work has to meet the Florida Building Code, including high-velocity hurricane zone (HVHZ) rules in Miami-Dade and Broward, ASCE 7 wind-uplift design and Miami-Dade NOA product approvals, so ask any Florida bidder for its approvals and uplift calculations.
A.W. Farrell & Son. Dunkirk, New York, in business since 1946 and family and employee-owned, per its website. Farrell lists divisions in Buffalo, Dunkirk, Plattsburgh, Queensbury and the Albany Capital Region in New York, plus Erie, Pennsylvania, Cleveland, Ohio, and Las Vegas, Nevada, and handles low-slope, steep-slope and sheet metal work in cold-climate snow-load territory.
Maxwell Roofing & Sheet Metal. Nashville, Tennessee, founded in 1956 and owned by the third generation of the Maxwell family, per a 2024 company announcement. Maxwell serves Middle Tennessee, southern Kentucky and northern Alabama, with an office in Huntsville.
Every metro has a handful of firms like these. The fastest way to find yours is the manufacturer locators in the next section, filtered to your zip code and to the top tier of each program, such as GAF PlatinumElite or Sika Elite, then run through the vetting steps below whether the contractor has 1,500 employees or 50.
EMR: the number that separates pros from amateurs
The Experience Modification Rate (EMR, or mod) compares a contractor’s actual workers’ compensation losses with the losses expected for its payroll and class codes. Per NCCI’s ABCs of Experience Rating, a 1.00 mod means losses matched expectations and leaves premium unchanged, a mod below 1.00 is a credit, and a mod above 1.00 is a debit: a 1.25 mod turns a $100,000 manual premium into $125,000. Ask for the current rating worksheet from the insurer or rating bureau, not a number typed into a proposal.
Many general contractors use EMR as a subcontractor prequalification gate, so on a GC-led project the bidder list may already be screened. When you hire direct, apply the screen yourself: a cap of 1.00 is a common owner rule (a 1.10 mod means premium 10% above manual), and any bidder above it should explain the claims behind the mod and the safety changes since.
Manufacturer certifications that matter
The manufacturer warranty on a commercial roof is usually the most valuable document in the transaction, and each maker issues its longer terms, such as the GAF Diamond Pledge or Elevate Red Shield, only through contractors it has approved for the specified system. The published tiers and ceilings below come from each maker’s own pages.
| Maker | Contractor program and tiers | Published warranty ceiling | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| GAF | GAF Certified, GoldElite, PlatinumElite; less than 10% of GAF commercial contractors reach PlatinumElite | Diamond Pledge NDL Roof Guarantee up to 25 years via GoldElite, up to 35 years via PlatinumElite | GAF commercial roofer page |
| Carlisle SynTec | Authorized Applicator network | Up to 30 years; leak coverage includes hail up to 3 in. and winds up to 120 mph; every warranted roof inspected by a field service representative | Carlisle warranty services |
| Elevate (formerly Firestone Building Products) | Applicators issuing the Red Shield Warranty | UltraPly Platinum TPO adhered over lightweight concrete: up to 30 years, 55 mph; UltraPly TPO XR adhered over steel: up to 25 years | Elevate QuickSpec |
| Sika Sarnafil | Partners Club, rated annually into Elite (highest) and Partner | Ask Sika for the term on the specified assembly | Sika find a contractor |
| Johns Manville | Peak Advantage: Peak, Summit Club, Pinnacle Council, 5280 Council | Ask JM for the guarantee term on the specified assembly | JM Peak Advantage |
| Versico | Authorized contractors; Versico is a division of Carlisle Construction Materials | Ask Versico for the term on the specified assembly | Versico |
GAF GoldElite and PlatinumElite. GAF’s current commercial designations are GAF Certified, GoldElite and PlatinumElite. GoldElite contractors can offer the Diamond Pledge NDL (no dollar limit) Roof Guarantee for up to 25 years on qualifying systems, and PlatinumElite contractors for up to 35 years. Older bid documents may still name GAF “Master Select”; write the current tier name into the spec.
Carlisle Authorized Applicator. Carlisle SynTec makes Sure-Weld TPO, Sure-Flex PVC and Sure-Seal EPDM systems. Its warranty services page says terms run up to 30 years and every warranted roof is inspected by a Carlisle field service representative against its installation specifications; the applicator locator on that page searches by zip code, city or state.
Elevate Red Shield. Holcim completed its acquisition of Firestone Building Products in 2021 and renamed it Elevate in 2022; Elevate became part of Amrize when Holcim spun off its North American business in June 2025. Red Shield is the warranty name, and its term depends on the assembly: Elevate’s QuickSpec sheets list up to 30 years for adhered UltraPly Platinum TPO over lightweight concrete and up to 25 years for adhered UltraPly TPO XR over steel, and note that only Elevate brand products are covered.
Sika Sarnafil and Johns Manville. Sika says it sells its Sarnafil PVC systems to authorized applicators that are rated every year on technical and business criteria and classed as Elite or Partner. Johns Manville’s Peak Advantage program has four levels, from Peak to the 5280 Council. On both, ask for the guarantee term on your exact assembly in writing before award.
If a contractor pitches a 30-year manufacturer warranty without the matching approval, ask for the maker’s written confirmation. Every maker in the table publishes a searchable contractor list. For a deeper read on warranty tiers, see our commercial roof warranty guide.
Insurance limits: what is actually adequate
Set the limits in your RFP instead of accepting whatever the bidder carries. A workable owner spec is general liability of at least $2,000,000 per occurrence, an umbrella sized to the contract value, statutory workers’ compensation in your state, and your entity named as additional insured. Umbrellas stack: $1,000,000 primary plus a $5,000,000 umbrella gives $6,000,000 of coverage, but an umbrella over an expired primary policy does not. Read both certificates, and reject any certificate whose policy period has ended.
Bonding capacity
Performance bonds protect you if the contractor does not finish; payment bonds protect subcontractors and suppliers, which keeps liens off your building. Under 40 U.S.C. 3131, applied through FAR 28.102-1, federal construction contracts over $150,000 require both bonds, and contracts over $35,000 up to $150,000 require payment protections the contracting officer selects. Most states apply similar “Little Miller Act” rules to public work, and private owners can require bonds by contract. Ask the surety for a letter stating the single-project and aggregate limits, and confirm the single limit is at least your contract value.
How to source the short list
Start from the manufacturer locators rather than search ads:
- Pull the authorized contractor directory for the membrane system you are leaning toward (Carlisle, Versico, GAF, Elevate, Sika, Johns Manville). Filter by zip code and, where the locator allows, by top tier.
- Ask building owners and property managers in the same metro who they hired in the past 5 years and would hire again, and which ones answered warranty calls in year 2 or later.
- If an architect or roof consultant is on the project, ask for its prequalified bidder list and the criteria behind it.
- For multi-site portfolios, invite one of the nationals (Tecta America, CentiMark, Nations Roof) and one or two regional specialists for the same metro, and bid all of them on the same written spec.
Lead aggregator sites that promise to “match you with 3 verified contractors” sell your request to paying contractors; they do not check EMR, bonding or Carlisle Authorized Applicator status. For more sourcing routes, see our local commercial roofer finder and commercial roofers near you guides.
The portfolio test: drive there
Visit at least two completed projects of comparable scope and age. If the contractor pitches a 200-square (20,000 sq ft) TPO replacement, ask for the address of a 200-square TPO roof it finished 5 years ago and go look. Check that seams are intact, flashings are clean, drains are clear, parapet details are sealed, and the membrane shows no ponding stains or traffic punctures. Walk it with the building owner if possible and ask whether they would hire the same contractor again.
National vs. regional: when each is right
National is right when you have a multi-site portfolio, when the project is large enough that bond capacity matters, when you want a single point of contact across geographies, or when procurement rules set a minimum contractor size, which is where branch networks such as Tecta America or Nations Roof fit. It also helps when a regional storm damages 10 or more locations at once and you need crews mobilized in several states.
Regional is right for a single building, for a relationship that carries through the warranty period, and where local code knowledge matters: Florida HVHZ, California Title 24 cool roof rules, New York City Local Law 97, the Chicago green roof ordinance, or the Massachusetts Stretch Energy Code.
For cold storage, food processing and pharmaceutical plants, see our industrial roofing contractors 2026 guide.
The 12 questions to ask any bidder
- Which manufacturer approvals do you hold, and at what tier (for example GAF GoldElite or PlatinumElite, Sika Elite or Partner)? Provide proof of current status.
- What is your EMR for the most recent policy year, and may I see the rating worksheet?
- What are your general liability and workers’ compensation limits, and in which states do you carry compliant workers’ compensation?
- What are your single-project and aggregate bonding limits, and may I have a letter from your surety?
- Who is the on-site project manager, and how many years have they been with your company?
- Will the install crew be your direct employees, or are you subcontracting? If subcontracting, what is their EMR and approval status?
- What is the manufacturer warranty (term, NDL vs material-only, exclusions), and will you provide the actual warranty paperwork before installation begins?
- What is your own workmanship warranty term in years, and what does it cover?
- Which fall protection method will you use at edges 6 ft or more above the lower level under OSHA 1926.501(b)(10), and what are your weather-hold criteria?
- Walk me through your tear-off and weather-tight schedule. How many squares will be open at any one time?
- What is the payment schedule? One defensible structure is a 10% deposit, progress payments tied to milestones, and 10% retention until the punch list is complete.
- May I have addresses of three completed projects of comparable scope, with owner contact info?
See how to choose a roofing contractor, questions to ask a roofing contractor and our roofing contract template.
The bottom line
Hiring commercial roofing specialists in 2026 is mostly a documents exercise: the maker’s tier for the specified system, an EMR at or below 1.00, insurance limits you set in the RFP, a surety letter that covers 100% of the contract value, and two finished roofs you have walked. National or regional depends on how many buildings and states you have. Use the same 12 questions on both, and read every bid against the manufacturer’s specification sheet.
Commercial roofing specialists: frequently asked questions
How do I find commercial roofing specialists near me?
Start with the authorized contractor locator for the membrane you plan to specify (GAF, Carlisle, Elevate, Sika, Johns Manville or Versico), filtered to your zip code and top tier. Then screen the list on EMR, insurance limits, bonding and two site visits.
What EMR should a commercial roofer have?
A 1.00 mod means losses matched expectations. Per NCCI, a mod above 1.00 raises premium, so a 1.25 mod turns $100,000 of manual premium into $125,000. Many owners cap bidders at 1.00 and ask anyone above it to explain the claims.
Do commercial roofing contractors need to be bonded?
On federal construction contracts over $150,000, FAR 28.102-1 requires performance and payment bonds. Most states apply similar rules to public work, and private owners can require bonds in the contract.
Who are the largest commercial roofing contractors?
On Roofing Contractor’s 2026 Top 10, Tecta America reported $1.6 billion, all commercial, followed among commercial-majority firms by Flynn Group ($841 million U.S.), Roofing Corp of America ($652 million) and Nations Roof ($500 million). CentiMark did not submit for 2026.
Which manufacturer certifications matter most?
The one for the system you specify. GAF PlatinumElite contractors can offer a Diamond Pledge NDL guarantee of up to 35 years, Carlisle lists warranty terms up to 30 years, and Elevate lists Red Shield terms up to 30 years on qualifying TPO assemblies.