21 Questions to Ask a Roofing Contractor Before You Sign (2026)

The 21 questions to ask roofing contractor candidates before you sign a contract are the same 21 questions storm chasers and underqualified outfits cannot answer cleanly. They cover licensing, insurance (see our roof safety harness use guide), manufacturer certifications, crew composition, permits, warranty terms, payment schedule, lien rights, references, and cleanup. The pattern is simple: a real roofer answers each one in a sentence or two with specific numbers, names, and documents. A storm chaser stalls, deflects, or talks around the question. Read the rationale next to each question so you know what a clean answer sounds like before you walk into the conversation.

Why 21 questions, not 5

Most “questions to ask” lists online run 5 to 8 generic items: “are you licensed?”, “do you have insurance (for the full data set, see our the 2026 State of Roofing Insurance report)?”, “how long have you been in business?”. A real contractor passes those in their sleep. So does a fraud. The shorter the list, the easier it is to fake. The 21 questions below are designed so that a fraud cannot answer all 21 without exposing themselves. Half of them require documentation you can verify with a phone call to a third party (the state license board, the manufacturer, the insurance carrier).

If you only have time for a 5-minute conversation, ask questions 1, 5, 7, 12, and 17. Those five are the load-bearing ones. Everything else is corroboration. For the full vetting process, work through all 21 and keep notes. See our how to choose a roofing contractor guide for the broader selection framework.

Category 1: Licensing and registration (questions 1-3)

1. What is your state contractor license number and license class?

Ask for the actual number, then verify it on the state license (for the full data set, see our the 2026 Roofing Contractor Industry Report) board website while they are still at your house. In California you want a CSLB C-39 roofing classification. In Florida you want a Certified Roofing Contractor (CRC) license through the CILB. In Texas there is no state roofing license, so ask for county or municipal registration plus a roofing manufacturer certification as a stand-in. A real contractor recites their number from memory or pulls up a digital wallet pass. A fraud says “my partner handles the paperwork.”

2. How long has the license been held under this exact business name?

Storm chasers often operate under DBAs (doing-business-as names) that are only weeks old, even if the underlying entity is older. A name change after a string of complaints is a common dodge. Cross-check the license (for the full data set, see our the 2026 State Roofing Code and Licensing Report) issue date against the Secretary of State business registration date. If they do not match within a year, ask why.

3. Are you registered to do business in this state and this city?

Out-of-state contractors chasing storms often skip local (see our best roofing companies in your area guide) registration. That registration is what makes them legally accountable in your jurisdiction. No registration means no recourse if they vanish after taking your deposit. Most municipalities have an online business license search. Check it.

Category 2: Insurance verification (questions 4-6)

4. Can you provide a certificate of insurance directly from your insurance carrier?

The contractor’s office can produce a COI in 60 seconds by emailing their agent. A real one will offer to have the certificate emailed directly from the carrier or broker, not from the contractor’s own files. That direct delivery prevents document forgery. The certificate should name you as a certificate holder for the duration of the project.

5. What are your general liability limits and workers’ compensation coverage?

Minimums to look for: $1 million per occurrence general liability, $2 million aggregate, plus workers’ compensation that covers every crew member who steps onto your property. If a worker falls and there is no workers’ comp, the injury claim lands on your homeowners policy. That is how five-figure premium increases happen. Ask specifically about subcontractor coverage too. Many contractors carry workers’ comp on W-2 employees but not on 1099 sub crews. See roofing scams for the workers’ comp dodge in detail.

6. Will you add me as a certificate holder for the project duration?

Being named as a certificate holder means you get notified directly if the policy lapses or is cancelled during your project. It costs the contractor nothing. A refusal is a tell.

Category 3: Manufacturer certifications (questions 7-9)

7. Are you a manufacturer-certified installer, and at what level?

The certifications that mean something: GAF Master Elite (held by only about 4% of GAF contractors), Owens Corning Platinum Preferred, CertainTeed SELECT ShingleMaster, Atlas Pro Plus, IKO ROOFviewer, Tamko Pro Certified. These certifications require a clean license, insurance verification, training, and a minimum installation track record. They enable enhanced warranties that the manufacturer pays on directly. Verify the certification on the manufacturer’s contractor locator, not the contractor’s website.

8. What enhanced warranty does that certification enable on my project?

A GAF Master Elite contractor can register a Golden Pledge or System Plus warranty. An Owens Corning Platinum can register a Platinum Protection warranty. A CertainTeed SELECT ShingleMaster can register a SureStart Plus or 5-Star warranty. These warranties cover labor on workmanship for 25 to 50 years, paid by the manufacturer, not the contractor. That distinction matters: if the contractor goes out of business in year 8, a manufacturer-backed warranty still pays. A contractor warranty does not.

9. Will you register that warranty in my name within 30 days of completion?

Manufacturer warranty registration is a step many contractors skip after they get paid. If they skip it, you have a basic 5-year limited warranty instead of the 25 or 50-year enhanced one. Ask for proof of registration as a closing deliverable.

Category 4: Crew and project execution (questions 10-12)

10. Will my project be done by your employees or subcontractors?

Neither answer is automatically wrong. Many of the best installation crews in the country are sub crews who specialize in roofing and run lean. The point of the question is to find out who is actually on your roof. If the answer is “subcontractors,” follow up with: are they W-2 of a roofing labor company, or 1099 individuals? Are they covered under your workers’ comp policy? Have they worked with you for more than 12 months?

11. Who is the on-site foreman, and will they be present the entire day?

You want a named foreman with a cell phone number, present from tear-off through cleanup. The foreman is the person who catches mistakes in real time: nail patterns, flashing details, valley installation, ridge cap placement. A crew with no on-site supervisor is a crew making field decisions you cannot audit.

12. How many roofing projects has your company completed in the last 12 months, and how many in my zip code?

Volume in the last 12 months tells you the company is active. Volume in your zip code tells you they know your local code, your local supply chain, and your local inspectors. A contractor with 200 jobs last year but zero in your zip code is a storm chaser. A contractor with 40 jobs last year and 12 in your zip code is a local who lives off referrals.

Category 5: Permits and code (questions 13-15)

13. Will you pull the permit in your name or in mine?

The permit goes in the contractor’s name. Always. If they ask you to pull it as an “owner-builder” permit, walk away. Owner-builder permits exist for homeowners doing their own work. A contractor asking you to pull one is dodging code accountability, often because they cannot get a permit in their own name (no license, no insurance, or a string of failed inspections). See our roofing scams guide for the owner-builder dodge.

14. What is the current building code for roofing in this jurisdiction, and what does that mean for my project?

A real contractor knows the code by heart. They can tell you whether your jurisdiction requires synthetic underlayment, ice and water shield to 24 inches past the interior wall, drip edge on rakes and eaves, ridge ventilation, and what the wind-uplift requirement is. If they cannot answer this question, they are either new to the area or do not pull permits often enough to know.

15. Who calls in the inspection, and will you be there for it?

The contractor calls the inspection. You should be invited to attend. A contractor who waves you off (“we have a good relationship with the inspector”) is signaling they would rather you not see what the inspector says.

Category 6: Warranty terms (questions 16-18)

16. What is your workmanship warranty, and is it in writing?

Workmanship warranty is what the contractor stands behind on their own labor (flashing, ridge cap, valley work, fasteners, sealant). Real workmanship warranties run 5 to 25 years and are spelled out in the contract. The duration matters less than the specificity. A “lifetime workmanship warranty” with no defined coverage is marketing copy. A 10-year workmanship warranty that lists exactly what is covered, what is excluded, and how a claim is filed is real.

17. What is the manufacturer warranty, and who registers it?

This pairs with question 8. The base limited warranty from any major shingle manufacturer covers the shingles themselves against manufacturing defects, prorated after year 10. The enhanced warranty (Golden Pledge, Platinum Protection, SureStart Plus) extends that to non-prorated coverage and adds labor and accessory coverage. Get the warranty document number and verify it on the manufacturer’s homeowner portal after the project closes.

18. Is the warranty transferable to a future homeowner, and what is the transfer process?

Most enhanced warranties allow one transfer to a subsequent homeowner if registered within a defined window (typically 60 days of property transfer). That matters for resale value. Ask for the transfer process in writing.

Category 7: Money, lien rights, references (questions 19-21)

19. What is your payment schedule, and what is the maximum deposit?

Industry norm is 10% to 33% deposit, balance due on completion, or a three-stage schedule (deposit, materials delivery, completion). Any contractor asking for 50% or more up front is signaling cash flow problems. Pay by credit card or check, never cash. See our how to negotiate roof replacement guide for payment-schedule negotiation tactics.

20. Will you sign a lien waiver at completion, and will your suppliers and subs sign too?

A mechanic’s lien is filed by a contractor, sub, or supplier who was not paid for work done on your house. Even if you paid the general contractor in full, if the GC did not pay the supplier, the supplier can lien your house. The fix is a conditional lien waiver from every party in the chain at each payment milestone, then an unconditional lien waiver at final payment. A real contractor knows this language. A storm chaser does not.

21. Can you provide three local references from projects completed in the last 6 to 24 months, and three older references from 5 or more years ago?

Recent references prove they are currently active. Older references prove their work has held up. Both matter. Storm chasers can produce recent references (other storm victims they roofed last month) but cannot produce 5-year references because they did not exist 5 years ago. Drive past two of the references. Look at the ridge line and flashing. Call one and ask: would you hire them again, and what would you do differently?

The verification step nobody does

Asking the 21 questions only works if you verify two or three of the answers. The minimum verification: (1) license number on the state board website, (2) certificate of insurance emailed directly from the carrier, (3) manufacturer certification on the manufacturer’s contractor locator. Each verification takes under 5 minutes. The contractor’s response to “I verified your license / insurance / certification” tells you whether they are used to being verified. A real one says “good, that is what I expected.” A fraud gets defensive.

What to do with the answers

Score each candidate on a simple 21-point scale, one point per clean answer. A contractor scoring 18 or above is in your shortlist. A contractor scoring 14 to 17 is a maybe, depending on which questions they missed. A contractor scoring under 14 is out. The four killer questions where a miss is automatically disqualifying: license verification (1), workers’ comp (5), permit in their name (13), and lien waivers (20). Miss any of those and the candidate is out regardless of total score.

Get all answers in writing as part of the bid package, not just verbal. A contractor who answers cleanly in conversation but balks at writing those same answers into the contract is signaling something. The contract is where the answers become enforceable. See our roofing contract template and roofing estimate template for the document language that locks each answer in.

Bonus: questions to ask their references

When you call references, ask these five: (1) Was the final price within 5% of the original estimate? (2) Did the project finish within 1 week of the original promised date? (3) Did the cleanup leave a single nail or shingle scrap in your yard? (4) Has anything failed in the time since? (5) Would you hire them again? Reference answers are calibrated by what they do not say. A reference who pauses on question 1 or 4 is telling you something.

FAQ

How many contractors should I ask all 21 questions?

Three. Get three bids, run the 21 questions on all three, and compare scoring. A single high-scoring contractor with no comparison gives you no negotiating room on price or terms. Three lets you negotiate.

What if a contractor refuses to answer some of these?

Walk away. Every question on this list has a defensible answer. A refusal to answer is a tell. Even if the refusal is “I do not give out my workers’ comp policy details to prospects,” the answer to that is “then we are done here.”

Are storm chasers always bad?

Not always, but the base rate is bad. Some legitimate national roofing companies move crews to storm zones and do excellent work under local supervision. The 21 questions sort them from the fraudulent ones. See red flags roofing contractor for the storm-chaser-specific tells.

Should I get the answers in writing before signing?

Yes. Convert every answer into a contract clause or attached document. The verbal answer is sales talk. The written answer is enforceable.

What if a contractor will not give me a written warranty until after signing?

Walk away. Warranty language is contract language. If you cannot see it before you sign, you cannot enforce it after.

Bottom line

The 21 questions sort real roofers from storm chasers in under an hour of conversation per candidate. The high-signal questions are licensing, workers’ compensation, manufacturer certification, permits, and lien waivers. Verify two or three answers independently. Get every answer in writing before you sign. A contractor who answers all 21 cleanly and produces the documents to back them up is your candidate. A contractor who stalls or deflects on any of the load-bearing five is not. For the broader buying-decision framework see how to choose a roofing contractor, and for cost benchmarks to bring into the negotiation see how much does a new roof cost and roof cost per square foot.