Alabama requires a residential roofers license from the Home Builders Licensure Board (HBLB) for any roofing job over $2,500 that you contract directly with a homeowner. There is no exam for it. You qualify by showing a city or county business license as a contractor and posting a $10,000 bond.
The rules sit in Title 34, Chapter 14A of the Code of Alabama and in the board’s administrative rules, published together in the board’s law and rules PDF. The board’s how to get licensed page and its roofer application packet lay out the application.
A job that touches a truss needs the unlimited builders license
The statute (Ala. Code 34-14A-2) defines a residential roofer as “A person that installs products or repairs surfaces on the external upper covering of a residence or structure that seals, waterproofs, or weatherproofs the residence or structure.” The license itself is a home builders license “limited to roofing,” and it covers only the external covering of the house.
That limit decides which license a storm job needs. In the board’s own examples, a roofer who contracts with a homeowner for an $8,000 new roof, replacing only damaged decking and fascia, needs the roofers license. A roofer who re-roofs and repairs at least one damaged truss, which takes a framer, for $11,000 needs the unlimited home builders license “because more than one trade is involved, and the work affects the structural integrity of the residence.”
Employees who don’t hold themselves out for hire need no license, and neither does a homeowner working on their own one- or two-family home. That owner exemption “applies only to the owner,” so a roofer contracting directly with the owner is not exempt. In one board example, a framer working for a licensed builder who holds the homeowner contract needs no board license. The board gives no such example for roofing subs, so ask it before you take sub work without a license.
Commercial roofs fall under a separate board, the Alabama Licensing Board for General Contractors. Its exemptions changed on October 1, 2026 under Act 2026-396, and the board tells contractors to ask before bidding when unsure.
Before you quote a storm job, check whether it touches a truss or needs a framer, because that decides which license you need.
The roofers license has no exam, and a local business license proves experience
The board asks for a copy of a contractor’s business or occupational license issued by an Alabama city, township or county, either current or held within the year before you apply.
The rules also name being a manufacturer-certified roofing installer, a written recommendation from someone holding an unlimited home builders license in any state, and a recommendation from a building official in any state. The packet tells applicants without a local business license to contact the board about “alternate methods,” so call before you apply on a manufacturer certificate alone.
The exams belong to the unlimited home builders license, the one the truss example calls for. PROV (provexam.com) runs them, and you don’t need board approval to sit them. Passing scores are 70 on the Alabama Business & Law Exam and 66 on the Alabama Skills Exam.
Another state’s residential builder license counts toward that experience only if the board finds the state’s rules substantially similar and that state waives its exam for Alabama licensees, or you passed another exam the board approves. Even then, plan on the Alabama business and law section, since the board can require it.
A new license costs $250 in board fees and needs a $10,000 bond
The board charges $150 for the annual license and a $100 application processing fee it keeps either way. It takes checks or money orders only, no cards. The $15 Homeowners’ Recovery Fund fee charged on other licenses doesn’t apply to roofers.
Instead of a credit report, a roofer posts a $10,000 License/Permit Bond naming the Home Builders Licensure Board as obligee, and the surety sends it to the board. The principal’s name on the bond has to match the application exactly, for example “John Smith dba John Smith Roofing,” so copy the name off your application onto the bond request word for word. Roofing Contractor Bonds: Which States Require One and What It Costs covers the bonds other states ask for.
A company’s qualifier must be an owner or officer
A corporation, LLC or partnership applies through a Designated Qualifying Representative (DQR). The DQR has to be an officer of a corporation, a general partner of a partnership, a member of a member-managed LLC or a manager of a manager-managed LLC. Hiring someone for their license and listing them as qualifier doesn’t fit that rule. Roofing License Requirements by State, and How Qualifiers Work shows how other states handle qualifiers.
A company also files a Certificate of Compliance from the Alabama Department of Revenue, and an out-of-state company adds a Certificate of Existence from the Alabama Secretary of State. Changing the DQR later costs $100.
The packet warns that a DQR “may engage in residential home building only through the entity that holds the Alabama Home Builders License.” An individual licensee can work only alone or through a licensed entity they belong to. Holding a license in your own name while signing jobs through an LLC that has none is a violation, so license the LLC before it signs a contract.
The license and the bond both run out every December 31
Licenses renew every year. File the renewal by November 30, since anything postmarked December 1 or later is late. The bond runs only to December 31 and has to be renewed each year along with the license.
Reactivating a roofing license that expired less than three years ago costs a $150 processing fee, and an inactive roofing license costs $75.
Since October 1, 2021, roofing licensees have had to take 6 hours of continuing education a year from a board-approved provider, 2 of them on Alabama-specific topics. In a company, the DQR earns the hours.
Google’s Local Services Ads list a state business license and owner license for roofing “where applicable by local law,” and in Alabama that would be the HBLB license for home work. A roofing and exterior remodeler on r/smallbusiness said their Local Services account was suspended for a while because they didn’t submit new licensing in time. Put November 30 on the calendar, and send Google the renewed license as soon as you have it. Google Local Services Ads for Roofers: Budget, Cost per Lead and Disputes covers the rest of the screening.
Every ad and contract needs your license number, and every job an insurance disclosure
You must show your board license number in every ad and on every written contract. The statute counts print, radio, TV, billboards, social media, promotional sponsorships, vehicles and yard signs at current or finished jobs as advertising, so your website and truck wrap need it too. The rules accept “HBLB #: (number)” or “Alabama HBLB #: (number)” in a visual ad.
Before work starts, you have to disclose in writing whether you carry liability insurance. You and the homeowner sign the disclosure, and one witness the homeowner picks signs too. Skipping it is a violation the board can punish, so add the disclosure page to your contract packet.
Unlicensed work is a misdemeanor, and complaints against licensed roofers can hit the bond
Roofing over $2,500 without the license counts as unlicensed residential home building, a Class A misdemeanor. The board can order the work stopped immediately and fine up to $5,000 per violation. An unlicensed builder who needed a license “may not bring or maintain legal action to enforce a contract for residential construction,” so you couldn’t sue to collect on the job.
Advertising without a license can start with a warning letter from the board. If the ads continue, the case goes to its investigative committee, and on a second or later probable-cause finding the board can refer it to the Attorney General for an injunction.
When a complaint against a licensed roofer finds probable cause, the board can claim on the $10,000 bond and gives the roofer 90 days to “make the bond whole” before the hearing goes ahead. Homeowners can’t claim against the Homeowners’ Recovery Fund for roofing licensees. Settle a homeowner complaint before it reaches the board.
Before your first Alabama roof, check these
- A contractor business license from an Alabama city or county, current or held within the past year
- A $10,000 License/Permit Bond in exactly the name on your application
- $250 by check or money order
- For an LLC or corporation, an owner or officer as DQR and a Department of Revenue Certificate of Compliance
- Your HBLB number on the website, truck, yard signs, Facebook page and every contract
- A signed insurance disclosure before work starts
- November 30 renewal and 6 continuing education hours on the calendar
- The unlimited license for any job that touches a truss or needs a framer
The license number on your site and truck helps a homeowner trust you once they find you, and the free Google Maps heatmap shows whether they find you: pick your Google profile and a search, and in a few minutes you’ll see your rank at 49 points around your office.