Michigan has no license for roofing alone. To roof houses for pay, you need a residential maintenance and alteration contractor license with roofing named as your trade, or a residential builder license. A first-time applicant for either one completes 60 hours of state-approved courses, and the maintenance and alteration license is earned by passing the exam for your trade.
For how other states license roofers and use qualifiers, see Roofing License Requirements by State, and How Qualifiers Work.
Roofing is one trade on Michigan’s maintenance and alteration license
Michigan’s occupational code defines a residential maintenance and alteration contractor as someone paid, “other than wages for personal labor only,” to repair, alter, add to, improve or demolish a residential structure (MCL 339.2401). Roofing is one of the trades that license lists, and the license names the trade you passed the exam in (MCL 339.2404).
The residential builder license reaches further. Its definition includes building a home and also replacement and repair, which takes in roofing. If you only roof, the maintenance and alteration license with roofing on it fits. If you plan to build homes as well, the builder license covers both.
Either license applies only to residential structures, which the code defines as a detached 1- or 2-family home, or a townhouse of no more than 3 stories with its own exit. A commercial roof or an apartment building falls outside that definition, so call the city’s building department about its rules before you bid one.
First-time applicants take 60 hours of courses before they are licensed
Since June 1, 2008, every first-time applicant for either license has had to complete 60 hours of state-approved prelicensure courses (MCL 339.2404b).
At least 6 hours go to each of these subjects:
- Business management, estimating and job costing
- Design and building science
- Contracts, liability and risk management
- Marketing and sales
- Project management and scheduling
- The current Michigan residential code
- MIOSHA construction safety standards
Those minimums add up to 42 hours, and the other 18 can go to any of the subjects.
Anyone who already held one of these licenses, or a qualifying officer license, on June 1, 2008 doesn’t have to take the courses when renewing.
Check the residential builder page from LARA, Michigan’s licensing department, for the current fees and how to book the exam before you set a budget.
Anyone licensed since 2009 owes 21 hours every three years
Michigan licenses run on a 3-year cycle, and anyone first licensed in 2009 or later owes at least 21 hours of what the state calls continuing competency in each cycle.
During your first six years, at least 3 of those hours have to fall in each calendar year, so you can’t save them all for the months before renewal. At least 3 hours in each cycle have to cover state building codes, laws, safety and changes in construction and business management law.
Once you have held the license for more than two full cycles with no discipline from the state, the requirement drops to 3 hours a cycle, one hour each on codes, safety and legal issues. Put each year’s hours on the calendar in January.
A sub crew can work under your license, and a commission rep can’t
A crew that works only under contract with a licensed residential builder or maintenance and alteration contractor doesn’t need its own license (MCL 339.2403), so a sub crew roofing for you can work under yours. That exemption leaves out salespeople.
Michigan defines a salesperson as an employee or agent of a licensed contractor who sells, negotiates or solicits its contracts for pay or commission. Someone who sells only now and then, alongside a different main job, doesn’t count. A rep knocking doors on commission fits the definition, so look up LARA’s salesperson license rules before a new rep starts. For city door-knocking permits, see Do Roofers Need a Solicitor Permit to Door Knock?.
The $600 exemption never covers a roof replacement
Michigan needs no license for a single project under $600 in total for labor, materials and everything else. The exemption is lost when the work is part of a larger job, or when the contract is split into pieces under $600 to get around the law. Any roof replacement costs far more than that, so plan on being licensed for every job you sell beyond a small repair.
An unlicensed roofer can’t sue or file a lien, and faces a fine of up to $25,000
An unlicensed contractor can’t sue a homeowner for payment on work that needed a license unless they can prove they were licensed while doing it. They can’t place a lien on the property either (MCL 339.2412). If a homeowner holds back the final payment, an unlicensed roofer has no lawsuit or lien to collect it with.
A prosecutor or the attorney general can also sue an unlicensed contractor, and the court must impose a civil fine of $5,000 to $25,000 on top of any damages or restitution. Wait until your license is issued before you start a Michigan job, because your right to collect depends on being licensed while you did the work.
Google lists a state license among its Local Services checks for roofers
For roofing, Google’s Local Services Ads requirements list “Business license on state level” and “Owner license on state level,” marked as applying where local law requires them. For a residential roofer in Michigan, that is the residential license.
An exterior remodeler who also does roofing wrote on r/smallbusiness that Google suspended their Local Services account for a while because they didn’t submit their new license in time. Upload each renewed license to Google the same week you get it. Google Local Services Ads for Roofers: Budget, Cost per Lead and Disputes covers the rest of the setup.
Seven steps get you licensed and keep you licensed
- Choose the license: maintenance and alteration with roofing as your trade, or residential builder if you also build homes.
- Finish the 60 hours of prelicensure courses, covering every required subject.
- Pass the exam, and check LARA for the current fees.
- Wait until the license is issued before you start a job.
- Look up the salesperson rules for every commission rep.
- Log your continuing competency hours each calendar year.
- Upload each renewed license to Google Local Services.
Once the license is in hand, the next question is whether homeowners near your office find you when they search Google Maps. Run the free Google Maps heatmap: pick your Google profile and a search, and in a few minutes you’ll see your rank at 49 points around your office.