To roof in Oklahoma you need a registration with the Construction Industries Board (CIB). It costs $75 a year and works as the state’s roofing license. Commercial work also needs a commercial endorsement, which means passing two exams through PSI, and starting January 1, 2027, residential work needs a residential endorsement too.
The state calls it a registration, and the Act makes it “unlawful for any person to act as a roofing contractor without having a current and valid roofing contractor’s registration.” Cities can’t use the Act to add a registration or permit requirement of their own, so in Oklahoma City or Tulsa the permit office asks for your CIB number and writes it on the permit.
The rules below come from the Roofing Contractor Registration Act (59 O.S. 1151) and the CIB’s roofing page, as of October 2026. Other states are in Roofing License Requirements by State, and How Qualifiers Work.
Anyone who sells or does roofing in Oklahoma has to register
The Act covers anyone, “including a subcontractor and nonresident contractor,” who does residential or commercial roofing, or who advertises or offers to. Reroofing, repair, maintenance and waterproofing all count, and a registration can’t be transferred.
Employees and day laborers under a contractor’s direct supervision don’t register, and neither do cleanup crews, material suppliers, owners roofing their own home or farm, or a handyman doing at most two roof repairs a year alongside other work. A general contractor bidding several trades can subcontract the roof to a registered roofer, but “if the bid is solely for roofing contractor work, then a registration is required.”
Residential work means detached one- to four-family homes and townhouses up to three stories. It also covers commercial buildings with shingles, tile, shakes or similar materials on a sloped roof built to house requirements, so a shingle reroof on a converted office counts as residential. Commercial work means roofs on commercial, industrial or public buildings under the International Building Code.
An out-of-state company appoints the Oklahoma Secretary of State as its agent for legal papers. The CIB may register a roofer by reciprocity when the home state’s rules are substantially equivalent, so ask whether yours has an agreement. Texas has no state roofing license (Texas Roofing License: Requirements, Exam and Cost), so a Texas roofer heading north after a storm registers the usual way, before knocking a door or running an ad.
Registration costs $75 a year and needs your insurance on file
The applicant, called the qualifying party, must be at least 18, an owner or officer, and “actively engaged in the work.” The Act sets no minimum years of experience. The sworn application needs:
- the business name and address, with proof
- a federal tax ID or Social Security number
- your Oklahoma Employment Security Commission account number
- a liability insurance certificate naming the CIB as holder, for at least $500,000 for residential work or $1,000,000 for commercial
- proof of workers’ comp, or an affidavit of exemption
- proof of lawful presence, which the CIB’s page lists
The CIB has 25 calendar days to issue or deny. The registration expires on the last day of the qualifying party’s birth month.
Renewal is also $75, with a 30-day grace period and then a $100 late fee.
Leave it longer and the registration is suspended at 60 days and revoked at six months.
Your insurer must tell the CIB if the policy is cancelled or lapses for nonpayment, and the Act suspends your registration “on the date of the policy cancellation.” Put the liability premium on autopay. Roofing Contractor Insurance: What Coverage a Roofing Company Needs and What It Costs covers the policy itself.
Residential roofers need an endorsement starting January 1, 2027
House Bill 1628, as amended by Senate Bill 1873, requires this endorsement for all residential work. How you get it depends on where you stand on January 1, 2027.
- Registered and in good standing on that date: you have until January 1, 2028 to pass the residential exam or finish 10 hours of CIB-approved classes, and you keep working the whole time.
- Holding a commercial endorsement on that date: you don’t need the exam or the hours.
- Registering after that date: you need at least 70% on the residential exam, and the endorsement comes “no sooner than thirty (30) days” after you pass. Until then you “shall not be allowed to sell, offer, bid, inspect, or perform any residential roofing contractor work.”
If you’re starting a roofing company in Oklahoma, register before January 1, 2027, so you get the twelve-month window and never stop selling.
The Act caps the endorsement fee at $200 with $100 renewals, while the CIB’s news page lists $230 for the first residential endorsement, so ask the CIB for the total before you budget.
After that, the CIB says renewal takes 4 hours of continuing education a year, or 8 if you hold both endorsements. Approved courses are on the CIB’s course search. PSI’s candidate bulletin, effective September 11, 2026, doesn’t list a residential roofing exam yet, so check it again before you plan a test date.
Commercial work takes two open-book exams at PSI
Commercial roofing has needed this endorsement since July 1, 2015. With a registration in good standing, you apply to the CIB and then schedule with PSI.
| Exam | Questions | Time | To pass |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roofing Business and Law | 50 | 120 minutes | 35 correct (70%) |
| Roofing Contractor Commercial Endorsement | 50 | 150 minutes | 35 correct (70%) |
Each exam costs $92 at PSI, and the fee isn’t refundable. Fail once and you wait 30 days to retest, and after any later failure the wait is 90 days.
The trade exam covers low-slope roofing, sheet metal flashing, reroofing and safety, among other topics, and you can bring the IBC, the NRCA Roofing Manuals and OSHA’s construction standards.
The 2018 IBC comes off the list on December 14, 2026, so bring the 2024 edition if you test after that.
The business and law exam covers bidding and estimating, contracts, financial management and payroll taxes, with the NASCLA Contractors Guide as a reference.
From 2027 the CIB cites contractors who use unregistered crews
Labor-only crews on sloped shingle, tile or shake roofs “must be registered but are not required to have a commercial endorsement,” and a crew that supplies no materials and works directly for an endorsed contractor needs no residential one. You can’t use anyone who isn’t registered and covered by workers’ comp, independent contractors included, and every contract has to state that everyone working under it carries workers’ comp. A comp exemption affidavit works only on residential jobs, attached to the contract; on commercial jobs everyone must be covered as your employee.
The CIB says it will cite contractors who use unregistered crews starting January 1, 2027, and it puts the duty to check on the prime contractor and the registered roofer. From January 1, 2028, labor-only crews must carry proof on site that they work for an endorsed contractor, and citations go to everyone involved. Look up each crew’s registration before they start and file it with their workers’ comp certificate.
Your OK number goes on both truck doors and every ad
Both sides of every work vehicle need the firm name and registration number, starting with “OK,” in contrasting letters at least 2 inches high. The name, any endorsement, the number and a phone number go on each job site, business card, contract, bid, sign and ad, and the Act counts electronic ads, so your website counts too. A number “cannot be shared or used by any other individual or business entity.”
Insurance-job contracts need a 72-hour cancellation notice
On an insurance-funded residential job, the homeowner can cancel within 72 hours of getting written notice that the carrier denied all or part of the claim. Your contract must state that right in bold type of at least 12 points, with a detachable Notice of Cancellation form. If the homeowner cancels, you refund payments within 10 days, keeping only the reasonable value of emergency work they acknowledged. Add the notice to your contract template next to the workers’ comp statement.
An unregistered roofer can’t sue to get paid
An unregistered roofer can’t “bring or maintain any claim, action, suit, or proceeding in any court of this state” over its roofing work, unless it held a valid registration, plus any required endorsement, the whole time it did the work. A lapse mid-job leaves you no way to sue a homeowner who won’t pay.
On top of that, roofing unregistered is a misdemeanor with a fine of up to $500 per violation, and a company that advertises or works unregistered faces an administrative penalty of up to $5,000.
Endorsement fines on a residential job climb to as much as $3,500 on the third violation, and the fourth means revocation.
Falling out of good standing, through lapsed insurance, lapsed workers’ comp, unpaid taxes or a missed renewal, means you stop selling new work at once. You can finish only jobs already started, and each homeowner must be told and may cancel. Set reminders a month before your birth month and each policy renewal.
Before your first Oklahoma roof:
- Register with the CIB before you advertise, knock or bid, ideally before January 1, 2027.
- If registered by then, pass the residential exam or take the 10 hours before January 1, 2028.
- For commercial work, get CIB approval and pass both PSI exams.
- Put your “OK” number on both truck doors, your bids, your contracts and your website.
- Add the workers’ comp statement and the 72-hour cancellation notice to your contracts.
- Check each sub crew’s registration and keep a copy on file.
The registration lets you work in Oklahoma, and the next question is whether homeowners there find you when they search. Run the free Google Maps heatmap: pick your Google profile and a search, and in a few minutes you’ll see where you rank at 49 points around your office.