How to Choose a Roofing Contractor: A Vetting Checklist

Choose a roofing contractor by running checks in order and keeping the evidence: a permanent business address, a license where your state requires one, insurance proof you have confirmed with the insurer, references you have called, and a written proposal. Price comes last; the National Roofing Contractors Association calls it “only one criterion for selecting a roofing contractor.”

The order matters because each check removes candidates cheaply before you spend time on the next one. Start with three to five names, run the checks below on each, and aim to finish with two or three roofers whose proposals you can compare side by side.

Build a Shortlist You Can Check

A shortlist is only useful if every name on it can be verified. Start with names you can trace to real jobs: neighbors with recent roofs, recommendations from a local roofing supply house, and company signs on finished jobs near you. A name from an ad, an online review site or a door knock can go on the list too, as long as it faces the same checks.

Keep one page per roofer and fill it in as you go: business address confirmed, license number and status, insurer name and the date you confirmed coverage, references called, written proposal received, and any red flag. The page is what you compare at the end, so a roofer whose lines stay blank is easy to spot.

The first filter is a physical business. NRCA’s Selecting a Contractor checklist says to “check for a permanent place of business.” That means a street address you can find, not only a phone number.

After a storm, the timing changes the risk. The Texas Attorney General’s warning after hail storms, Attorney General Paxton Warns of Scams, Unscrupulous Contractors After Hail Storms, urges caution with contractors from out of the area and says “don’t rush into signing a contract.” Out-of-area crews are not automatically a problem, but a storm is when the checks below matter most.

Questions to Ask on the First Call

Ask the same questions of every roofer, write down the answers, and ask for anything important in writing.

1. What is your legal business name, street address and license number?
2. Can your insurance agent send me proof of liability and workers’ compensation coverage directly?
3. Will your own employees install my roof, or a subcontracted crew, and who supervises on site? The guide to crews and on-site supervision explains why the answer matters.
4. Will you measure the roof and give me a written proposal that lists squares, layers removed, named products, flashing and a unit price for deck repairs?
5. Who pulls the permit and schedules the inspections?
6. Are you certified by the shingle manufacturer you are quoting, and which warranty does that let you register? What a manufacturer badge proves shows how to weigh the answer.
7. What workmanship warranty do you give, for how long, and is it in writing?
8. What payment schedule do you use?
9. Can I call three customers whose roofs you finished at least a year ago?

A roofer who cannot answer the first two questions on the spot, or by the next day, does not move forward.

Verify License and Insurance

Ask each roofer for its legal business name, its license number where your state or city requires one, and proof of insurance. Check the license in the state or county lookup, then call the insurer named on the proof to confirm the policy is active. That follows the Federal Trade Commission’s advice: its How To Avoid a Home Improvement Scam says to “check with your state or county government to confirm a contractor’s license,” and its alert on scams after weather-related disasters adds a second rule: “Hire only contractors who are licensed and insured.”

Licensing differs by state. Some states license roofing work and offer online lookups, while the committee analysis for Texas HB 3344 (2025) states that Texas does not require a state-issued license for reroofing contractors; that bill did not pass, and Texas still had no state roofer license as of November 2026. The license and insurance verification guide covers both lookups step by step.

References and Past Jobs

References are a sample the roofer chose, so their value comes from the questions you ask. Call at least two, and ask:

• Did the job start and finish when the contract said it would?
• Were there extra charges after tear-off, such as deck repairs, and were they priced the way the contract said?
• Has the roof leaked since, and if so, how fast did the roofer respond?
• Who was on site each day, and could you reach a supervisor?
• Was the yard cleaned up, including nails?
• Would you hire this roofer again for the same job?

If you can, drive past one or two of the finished roofs. Look at the edges, the flashing around chimneys and walls, and whether the lines run straight. A good reference does not guarantee your job will go well; a bad one, or a roofer who cannot produce any, is a clear reason to move on.

The Paper Trail: Quote, Contract, Payment, Warranty

The documents are where the checks turn into protection. Before you sign, have four in hand: a quote priced on a scope you can compare, a contract that names products and prices, a payment schedule tied to finished work, and both warranties in writing. Each one has its own guide.

The quote comes first. Quotes can only be compared when they price the same scope, so the quote comparison sheet shows how to put them on equal footing and adjust for what each leaves out.

The contract carries the terms that move money: named products, a deck unit price and change-order rules. The contract review checklist goes through them clause by clause.

The payment schedule decides how much of your money is at risk at each stage. The guide to deposits and payment milestones explains what each payment should be tied to, and the lien waiver guide explains the releases to collect with each payment to lower the chance that an unpaid supplier or subcontractor files a lien against your house.

The warranties come in two kinds, the manufacturer’s and the roofer’s, and they cover different failures. Manufacturer versus workmanship coverage explains what each pays for, and the warranty transfer steps cover what happens when you sell.

Red Flags That End the Conversation

Some answers end the process no matter how good the price looks.

• A request for full payment up front, or a large deposit before materials arrive. The Texas Department of Insurance’s signs of a contracting scam says to “never pay the entire bill up front and be wary if a contractor asks for a large down payment.”
• An offer to pay, waive or rebate your insurance deductible. TDI calls it illegal in Texas, and Colorado and Minnesota bar the promise as well; the guide to deductible offers covers the state rules.
• Pressure to sign the same day, or a contract that hands your insurance claim to the contractor. The storm-chaser guide lists the setups to watch for and the check for each.
• A refusal to put the scope, the deck price or the warranty in writing.
• A name on the contract that does not match the license or insurance records.

A low bid cannot make up for a term that exposes your deposit or your claim, so a red flag outranks a price difference. If you already signed with a roofer who raised one of these flags, the cancellation rights guide explains which rights may apply and how fast you need to act.

Choosing Between Your Final Two Roofers

When two roofers have passed every check, compare their adjusted totals, not their first prices. If the totals are close, decide on what the two files show: the better reference answers, the clearer written scope with a deck unit price, and the longer workmanship warranty on paper. If one is far cheaper after adjustment, get that roofer’s written explanation of the difference before you decide.

Here is what the one-page files look like side by side for two finalists. The roofers and every entry are invented to show the method; your own pages fill in the same rows.

Roofer B is $700 lower, but the file decides it. The insurance line is unconfirmed, the deck line has no price, the warranty is not on paper, and the deposit request is one of the red flags above. Any one of those ends the comparison, so Roofer A wins without the price ever being weighed. If both files had been clean, the reference that reported a late start would be the kind of difference worth a follow-up call.

Fill in the checklist for each finalist before you ask for a contract, and keep it with the signed paperwork. If the job goes wrong later, that file is the start of your evidence; the complaint and dispute options explain what to do with it.

This guide is general information for U.S. homeowners, not legal, insurance, tax, or engineering advice. Codes, laws, and policy terms vary by location and change over time; confirm details with your local building department, your insurer, or a licensed professional.

Sources

• Selecting a Contractor, National Roofing Contractors Association
• Attorney General Paxton Warns of Scams, Unscrupulous Contractors After Hail Storms, Office of the Texas Attorney General
• How To Avoid a Home Improvement Scam, Federal Trade Commission
• Four ways to avoid scams after a weather-related disaster, Federal Trade Commission
• 89(R) HB 3344, Committee Report (Substituted), Bill Analysis, Texas Legislature
• Do you know the signs of a contracting scam?, Texas Department of Insurance