State licence

Massachusetts Roofing License Requirements

Massachusetts has two distinct requirements that are frequently confused. (1) HIC registration — a REGISTRATION, not a licence: no contractor or subcontractor may undertake, offer to undertake, or agree to perform residential contracting services without registering with OCABR (M.G.L. c. 142A § 9). It covers reconstruction, alteration, renovation, repair, improvement, removal or demolition of, or additions to, a pre-existing OWNER-OCCUPIED building of one to four dwelling units. There is no exam; the registrant pays into the Residential Contractor's Guaranty Fund, which compensates homeowners for a contractor's failure of performance. (2) CSL — a genuine LICENCE issued by BBRS after a state examination, held by an individual (not a company), required of the person supervising construction regulated by the State Building Code and needed to sign permit applications. A roofing company therefore typically needs both: the company registers as an HIC, and an individual holds the CSL used to pull permits.

Do roofers need a license in Massachusetts?

Yes — Massachusetts requires a state roofing license

A state agency issues a credential you must hold before contracting for roofing work, and it can take that credential away.

Look up a Massachusetts license

The rule in detail

State-level requirement: State licence
Licensing authority: Two separate credentials from two separate authorities: Home Improvement Contractor (HIC) registration from the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation (OCABR); Construction Supervisor License (CSL) from the Board of Building Regulations and Standards (BBRS), Office of Public Safety and Inspections.
Class covering roofing: HIC registration (not a licence — a registration, with no competency exam, that funds the Residential Contractor's Guaranty Fund) AND, separately, a Construction Supervisor License (a true licence, obtained by examination, held by the individual who supervises code-regulated construction and signs permit applications). The two are different credentials and are not interchangeable.
Dollar threshold: No dollar threshold for HIC registration — it is required for all residential contracting on a covered building. A separate $1,000 threshold triggers the written-contract requirement: every agreement to perform residential contracting services in excess of one thousand dollars must be in writing and contain specified terms (M.G.L. c. 142A § 2(a)).
Statute or rule: M.G.L. c. 142A (Regulation of Home Improvement Contractors) — definitions at § 1, registration requirement at § 9, fees and Guaranty Fund at § 11, written contract at § 2, prohibited acts at § 17. CSL authorised by M.G.L. c. 143 § 94(i) ('To issue licenses to individuals engaged as construction supervisors') and implemented through the State Building Code at 780 CMR 110.R5.
Bond: No surety bond. Instead every HIC registrant pays into the Residential Contractor's Guaranty Fund on application, scaled by headcount: $100 for fewer than four employees, $200 for four to ten, $300 for eleven to thirty, and $500 for more than thirty (M.G.L. c. 142A § 11). A registration certificate is valid for two years and is not transferable.
Insurance: None published at state level.
Reciprocity: No published reciprocity arrangement for roofing.
Public license lookup: Search the Massachusetts register

Local licensing and permits in Massachusetts

Local building permits and inspections apply. In practice this is where the CSL bites: a permit application for work regulated by the State Building Code must be signed by a CSL holder, unless the owner-occupant of a one- or two-family dwelling pulls the permit under the homeowner exemption and signs an affidavit accepting responsibility. Some cities and towns also require their own local contractor registration. Note also the scope limit on HIC: it covers pre-existing owner-occupied buildings of one to four dwelling units, so work on new construction, non-owner-occupied property, or buildings of five or more units falls outside c. 142A.

Permitting is a separate system from licensing, and it is almost always local. In Massachusetts, as nearly everywhere in the United States, a full roof replacement is treated by the adopted building code as work requiring a permit and a final inspection, while small repairs are often exempt below a threshold the local code sets. The building department for the city or county where the house sits is the only body that can tell you which side of that line your job falls on.

The two questions are not the same question

Licensing asks whether this contractor is permitted to sell roofing work in Massachusetts. Permitting asks whether this specific job on this specific building may proceed. A contractor can be perfectly licensed and still be doing unpermitted work, and an unpermitted roof tends to surface at a sale, at a claim, or at a warranty dispute — years later, when it is expensive.

If you are hiring a roofer in Massachusetts

●Check the credential at the source. Search the Massachusetts public register for the exact legal entity that will sign your contract — not the salesperson, and not the name painted on the truck.
●Ask for certificates of insurance directly from the insurer or agent. General liability and workers’ compensation both matter, and roofing carries some of the highest comp premiums of any trade — which is exactly why some operators go without. An injury on an uninsured crew can find its way to your policy.
●Confirm who is pulling the permit. It should be the contractor, in their own name. An invitation to pull it yourself as the homeowner moves the code liability onto you, and is often a sign the contractor cannot pull it.
●Get the scope in writing before any deposit changes hands. Tear-off versus overlay, decking replacement priced per sheet, underlayment and ice-and-water coverage, ventilation, flashing, and who hauls the debris. Most roofing disputes are scope disputes wearing a different hat.
●Be careful after a storm. Door-knocking crews follow hail. Before signing anything that assigns your insurance benefits or commits you to a contractor contingent on a claim being approved, read it twice and check the cancellation terms.

If you are a roofing contractor working in Massachusetts

Massachusetts holds a state-level requirement, so the first question is whether your work sits inside the classification described above and, where a dollar figure applies, whether the contract value crosses it. Thresholds are normally written against the total value of the contract or the project rather than an individual invoice, so splitting a job into pieces to stay underneath is the specific evasion those statutes exist to catch.

Two consequences of getting this wrong are worth knowing regardless of the state. Contracting without a required credential is commonly a misdemeanour offence, and in most states an unlicensed contractor cannot enforce the contract or file a mechanic’s lien — so an unpaid job simply stays unpaid, with no legal route to collect. Confirm your position with the board before you bid, not after.

Sources

This entry was checked against the following on August 2026. The authority on Massachusetts licensing is Two separate credentials from two separate authorities: Home Improvement Contractor (HIC) registration from the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation (OCABR); Construction Supervisor License (CSL) from the Board of Building Regulations and Standards (BBRS), Office of Public Safety and Inspections., not this page — if anything below conflicts with what the board publishes today, the board is right.

Note on this entry

The HIC registration requirement, its scope, the $1,000 written-contract threshold and the Guaranty Fund fee tiers are verified verbatim from the Massachusetts General Laws on the Legislature's official site (c. 142A §§ 1, 2, 9, 11, 17). The existence of the CSL and BBRS's authority to issue it are verified from M.G.L. c. 143 § 94(i). However, mass.gov blocks automated access from this environment, so the CSL's specific classes could not be read directly from the authority: secondary sources describe an Unrestricted CSL plus Restricted/specialty classes including a 'Roof Covering' specialty (under 780 CMR 110.R5), and commonly state that pure roof-covering replacement needs only the HIC while structural roof work (sheathing, rafters, trusses, framing) needs a CSL. Those class-level details are NOT confirmed from the authority here and should be checked against 780 CMR 110.R5 or with the local building official before being published as fact.

Checked August 2026. Licensing rules change — dollar thresholds get raised, boards get reorganised, and statutes get amended mid-session. This page is a research summary, not legal advice, and it is not the authority on anything.

The authority is Two separate credentials from two separate authorities: Home Improvement Contractor (HIC) registration from the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation (OCABR); Construction Supervisor License (CSL) from the Board of Building Regulations and Standards (BBRS), Office of Public Safety and Inspections.. Before you sign a contract or bid a job, confirm the current rule with them directly.

Next steps

Roofing contractors in Massachusetts

Browse roofing companies across Massachusetts by city, compare Google reviews, and request quotes directly. Listings are compiled from public records — check the license yourself before signing.

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Roof pitch, roofing squares and shingle bundles, and attic ventilation — each one shows the formula it used, so you can sanity-check a quote before you accept it.

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