Short answer: Exchange lists 9 roofing and waterproofing companies in Alabama. Residential roofing costing more than $2,500 needs a license from the Alabama Home Builders Licensure Board, while commercial work of $100,000 or more falls under the State Licensing Board for General Contractors. State law bars roofers from negotiating insurance claims and gives owners five business days to cancel after an insurer's denial. The Strengthen Alabama Homes program pays up to $10,000 toward a FORTIFIED roof, and insurers are required to discount premiums for certified homes.
Residential license authority
The Alabama Home Builders Licensure Board licenses residential roofers under Code of Alabama Title 34, Chapter 14A.
License thresholds
A Board roofer license is needed above $2,500 on residential work, and a General Contractors Board license at $100,000 or more on commercial work.
Lien deadline
A verified statement of lien is filed within six months by an original contractor, four months by subcontractors and suppliers, and 30 days by laborers.
Insurance claim contracts
An owner may cancel a residential roofing contract within five business days of written notice that the insurer has denied all or part of the claim.
Codes and permits
Permits are issued locally, and the state residential energy code is the 2015 IECC with Alabama amendments, effective October 1, 2016.
FORTIFIED grants
Strengthen Alabama Homes, run by the Alabama Department of Insurance, pays up to $10,000 toward a FORTIFIED roof retrofit in eligible counties.
Do roofers need a license in Alabama?
Yes, in Alabama a residential roofer needs a license from the Home Builders Licensure Board once the cost of the roofing undertaking exceeds $2,500, a much lower trigger than the $10,000 threshold that applies to other residential building work.
The definition in Code of Alabama section 34-14A-2 is broad. A residential roofer is a person who installs products or repairs surfaces on the external upper covering of a residence or structure that seals, waterproofs or weatherproofs it. That wording takes in shingle and metal reroofs, repairs, coatings and membrane work on houses, so a waterproofing firm working on residential roofs sits inside the same regime as a shingle crew. The lower roofing threshold was written into the statute by a 2019 amendment, which means most insurance-funded reroofs and nearly all full replacements are licensed work.
Licenses run on a calendar year, with the annual fee covering twelve months from January 1. The Board's roofer application packet calls for a $10,000 license bond naming the Board as obligee and expiring December 31 of the license year, and it asks for evidence of a local business or occupational license. Fees and application details are set by the Board and change, so applicants and owners should read the current packet and use the Board's online license search before a contract is signed.
Who licenses commercial roofing contractors in Alabama?
Commercial roofing in Alabama falls under the State Licensing Board for General Contractors, which licenses any general contractor or subcontractor whose undertaking costs $100,000 or more, a figure set by a 2024 amendment to Code of Alabama section 34-8-1.
The statute covers construction, alteration, maintenance, repair, rehabilitation and demolition of any building or improvement, so a reroof or a waterproofing package on a school, warehouse or apartment block counts once the price reaches the threshold. A roofing firm contracting directly with the owner at that level is treated as a general contractor. A roofing firm working under contract to a general contractor on an undertaking of $100,000 or more is a subcontractor under the same section and also needs a license from this Board. The Board issues licenses by classification of work, and its application page gives separate routes for prime contractors and subcontractors, with prime applicants sitting a business and law examination.
The practical result is two separate boards with two separate thresholds. A firm that reroofs houses and also bids commercial work may need both a Home Builders Licensure Board roofer license and a General Contractors Board license, and neither substitutes for the other. Owners and general contractors usually check both rosters, and confirm that the classification held actually covers roofing or waterproofing, before award.
Which licenses, permits and registrations apply in Alabama?
Requirement
Who issues it
When it applies
What it involves
Residential roofer license
Alabama Home Builders Licensure Board
Residential roofing undertakings costing more than $2,500
Annual license running from January 1, a $10,000 license bond per the Board's application packet, and a written contract showing the license number
General contractor or subcontractor license
Alabama State Licensing Board for General Contractors
Commercial undertakings of $100,000 or more, whether prime or under contract to a general contractor
Application by classification of work, with a business and law examination for prime contractors
Building permit
City or county building department
As set by the local jurisdiction for reroofing and new roofs
Proof of state license or exemption before a permit is issued, then local inspections
Insurance claim cancellation notice
Roofing contractor, under Code of Alabama section 8-36-2
Residential roofing contracts expected to be paid from a property insurance claim
Boldface statement of at least ten points and a detachable cancellation form giving five business days after insurer denial
Verified statement of lien
Filed with the county judge of probate
Six months for original contractors, four months for subcontractors and suppliers, 30 days for laborers
Written notice to the owner first for anyone other than the original contractor, then suit within six months of the debt maturing
FORTIFIED roof certification
IBHS certified evaluator, with grants through Strengthen Alabama Homes
Voluntary statewide, and needed for the grant and the statutory insurance discount
Sealed roof deck, enhanced deck fastening and edge details documented during installation
Do I need a permit to replace a roof in Alabama, and which building code applies?
Roofing permits in Alabama are issued by the city or county, not the state, and the applicable building code depends on the local jurisdiction, although a statewide Alabama Residential Building Code is scheduled to bind licensed residential builders from January 1, 2027.
Alabama has historically left building code adoption to local governments, so the code edition, the permit trigger for a reroof and the inspection sequence differ between, say, Birmingham, Huntsville and an unincorporated rural county. Under the Home Builders Licensure Board statute, a building official is required to refuse a permit for work that needs a Board license unless the applicant shows a license or an exemption, which ties the permit desk to the licensing system. On energy, the Alabama Energy and Residential Codes Board, housed at the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, adopted the 2015 International Residential Code and 2015 International Energy Conservation Code with Alabama amendments, effective October 1, 2016. Those rules matter on reroofs that change attic insulation or convert to an unvented attic.
The regime is mid-change. Recent amendments to the licensing statute give the Home Builders Licensure Board authority to adopt an Alabama Residential Building Code, with an advisory council directed to submit a proposed code by October 1, 2025. From January 1, 2027, residential builders are to construct, renovate and repair in accordance with the applicable residential building code, and local codes adopted after that date are to meet the state minimum while remaining free to amend for local conditions. Anyone pricing work that will run into 2027 should ask the local building department and the Board which edition will apply.
What is a FORTIFIED roof and can I get a grant for one in Alabama?
A FORTIFIED roof in Alabama is one built and certified to the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety standard, and the Alabama Department of Insurance's Strengthen Alabama Homes program pays up to $10,000 toward retrofitting an eligible owner-occupied house to it.
Strengthen Alabama Homes pays 100 percent of the mitigation cost up to the $10,000 cap, and the homeowner covers the evaluator's fee and any construction cost above the grant. The program is limited to owner-occupied, single-family primary residences with homeowners and wind insurance in force, and the house has to be in good repair. Grants are released on a schedule by county and are not open statewide at all times, so the program site is the place to check whether a given county is currently eligible. The work has to be carried out by contractors qualified by the program, and the homeowner collects competitive bids from three of them.
The standard also carries weight outside the grant. Code of Alabama section 27-31D-2 requires insurers to give a premium discount or rate reduction on insurable property in the state that is built or retrofitted to the FORTIFIED hurricane or high wind and hail standards, with certification by an IBHS certified inspector. Section 27-31D-2.1 separately requires companies writing homeowners insurance to offer an endorsement that upgrades a non-fortified home to the FORTIFIED roof standard when damage requires the roof to be replaced. For a roofer, that means documentation matters as much as installation: deck fastening, sealed deck and edge details are photographed and verified by a third-party evaluator, and a missed photo can cost the owner the certificate.
Can a roofer handle my insurance claim in Alabama, and can I cancel a roofing contract?
No, Alabama's residential roofing statute bars a residential roofing contractor from representing or negotiating for an owner on any insurance claim, and it lets the owner cancel within five business days after the insurer gives written notice of denial.
Chapter 36 of Title 8 of the Code of Alabama, enacted in 2012 and amended in 2019, applies to contracts to repair or replace roof systems on buildings constructed for one to four families, including detached garages. Where the price is expected to be paid from a property insurance policy and the insurer gives written notice that all or part of the claim is not a covered loss, the owner may cancel before midnight on the fifth business day after receiving that notice. The contractor has to give a written statement of this right in boldface type of at least ten points, with a detachable notice of cancellation form, and cancellation can be sent by mail, email or hand delivery.
The same section stops the contractor from requiring payment until the cancellation period has run, with one exception: emergency services that the owner acknowledges in writing as necessary to prevent damage to the premises can be billed. The Home Builders Licensure Board statute adds its own contract rule, which is that a licensee uses a valid written contract carrying its Board license number. Older summaries of the roofing law, including some still in circulation, quote a ten business day window, which predates the 2019 amendment, so check the current text of section 8-36-2.
How long does a roofer have to file a mechanic's lien in Alabama?
In Alabama an original contractor has six months to file a verified statement of lien with the county probate judge, subcontractors and suppliers have four months, and journeymen and day laborers have 30 days, under Code of Alabama section 35-11-215.
Each period runs from the last item of work or material. Who counts as the original contractor matters: a roofer hired directly by the property owner has the six-month period, while a roofer working for a general contractor, and the supplier delivering shingles or membrane to either, is in the four-month group. Under section 35-11-218, everyone except the original contractor gives the owner written notice of the claim, stating the amount, what it is for and who owes it, before filing the statement in the probate office.
Section 35-11-210 creates two sizes of lien. By default a subcontractor or supplier is limited to the unpaid balance the owner still owes the contractor. A supplier who notifies the owner in writing before furnishing materials, setting out the materials and prices, can secure a lien for the full price unless the owner objects before the materials are used. That advance notice is routine among Alabama roofing suppliers. Filing is not the last step either: section 35-11-221 requires an action to enforce the lien to be commenced within six months after the entire debt matures. Lien practice is technical, and the statute and a construction attorney are the right references for a live claim.
How do hurricanes, tornadoes and humidity affect roofing in Alabama?
Alabama roofs are specified against three wind hazards at once: Gulf hurricanes in Mobile and Baldwin counties, tornadoes statewide, which the National Weather Service counts at roughly 56 a year over the past 30 years, and severe thunderstorm wind and hail.
The coast has the strictest local rules. Smart Home America and IBHS publish a Coastal Construction Code Supplement, an ordinance-format add-on to the International Codes, which has been adopted by Baldwin County, Mobile County and the cities of Mobile and Fairhope. Its roofing provisions call for a sealed roof deck, ring-shank deck nails at 4 inches on center, asphalt shingles tested to ASTM D7158 Class H or ASTM D3161 Class F, and tear-off of the existing covering on reroofs so the deck can be inspected. Mobile County's published code amendments have required a sealed roof deck on both new construction and reroofing. After Hurricane Sally struck Baldwin and Mobile counties in September 2020, the Alabama Department of Insurance issued a contractor warning that restated the $2,500 roofer license rule.
Inland, the pressure is different. The National Weather Service Birmingham tornado database shows the statewide count rising from about 36 a year across the record since 1950 to about 60 a year over the last decade, and storms arrive in every season, so demand for reroofing comes in surges rather than a steady season, and out-of-state crews follow. That is the setting the license, cancellation and claim rules were written for. The state spans energy code climate zones 2 and 3, hot and humid for most of the year, which is why algae-resistant shingles, attic ventilation and careful underlayment detailing get more attention here than ice barriers do. Summer heat and afternoon thunderstorms also shorten the working day for tear-offs and for membrane and coating work that needs a dry deck.
Where can I verify a license and check the source in Alabama?
Every figure and rule on this page can be checked against the primary source. These are the offices that publish them. Confirm current requirements directly before you rely on any of them:
What is the dollar threshold for a residential roofer license in Alabama?
The Home Builders Licensure Board license applies when the cost of a residential roofing undertaking exceeds $2,500. Other residential building work uses a $10,000 threshold. The figures come from Code of Alabama section 34-14A-2, and the Board's website has the current statute and application packet.
Does a roofing subcontractor on a commercial job in Alabama need its own license?
Yes, where the undertaking is $100,000 or more and the roofer is under contract to a general contractor. Code of Alabama section 34-8-1 defines that firm as a subcontractor, and the State Licensing Board for General Contractors licenses subcontractors as well as primes.
Can an unlicensed roofer sue to collect on a residential roofing contract in Alabama?
The Home Builders Licensure Board statute says a residential home builder without the required license cannot bring or maintain an action to enforce a contract entered into in violation of the chapter. Unlicensed building is also a Class A misdemeanor, and the Board can levy administrative fines of up to $5,000 per violation.
Do Alabama insurers have to give a discount for a FORTIFIED roof?
Code of Alabama section 27-31D-2 requires insurers to provide a premium discount or rate reduction for insurable property in the state built or retrofitted to IBHS FORTIFIED hurricane or high wind and hail standards. The size of the discount varies by insurer, and certification by an IBHS certified inspector is needed.
Can a homeowner in Alabama reroof their own house without a license?
The licensing statute exempts owners who build or improve a one or two family residence on their own property for their own occupancy or use and not for sale. The exemption cannot be transferred to anyone else, and a sale within one year is presumptive evidence that it was misused.
Which Alabama counties have adopted the Coastal Construction Code Supplement?
According to Smart Home America, which publishes the supplement with IBHS, Baldwin County, Mobile County, the City of Mobile and the City of Fairhope have adopted it. It adds sealed roof deck, ring-shank deck nailing and shingle wind rating requirements to the local building code. Confirm the current edition with the local building department.
When does Alabama's statewide residential building code take effect?
The Home Builders Licensure Board statute provides that from January 1, 2027, residential home builders construct, renovate and repair in accordance with the applicable residential building code. Local codes adopted after that date are to meet the Alabama Residential Building Code minimum. Check with the Board for the adopted edition.
