Short answer: Texas does not license roofing contractors. There is no state roofing license, no exam, and no board — anyone can legally call themselves a roofer here. That puts the entire burden of vetting on you: verify liability insurance and workers’ comp with the carrier, insist on a written scope, confirm a real local address and history, and treat any offer to waive your deductible or “handle the insurance” as a reason to walk away.
Most advice about hiring a contractor starts with “check their license.” In Texas, for roofing, there isn’t one to check. That single fact explains most of what goes wrong in this market — and it’s the reason a hailstorm in Austin is followed within days by a wave of trucks with out-of-state plates.
Here’s how to vet a roofer properly, and what the law actually requires of them.
Does a roofing contractor need a license in Texas?
No. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation licenses electricians, HVAC technicians, plumbers and a long list of other trades. Roofing is not on it. There is no state license, no competency exam, and no minimum experience requirement to operate as a roofing contractor in Texas.
Two things partially fill the gap:
- The Roofing Contractors Association of Texas (RCAT) runs a voluntary licensing program — residential, commercial, and combined credentials. It’s genuine self-regulation with real requirements, but it’s optional, and most Texas roofers don’t hold it.
- Some cities require local contractor registration or have their own permit rules. These vary considerably across the metro, which is itself a useful test: a roofer who works a city regularly knows its rules cold.
Manufacturer certifications — GAF, Owens Corning, and similar — are also worth asking about. They aren’t licenses either, but manufacturers do vet installers before letting them offer enhanced warranties, and they can pull the credential.
The practical takeaway: credentials in Texas roofing are all voluntary, so asking which ones a contractor holds is a real filter. Ask. A good roofer will answer specifically and won’t mind being checked.
What should you verify before signing anything?
Four things, in this order.
1. Insurance — verified with the carrier, not the contractor. Ask for certificates for both general liability and workers’ compensation, then call the insurance agent listed on the certificate to confirm the policy is active. This is the step people skip and the one that matters most: if an uninsured crew member is injured on your roof, that can land on your homeowners policy. Certificates are trivially easy to fake and almost nobody checks them.
2. A real local presence. A physical address in the area — not a PO box, not a truck. Ask how long they’ve worked in Central Texas and for addresses of jobs you can drive past. Roofing problems surface in year two or three, and a company that has left the state cannot honor a workmanship warranty.
3. A written scope, not a number. A one-line total is not an estimate. You want materials and manufacturer specified, underlayment, ice-and-water or valley treatment, flashing (new, not reused), ventilation, the per-sheet price for replacing rotten decking, permit handling, cleanup and magnet sweep, and the payment schedule. Two bids are only comparable if both spell this out.
4. Warranty terms, separated. There are always two: the manufacturer warranty on materials and the workmanship warranty from the roofer. Get both in writing with their durations. A long material warranty means little if the installation fails and the installer is gone — most roof failures are installation failures, not material failures.
Can a roofer handle your insurance claim for you?
Not the way it’s often advertised, and this is the most misunderstood point in storm roofing.
Texas Insurance Code § 4102.163 prohibits a contractor from acting as a public adjuster on a property where they provide — or may provide — roofing services. They can’t be your roofer and your claims representative at the same time. According to the Texas Department of Insurance, that means a contractor must not:
- Offer to negotiate your settlement or file the claim for you
- Promise to recover funds from your insurer
- Advertise help with “incorrect settlement pricing”
- Represent you on coverage questions
What a roofer can legitimately do is substantial: inspect the roof, document the damage thoroughly, prepare a detailed repair or replacement estimate, be present when the adjuster inspects, and point out damage the adjuster may have missed. That’s the honest version of “we’ll help with your claim,” and it’s genuinely valuable.
So when a contractor promises to “handle everything with the insurance company” or “get your claim approved,” they are describing something the law does not permit them to do. Our guide to how insurance covers roof replacement in Texas explains what the process actually looks like from your side.
What does Texas law say about your deductible?
That you have to pay it, and that no contractor may make it disappear.
Under Texas Business and Commerce Code § 27.02, a contractor may not waive, rebate, or absorb your insurance deductible. Any contract of $1,000 or more tied to an insurance settlement must carry a written notice stating that the policyholder is required to pay the deductible. And under Insurance Code Chapter 707, your insurer can demand reasonable proof you actually paid it before releasing withheld recoverable depreciation.
This is why “we’ll cover your deductible” and “free roof” offers deserve an immediate no. It isn’t a discount and it isn’t a grey area — the contractor is proposing something illegal, and because the claim paperwork runs through your name, the exposure lands partly on you. It also tells you exactly how that company handles the rules generally.
Violations can be reported to the Texas Attorney General at 800-621-0508.
What are the red flags after a hailstorm?
Central Texas hail draws out-of-state operators, and the pattern is consistent enough to be a checklist. Be wary of:
- Door-knocking with urgency. “We’re doing several roofs in the neighborhood and can fit you in today.” Legitimate local companies are usually booked out after a storm, not hunting door to door.
- Pressure to sign on the spot, especially a contingency agreement that ties you to them if the claim is approved — often before you know the scope or the price.
- A large upfront cash deposit. Established roofers have supplier accounts. They don’t need your cash to buy shingles.
- Deductible offers, per the section above.
- No local address, a magnetic door sign, or out-of-state plates.
- Bids far below the others. In roofing that almost always means thinner materials, skipped flashing, reused components, or an uninsured crew — and the savings evaporate at the first change order.
- Discouraging you from getting other bids, or from reading the contract.
None of these are illegal on their own except the deductible offer. They’re just reliably predictive.
The questions worth asking
Take these to every bid:
- What credentials do you hold — RCAT, manufacturer certifications — and can I verify them?
- Who is your general liability and workers’ comp carrier, and may I call to confirm coverage?
- How long have you worked in this area, and where are three local jobs I can look at?
- Is the crew your employees or subcontracted, and are they covered either way?
- What is your workmanship warranty, in years, and what does it exclude?
- What happens if you find rotten decking — what’s the per-sheet price?
- Who pulls the permit, if one is needed here?
- What’s the payment schedule, and what’s due before work starts?
If a contractor is impatient with these, that’s your answer. Anyone who does this work properly has heard them all and can answer them quickly.
One honest note: we’re a roofing company, so read the above knowing that. It’s also the standard we’d want you to hold us to — ask us the same eight questions.
Getting a second opinion?
Whether you’re comparing bids after a storm or just want an honest read on your roof before you commit to anything, we’re glad to be one of the estimates you weigh. Schedule your free roof inspection and we’ll document what’s actually up there, give you a written scope you can compare line by line against anyone else’s, and tell you if we think you don’t need the work. You can learn more about our company and history first if you’d rather start there — and if a storm is what brought you here, our storm damage page covers how we handle hail and wind work.
Sutton Roofing is a family-owned roofer serving Austin and the Central Texas Hill Country, helping local homeowners with roof repair, replacement, and storm damage since 1979.
