How to check a Michigan roofer's license on LARA, and what to do if the work goes wrong

Which license covers roofing

Michigan does not issue a stand-alone roofing license. Under MCL 339.2401, a residential maintenance and alteration contractor is a person who, for a fixed sum or other compensation beyond wages for personal labor, takes on the repair, alteration, addition, improvement or demolition of a residential structure. MCL 339.2404(3) puts roofing among the crafts on that license, alongside siding and gutters, and says the license must specify the particular craft or trade. LARA’s own page lists the maintenance and alteration trades as carpentry, concrete, excavation, insulation work, masonry, siding, roofing, screens and storm sash, gutters, tile and marble, house wrecking, swimming pools and basement waterproofing, shown on the license.

A residential builder license is the broader one, covering erection, construction, replacement, repair and alteration of a residential structure, so you may see either on a roofing company’s paperwork. Look for a current license in the company’s name, with roofing as its craft or with the builder classification.

The $600 line and who is exempt

MCL 339.2403 exempts a few people from the license. The two that matter on a house are an owner working on the owner’s own home for the owner’s own use and occupancy, and a person on one project where the total contract price for labor, material and other items is less than $600. The $600 exemption fails if the work is part of a larger operation or if a project has been divided into smaller contracts to avoid the act. An owner of rental property can also do maintenance and alteration on that rental. A licensed electrical, plumbing or mechanical contractor is exempt for work in that trade only, which does not extend to the roof.

In practice, a company that quotes you a roof repair or replacement needs the license, while a few hundred dollars of patching may fall under the exemption.

Penalties for working without one

MCL 339.601(1) bars practicing a regulated occupation without a license or registration. For an unlicensed residential builder or maintenance and alteration contractor, a first offense is a misdemeanor with a fine of $5,000 to $25,000 and up to one year in jail, or both, and up to two years for a repeat; it is a felony of up to four years if death or serious injury results. Under MCL 339.2412 the Attorney General or a prosecutor may also seek a civil fine of $5,000 to $25,000.

The consequence that matters most to you comes in a dispute: an unlicensed person may not bring a court action for payment without alleging and proving a license, and may not place a lien on your property unless licensed during the work.

What it takes to get one

An applicant must be 18, complete 60 hours of approved prelicense courses with at least 6 hours in each of seven areas, including the Michigan residential code and MIOSHA construction safety, apply and pass the exam. The license runs three years, requires 21 hours of continuing competency per cycle and requires a place of business in Michigan. People who held a license before may be exempt from the course. A licensed company has cleared that bar; the quality of its work is a separate question, and LARA’s complaint route, below, is where that gets examined.

Looking a license up on LARA

LARA has a Find or Verify a Licensed Professional or Business page that lists license types, and residential builder licenses sit in LARA’s Accela licensing system. We read that page as a menu of profession types; we have not tested it with a license search ourselves, so the exact screens may differ from what we describe.

1. Ask the company for its license number and the name on the license. Write both down.
2. Open LARA’s license verification page and look for the residential builders and maintenance and alteration group under construction codes.
3. Search by name or license number. Check that the license is active, that the name matches the one on your contract, and that the craft or classification includes roofing.
4. Check again if the company’s name on the license differs from the sign on the truck.

A company that will not give you a number has answered your question, and the same goes for a crew that has just knocked on the door, as in our guide to door-to-door roofers and signing papers.

What to ask for besides the number

Ask for a written contract. MCL 570.1114 says a contractor has no construction lien on a residential structure unless the improvement is under a written contract, with changes also in writing, that states the license requirement and the contractor’s license number. A contract without the number suggests the paperwork was not done right.

Also ask for a certificate of insurance. That is advice only: we found no Michigan statute or LARA requirement for insurance, a bond or workers’ compensation for roofing contractors, so a certificate is something you request. We also found no cap on deposits, so ask what is due when and write it into the contract.

Do not rely on the Homeowner Construction Lien Recovery Fund if something goes wrong; LARA says it was abolished in August 2010, though older consumer pages still mention it.

When the city wants its own registration

A state license does not end the paperwork. Roofing is not on the state building code’s list of permit exemptions, and enforcement is local. LARA’s Statewide Jurisdiction List (revised 10/6/2026) shows Detroit, Grand Rapids, Warren, Flint, Ann Arbor, Lansing, Kalamazoo, Saginaw, Midland and Portage as local for building, so a city building department is the office that issues a roofing permit where one applies; some small townships are county or state. Our permit guide goes further.

Some of those offices also register contractors. Rochester Hills says contractors must register with the city first, at $30. Westland’s fee sheet lists contractor registration at $15 for a state-licensed contractor, which we read at medium confidence, so confirm it with the city. In Midland, contractor registration is required before any permit is granted, and the roofing permit form asks for the contractor’s license number. If your roofing company says the city does not require registration, ask the building department.

When something goes wrong

LARA takes complaints about licensed professionals and businesses. A complaint about workmanship must be filed within 18 months of completion. MCL 339.2411 treats these as violations: abandoning a job without legal excuse, diverting funds received for one project to others, failing to deliver the entire agreement, failing to furnish the signed completion certificate to a lender, and workmanship that does not meet the Michigan residential code. We did not verify an Attorney General route for a contractor dispute.

If you are choosing now, our roof replacement page covers the job itself, and the hail and wind claim guide covers the insurance side.