Most homeowners hear "licensed and insured" and picture a state agency that checked somebody's work before handing over a card. For roofing in Ohio, that never happened.
Ohio licenses five specialty trades at the state level through the Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board: electrical, plumbing, HVAC, refrigeration and hydronics. Roofing isn't on the list. There's no state roofing exam, no state roofing license number, and no state board with the authority to pull anybody's credentials.
What exists instead is a patchwork. Some Ohio cities and counties require a local contractor registration before you can pull a permit. Plenty don't. So a contractor can say "we're licensed in Ohio" and be telling the truth, when what they hold is a city registration that cost a small fee and required a form and a certificate of insurance.
That's not a reason to panic. It is a reason to know what to ask for, because the vetting falls to you.
What tells you something
Start with the insurance certificate, and get it from the agent rather than out of the contractor's folder. Ask for the agency's contact information and have them send it to you directly with your name as certificate holder. Two coverages matter. General liability pays if your house gets damaged. Workers' compensation matters more than most people realize, because if an uninsured worker falls off your roof, you make a plausible target for that claim. Ohio coverage runs through the Bureau of Workers' Compensation, and you can check an employer's active status yourself at bwc.ohio.gov.
Then ask about manufacturer certification. This is the closest thing roofing has to a real credential and it's the one most people skip. Shingle manufacturers run certification programs that require training, a track record, and sometimes a credit and complaint check, and they can revoke it. Ask what certifications a contractor holds, then look them up on the manufacturer's own contractor locator instead of trusting a logo on the side of a truck.
Ask for a written scope, not a number. A real estimate names the shingle line, the underlayment, how far the ice-and-water membrane runs, what happens with ventilation, which flashing gets replaced versus reused, how many layers come off and who hauls the debris. "Tear off and replace roof, $X" isn't a scope. It's an invitation to argue about it later.
And find out who's going to be on your roof. Employees or subcontractors, and if subs, whether they carry their own coverage. Nothing wrong with subs. You should just know.
If your project is in West Virginia
West Virginia is stricter, and this catches out-of-state contractors constantly.
The West Virginia Division of Labor requires a contractor license for most jobs over $2,500, and roofing sits squarely inside that. Licensed contractors have a number, it's public, and you can search it through the Division of Labor. Anybody working across the river without one is working illegally, which has consequences for you as well as them: unlicensed contractors in West Virginia generally can't enforce a contract or file a mechanic's lien. That sounds like it favors the homeowner right up until you need somebody to honor a warranty.
We hold West Virginia contractor license #WV060956. Look it up.
If your project is in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania takes a third approach. There's no skills-based state roofing license, but the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act requires most contractors doing more than $5,000 a year in home improvement work to register with the Attorney General's office. Registered contractors get a PA HIC number that has to appear on contracts and advertising, and the Attorney General's office runs a public search for it.
HICPA also puts requirements on the contract itself. It has to be in writing, it has to carry the registration number, and it has to give you three business days to back out. A Pennsylvania home improvement contract missing those pieces isn't one you should sign.
Questions that sort people out fast
Past the paperwork, a handful of questions tend to separate the people who have done this a long time from the ones who haven't.
Ask what they're doing about ventilation. If the answer is "put the same thing back," keep asking, because a replacement is the one chance to fix an attic that's been cooking the shingles from underneath.
Ask how much ice-and-water membrane and where it goes. In this climate the answer should cover eaves, valleys and every penetration, not just a token strip along the bottom.
Ask what happens if they open it up and the decking is bad. There should be a per-sheet price in writing, agreed before anybody starts, so nobody is negotiating on a Tuesday afternoon with your house open to the sky.
Ask who cleans up and how, specifically about nails. Magnetic rollers over the whole property, not just the driveway.
And ask where the shop is. It isn't a gotcha question. You're just finding out whether they'll be around in ten years.
Why we bring it up
After a bad hail season this region fills with crews who are here for the summer. Some of them do fine work. But a warranty is only worth as much as the company standing behind it, and a workmanship warranty from an outfit that dissolves in October is a piece of paper.
Our shop is outside Millersburg. Our crews were raised in this community, and their reputations follow them to church on Sunday, which is a kind of accountability no licensing board has ever managed to reproduce.
If you want to see how we scope a project, ask us for an estimate. It's free, it's detailed, and Steve does the visit himself.
