How to Hire a Licensed Roofing Contractor in Oregon

Oregon does not license "roofers" as a separate trade the way it licenses plumbers and electricians. Anyone who advertises, bids, or repairs a roof for pay still needs an active Construction Contractors Board license. That distinction matters. A CCB number means the business passed a law-and-business exam, posted a bond, and carries liability insurance. It does not, by itself, prove the crew can trace a leak in a Willamette Valley valley.

Look up the CCB number before you compare prices

Ask for the license number first. Contractors must print it on advertising, including websites and cards. Name search is a backup only, because punctuation in a business name dumps valid licenses.

Search the number on the CCB license search. On the license summary, confirm all of this on the same day you sign:

• Status is active, not expired, inactive, or suspended
• Endorsement covers residential work if the property is a home
• Bond is current (residential specialty work commonly sits at $20,000, general residential at $25,000; dual residential and commercial work needs both bonds)
• Complaint and disciplinary history for the last 10 years
• Exempt versus non-exempt status: only a non-exempt contractor may have employees and must carry workers' compensation

The CCB is clear that Oregon does not require most contractors to complete trade skill training. Once the license checks out, the rest of the hiring work is about the roof, the written scope, and references from the same weather.

The written contract is the job, not the handshake

Oregon requires a written contract when the project costs more than $2,000. The CCB still recommends writing even smaller repairs. For roofing, the document should do more than name a total.

A contract that protects you names:

• The legal business name exactly as it appears on the CCB record
• The CCB number
• Address and roof areas included, and areas excluded
• Materials by product, not by color nickname
• Underlayment, ice-and-water membrane locations, flashing, and ventilation
• Who pulls permits if the city requires them
• How rain delays, hidden decking, and disposal are handled
• Payment schedule (avoid large cash up front; a common consumer rule of thumb is not more than one-third before work starts)
• Warranty: what is covered, for how long, and who stands behind it if the business closes

Check the license again on the morning work starts. A number that was active at bid time can lapse.

Red flags that are specific to Oregon roof work

Price shopping without a scope is how two bids look $4,000 apart for different jobs. Watch for these patterns instead:

• No CCB number, or a number that belongs to a different legal name
• Pressure to skip the permit "because it is just a repair"
• A bid that replaces shingles but is silent on flashing and underlayment
• "We can start today" after a storm, with a contract you are not allowed to take inside
• Payment to a personal account that does not match the licensed business
• A door-hanger crew that will not wait while you look up the license

If you hire unlicensed help, you lose CCB mediation and bond access. You can also be treated as the employer of those workers, including tax and injury exposure.

Questions that separate a roofing bid from a sales visit

1. How will you trace the leak or the storm damage before you price the covering?
2. Which flashing gets replaced, and which gets reused, and why?
3. If the deck is soft, how is that change-order priced?
4. Who is on the roof: employees of this license, or another company?
5. Can you name two Oregon roofs in this climate, not just "the metro area"?

For a full replacement, keep choosing roof replacement services in Oregon next to the contract so material and ventilation questions stay in the same conversation. The roof replacement page is the commercial scope those questions should match.

West-side addresses in Tualatin sit in the same wet pattern as Portland. Call Roof Repairs Pro at (503) 317-8312 with the CCB questions you already asked someone else. We will tell you which ones still do not have answers.