Minnesota · Checked October 22, 2026
State license. Minnesota licenses the roofing business, not the individual worker. A company that contracts directly with homeowners for roofing needs a DLI Residential Roofer license, a $15,000 surety bond, statutory liability insurance, and a designated qualifying person who has passed the Qualifying Roofer (QR) exam — with no experience or education prerequisite to sit that exam. The roofer license covers roofing only: gutters, downspouts, soffit and fascia require a Residential Building Contractor or Remodeler license instead.
| Item | Minnesota |
|---|---|
| Regime | Residential Roofer license (Department of Labor and Industry) — business license, qualifying person exam |
| Exam | Qualifying Roofer (QR) pre-licensing exam for the company's qualifying person — pass mark 70%. The qualifying person must pass the exam and fulfil the continuing-education duties for the licensee. No prerequisite experience or educational requirements to take the exam (DLI eLicense listing states this for the building contractor/remodeler exam; DLI roofer pages apply the same qualifying-person model). A candidate who fails must wait 30 days before applying to retake, with a new application and fee. The 70% pass figure is from secondary exam sources, not the DLI roofer page itself. |
| Experience | No state experience requirement published |
| Application fee | License fee $180 (current DLI Roofer License page and DLI eLicense listing, which both state Fees: $180) |
| License / registration fee | $180 base license fee, plus a Contractor Recovery Fund assessment by gross annual receipts: $320 (under $1M), $420 ($1M-$5M), $520 (over $5M) — per the DLI eLicense listing for residential contractors |
| Total state cost | $500-$700 in state fees for a first license ($180 + $320-$520 Recovery Fund), before bond premium, insurance and any exam fee — Fee drift, shown honestly: an older MN eLicense / My Next Move listing still states a license fee of $165, while the current DLI Roofer License page and the eLicense A-Z listing state $180. This dataset reports $180 as current and $165 as the stale listing. An exam application fee was not published on the DLI roofer page checked. |
| Bond | $15,000 surety bond and power of attorney, signed and sealed by the surety, signed by the owner/president/general partner, with notarized acknowledgments; the company name on the bond must be identical to the application (DLI). Roofers post this bond in addition to paying into the Contractor Recovery Fund. |
| Insurance minimums | Commercial general liability including premises/operations and products/completed operations: at least $100,000 per occurrence, $300,000 aggregate for bodily injury, and at least $25,000 property damage — or a single-limit policy of $300,000 per occurrence and $300,000 aggregate (Minn. Stat. §326B.86, subd. 2). Certificate must be on file with DLI, plus a certificate of compliance with Minnesota workers' compensation law. |
| Who qualifies | Each licensed company must designate one individual as its qualifying person, whether the licensee is a sole proprietorship, partnership or corporation. The qualifying person takes the QR exam and completes the continuing education for the licensee. |
| Timeline | Length of determination: 30 days (DLI eLicense listing). The license period runs April 1 through March 31 regardless of when in the year the license is issued. |
| Renewal | Annual — all residential roofer licenses expire March 31 each year and must be renewed by March 31. Qualifying persons complete 14 hours of DLI-approved continuing education every two years (including 1 hour on the Minnesota Energy Code, per secondary CE sources). Renewal fee is the annual license fee plus the Recovery Fund assessment by receipts tier. |
| Credential | Scope | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Residential Roofer | residential | Covers work on residential real estate (one-to-four family dwellings, including detached garages) in roof coverings, roof sheathing, roof weatherproofing and insulation, and repair of roof systems — not construction of new roof systems as a general builder. Does NOT cover gutters, downspouts, or soffit and fascia (DLI). |
| Residential Building Contractor / Residential Remodeler (alternative licenses that also cover roofing) | residential | A roofer who also installs gutters, downspouts, or soffit and fascia must hold one of these instead. A remodeler may work only on existing homes; a building contractor may also do new construction. |
License trigger: $15,000 — Annual gross receipts from residential contracting/remodeling activities. Contractors whose gross annual receipts are under $15,000 are exempt from the license requirement but must obtain a Certificate of Exemption each year (Minn. Stat. §326B.805 and DLI). If receipts pass $15,000 in a year, the certificate must be surrendered and a license obtained. Note this is a receipts exemption, not a per-job threshold — and roofing subcontractors are treated separately (see sub_rule).
Roofing subcontractors do NOT need a license, but they must register through DLI's Contractor Registration Program. Only contractors who contract directly with the homeowner need the roofer (or builder/remodeler) license. Employees of a licensed contractor do not need their own license.
DLI notes there may be additional city, county and township licensing requirements on top of the state license. Building permits for re-roofing are issued locally; the state license does not replace a local permit.
Paying, waiving or advertising a deductible waiver is an offense. Citation: Minn. Stat. §325E.66, subd. 1. A residential contractor (including a residential roofer) providing home repair or improvement to be paid from property/casualty insurance proceeds shall not, as an inducement, advertise or promise to pay, directly or indirectly, all or part of any applicable insurance deductible, or offer to compensate an insured for providing any service. Current text also bars compensating for allowing an inspection, making a claim, or referrals; bars giving a repair agreement without a good-faith itemized estimate; and bars interpreting policy provisions or adjusting a claim unless licensed as a public adjuster under ch. 72B. The contractor must give written notice of §325E.66 with its initial estimate, and if it violates the section the insurer need not consider its estimate. Private remedy and DLI public enforcement are in subds. 2-3.
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