Residential Roofer ($10,000) Bond - Statewide in Alabama

Brief Summary

The Alabama Home Builders Licensure Board will not process a residential roofer application without the $10,000 license bond, and it wants the bond sent in by the surety, not by you. That is one less thing to assemble. We issue the bond with the Board named as obligee, file it directly with the Board, and set it to expire December 31 so it lines up with the license year. The premium is a small annual charge rather than $10,000 of cash set aside.

Alabama requires a $10,000 license and permit surety bond naming the Home Builders Licensure Board as obligee from every residential roofer who contracts directly with a homeowner for roofing work costing more than $2,500. The bond is submitted to the Board directly by the surety with the application, the $100 application processing fee and the $150 license fee, and it expires December 31 of the license year, so it renews each year alongside the license.

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How to Apply for a Residential Roofer ($10,000) Bond:

• Confirm the license applies: you contract directly with homeowners for roofing work over $2,500 and do not hold a residential home builder license.
• Have your name, or the company name, exactly as it will appear on the Board application. The bond principal must match it.
• Provide owner name, home address and Social Security number for the credit review.
• Complete the bond application and review the quoted premium.
• Pay the premium. The surety executes the $10,000 bond naming the Home Builders Licensure Board as obligee, expiring December 31, and files it directly with the Board.
• Submit the roofer application packet with the $100 application processing fee and $150 license fee.
• Renew the bond and the license every year before December 31.

Detailed Information About the Alabama Residential Roofer ($10,000) Bond:

The $2,500 line

This is the number most roofers get wrong, because it is far lower than the $10,000 threshold that applies to general residential construction. Code of Alabama 34-14A-2 defines a residential roofer as a person who installs products or repairs surfaces on the external upper covering of a residence or structure that seals, waterproofs or weatherproofs it, and folds that roofer into the definition of a residential home builder whenever the cost of the undertaking exceeds $2,500. The Board's application packet states it the same way: a residential roofer who contracts directly with a homeowner to perform residential roofing, when the total cost of the undertaking exceeds $2,500, must hold a residential roofer license. One ordinary reroof clears that line.

Who is exempt

Code of Alabama 34-14A-6 exempts an employee of a licensee who does not hold himself or herself out for hire, so a crew member working under a licensed roofer or licensed home builder does not need a separate license or bond. It also exempts a property owner acting as his or her own contractor and providing all material supervision on a one or two family residence, with the warning that selling the house within a year is presumptive evidence it was built for sale. That owner exemption cannot be transferred to anyone else, including through a power of attorney. A roofer who already holds a residential home builder license does not need the roofer license to roof, since roofing sits inside the builder's scope. Working as a subcontractor to a licensed builder on a job the builder contracted is the builder's responsibility under the builder's license. The moment the roofer contracts directly with the homeowner above $2,500, the roofer license and this bond apply.

How the bond is filed

The Board's licensing page asks that a $10,000 license and permit bond naming the Board as obligee be submitted directly to the Board by the surety issuing the bond. The Board publishes a blank bond form and accepts a comparable surety form. The principal name on the bond must match the application exactly, the bond must carry an original signature, and it must expire December 31 of the current license year. Because the license and the bond both run to December 31, the bond is renewed every year with the license. The application itself goes in with a $100 nonrefundable new license application processing fee and the $150 license fee, $250 in total.

What the bond covers

It is a license and permit bond in favor of the Board, standing behind the roofer's compliance with Chapter 14A and the Board's rules. Section 34-14A-14 governs complaints and violations. If the Board or a homeowner recovers against the bond for a violation, the surety pays up to $10,000 and the roofer repays the surety. The bond is not a performance bond on any particular roof and it is not liability insurance.

Eligibility and Requirements for a Alabama Residential Roofer ($10,000) Bond:

• A surety company licensed to transact business in Alabama.
• Bond amount of exactly $10,000.
• Alabama Home Builders Licensure Board named as obligee, on the Board's bond form or a comparable surety form.
• Principal name on the bond matching the license application exactly, with an original signature.
• Expiration date of December 31 of the current license year.
• Credit review of the owner. At $10,000 most roofers are approved and the rate follows personal credit.

Alabama Residential Roofer ($10,000) Bond FAQs:

Official and Additional Resources for the Alabama Residential Roofer ($10,000) Bond: