· by Michael Blair, Nashville's Roofers
Licensed and insured is printed on nearly every roofing truck and yard sign in Middle Tennessee, and it is the claim a homeowner is least able to check from the driveway. Under Tennessee law it is not one thing. Which license a roofer needs depends on the size of the job and the county the house sits in, and insured means two separate policies that protect you from two different problems. This is how our own paperwork works, as the roofers described on our about page, and how to check anyone’s, ours included, before work starts.
Two state licenses, set by the size of the job
Tennessee draws its main line at $25,000. A contractor needs a state license before bidding or price negotiations on any project of $25,000 or more, as the Department of Commerce and Insurance release on checking contractors’ licenses puts it. That is a rule about the total on the contract, not the kind of work, so whether a roof replacement crosses it comes down to the size of the roof, the pitch, the layers coming off and the decking found underneath.
Below that line sits the home improvement license. The Board for Licensing Contractors’ home improvement license page requires it for residential remodeling projects from $3,000 to $24,999 in the counties that have adopted the law: Bradley, Davidson, Hamilton, Haywood, Knox, Marion, Robertson, Rutherford and Shelby. The holder also posts a $10,000 surety bond or its equivalent. So a mid-sized roof job on a house covered by our roofing in Nashville or roofing in Murfreesboro pages falls under that rule, while the same job in Williamson, Sumner or Wilson County does not, because those counties are not on the list.
The Board’s page describes the license in terms of remodeling. If you are unsure whether a particular roof job counts, the Board answers that question at (800) 544-7693 or (615) 741-8307, the numbers given in the same Commerce release.
Checking a license at verify.tn.gov
The state names one place to look: verify.tn.gov, which the Attorney General’s 2025 home improvement fraud tips point to as the free way to confirm a license. Search by the company name or the license number on the estimate. The things worth checking are plain: the name on the license is the name on the contract, the license is active, and it fits the size of the job you are being quoted.
The same release carries a rule that matters on roofs in particular, where the materials order is large and arrives before the crew does: state law prohibits requiring more than one-third down. A roofer who asks for the full shingle order paid up front, or for half before the dumpster is dropped, is asking for something the law does not allow, and that tells you how the rest of the paperwork will go.
Look us up the same way. A roofing company that would rather you did not check is the one to check most carefully.
General liability and workers’ compensation cover different things
General liability pays when the work damages property that is not the contractor’s: a tarp that lets go in a storm and lets rain into the attic, a bundle of shingles through a skylight, a nail gun dropped onto a car in the driveway. It is the policy that answers for the roofer’s mistakes on your house. The Attorney General’s tips name it, along with workers’ compensation and damage coverage, as what a contractor should carry.
Workers’ compensation covers the people on your roof. Roofing is work at height on a steep, often hot surface, and when someone is hurt, workers’ comp is what pays the medical bills and lost wages. Without it, the question of who pays has no clean answer, and it is a question you do not want asked about an injury that happened at your house. If you are hiring a crew that cannot show coverage, call your own insurance agent first.
Tennessee holds construction to a stricter rule than other lines of work. The Bureau of Workers’ Compensation guidance on who must carry insurance says construction businesses must cover everyone, including the owners, where other businesses need coverage only at five or more employees. An owner can exempt himself through the state registry if he qualifies, as a sole proprietor owning the whole company or an officer, member or partner with at least 20 percent, but the Exemption Registry forms and FAQs are clear that employees cannot use it. An exemption covers one person. It does not cover a crew of five tearing off your roof, and the registry can be searched online to see whose name is actually on it.
Reading the certificate of insurance
The Commerce release advises asking for current insurance certificates, and the certificate is the one page that ties the policies to the company. It names the insured business, the insurance companies, the policy numbers, the dates each policy runs and the limits for each type of coverage. Read it against the contract and the license: the same business name on all three, policy dates that cover the weeks the work will happen, and both general liability and workers’ compensation shown.
A certificate is informational. It describes a policy on the day it was printed and does not change the policy or prove it is still in force, so the reliable check is to call the agent listed on it and confirm, or ask for the certificate to come to you from the agent directly. Our roofers’ certificates are on file with us before anyone climbs a ladder; when you ask us for a free estimate, ask for the license number and the certificate in the same breath.
- Business name matches the contract and the license
- Policy dates cover the whole job
- General liability and workers’ comp both listed
- An owner’s exemption covers the owner alone
- The agent’s number, to confirm the policy is current
Sources
- Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors, Home Improvement license — The $3,000 to $24,999 range, the nine counties that adopted the law, and the $10,000 surety bond.
- Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, checking contractors’ licenses (March 18, 2021) — State license required before bidding at $25,000 or more; ask for current insurance certificates; Board phone numbers.
- Tennessee Attorney General, home improvement fraud tips (March 20, 2025) — The one-third down payment limit, the free license check, and the coverage a contractor should carry.
- Verify Tennessee public license search — The state’s license lookup.
- Tennessee Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, Who Must Carry Insurance — Construction businesses must cover everyone, including owners.
- Tennessee Workers’ Compensation Exemption Registry, forms and FAQs — Who may claim an owner exemption, and that employees cannot.