How to Check a Roofer's Licence in Tennessee

Where the record is

The Board for Licensing Contractors publishes its roster two ways. verify.tn.gov searches one licence at a time by name or number. The Board's public data dashboard holds the whole roster and can be sorted and downloaded; that dashboard is what this site is built from, and the search here covers every licence on it that carries the roofing classification or a roofing name.

Reading the record

• Licence number. The number that must appear in the contractor's advertising. If the number on the truck does not match the number on the roster for that company name, ask why.
• Status. Active is the only status that permits bidding on a job of $25,000 or more. Expired-Grace means the renewal window has been missed but not yet closed. Expired, Closed, Retired, Revoked and Suspended are what they sound like.
• Classification. BC-21 is roofing. BC, BC-A, BC-A/r and BC-B are building classifications that include roofing. CE, CMC and MU are electrical, mechanical and utility classes and do not.
• Monetary limit. The largest single contract the Board allows this licence to take, set from the financial statement the company filed. A $60,000 re-roof needs a limit of at least $60,000. Many roofing licences carry limits of $100,000 to $250,000; some are unlimited.
• Qualifying agent. The person who passed the Board's exam for this company. If that person has left, the licence has a problem.
• Expiration date. Licences renew every two years. A licence expiring next month is fine today; check again before final payment.

The storm-chaser test

After a hail event, roofing crews arrive from other states within days. Most are lawful: as of 2026-09-17, 318 active Tennessee roofing licences belong to companies based in other states, listed here. The problem is not the licence. It is that the company's warranty, and the person who honours it, live somewhere else once the season moves on.

Three checks, in order:

1. Look the company up. If it is not on the state roster at all and the job is $25,000 or more, stop there.
2. Read the address on the licence. If it is out of state, ask where the local office is and who will handle a leak in three years, and get the answer in the contract.
3. Read the origination date. A licence issued this spring, held by a company based 600 miles away, is the pattern to be careful with. It is not proof of anything; it is a reason to ask more questions.

What the licence does not tell you

Whether the roofer is any good, whether the crew on your roof works for the licensee or for a sub of a sub, whether the insurance certificate is current today, and whether the company will exist next year. The Board can tell you about complaints and discipline on a licence by phone at (800) 544-7693. For the rest, references and the certificate of insurance, with a call to the agent named on it, are the tools.