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Questions to ask before you hire a roofer in Seattle

Seattle doesn’t have its own roofing license. Roofers, like other contractors, register with the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I), which requires a bond and liability insurance, and you can check any registration yourself in seconds. Seattle’s code also lets many one- and two-family reroofs go ahead without a building permit, so more depends on the roofer doing the work to code with no city inspector checking it. Some work still needs a permit, an asbestos survey is required before renovation, and landmarks and the city’s historic districts need a Certificate of Approval. Washington law adds a required disclosure statement, lien rules, and a ban on contractors who handle your claim making a regular practice of paying or waiving your insurance deductible. Use these questions to compare Seattle roofers on registration, scope, and paperwork, not just price.

Questions to ask

1. What is your Washington L&I contractor registration number, and is it active as a general or roofing specialty contractor?

Why it matters: Washington requires every contractor to register with L&I, and it’s a gross misdemeanor to advertise, bid, or work while unregistered or suspended, to transfer a registration to someone else, or to subcontract to an unregistered contractor (RCW 18.27.020). L&I lists roofing as one of the specialties that require registration, and it says specialty contractors can only do work in the specialty they’re registered in and can’t hire subcontractors, while general contractors can (L&I: Register as a contractor). L&I also says the registration number must appear in all of a contractor’s advertising (L&I: Hire Smart, step by step). Look up the business yourself in L&I’s Verify a Contractor, Tradesperson, or Business tool and make sure the name, number, and registration type match the bid.

2. What bond and liability insurance do you carry, do you have a workers’ comp account, and who will actually be on my roof?

Why it matters: To register, a contractor must file a surety bond in an amount set by law, with a higher amount for a general contractor than for a specialty contractor, and the bond covers unpaid labor, taxes, suppliers, and court judgments for breach of contract, including improper work; a canceled bond automatically suspends the registration (RCW 18.27.040). The surety isn’t liable beyond the bond amount, and labor claims are paid ahead of breach-of-contract claims (RCW 18.27.040), so the bond is a floor, not full protection. Registration also requires liability insurance of fifty thousand dollars for property damage and one hundred thousand dollars for injury to one person (two hundred thousand for more than one), and a lapse suspends the registration (RCW 18.27.050). L&I says Verify shows whether a contractor is bonded, insured, and free of outstanding infractions, that contractors with workers must have an active workers’ compensation account you can check in Verify, and that you could be a financial risk if someone is injured on your job and you didn’t verify (L&I: Hire Smart). Ask whether the crew are the roofer’s own employees, and if another company will do the work, check that company in Verify too.

3. Does my reroof need a Seattle permit, and if it does, will you get it?

Why it matters: Seattle’s residential code exempts a roof recover, and a roof replacement where no changes are made to the building envelope other than adding or replacing insulation and the work is equivalent to or better than the existing structure. The same section says permits are required for structural changes and for replacing sheathing of any size, and that an exemption doesn’t allow work that violates the code (2021 Seattle Residential Code, Chapter 1, §R105.2 (PDF)). The Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI) says a re-roof permit isn’t required at one- and two-family homes and townhouses when the envelope doesn’t change other than adding or replacing insulation, but a construction permit is needed if the work alters the envelope; commercial and multifamily reroofs need a re-roof permit, which is closed with a Roof Replacement Affidavit rather than an on-site inspection (SDCI: Re-Roof Permit; SDCI: Roof Replacement Affidavit (PDF)). SDCI’s general permit page, though, says you don’t need a permit to replace existing roof sheathing on a detached one- or two-family house if you aren’t changing the envelope (SDCI: Do you need a permit?), which doesn’t match the code text, so if decking will be replaced, ask the roofer to confirm with SDCI and put the answer in writing. On an unreinforced brick building, Seattle’s code requires parapet bracing and wall anchors whenever a reroofing permit is issued (2021 Seattle Residential Code, Chapter 44, §R4402.2.1 (PDF)). L&I lists a contractor who asks you to get the building permit as a warning sign, and says the hired contractor is usually the one required to take out permits (L&I: Hire Smart).

4. Are you tearing off to the deck or laying a new roof over the old one, how many layers are up there now, and what insulation is included if the deck is opened?

Why it matters: Seattle’s residential code says a roof replacement means removing all existing layers down to the deck, with an exception for an adhered ice barrier. A new covering can’t go over the old one if the existing roof is water-soaked or too deteriorated to be a base, is slate, clay, cement, or asbestos-cement tile, or already has two or more applications of any type, and a recover over wood shingles or shakes that leaves a combustible concealed space needs that space covered with a material such as gypsum (2021 Seattle Residential Code, Chapter 9, §§R908.3, R908.3.1.1, R908.4 (PDF)). A second layer over a single existing layer is also limited by weight in the code’s rules for existing buildings (2021 Seattle Residential Code, Chapter 44, §R4404.4.2.1 (PDF)). Insulation rules follow the same split: under the Seattle Energy Code, a roof recover and work where the roof cavity isn’t exposed don’t have to meet new-construction insulation levels, but roofs without insulation in the cavity, where the sheathing or insulation is exposed during reroofing, must be insulated above or below the sheathing (2021 Seattle Energy Code, Residential, Chapter 5, §R503.1.1 (PDF)). SDCI’s re-roof page applies the same idea to commercial and multifamily reroofs (SDCI: Re-Roof Permit). Get the tear-off or recover decision, the number of existing layers, how damaged decking will be priced, and whether any required insulation is priced in or treated as a change order, all in the bid.

5. What shingle wind rating, underlayment, drip edge, and flashing are in the bid?

Why it matters: Seattle’s residential code sets a design wind speed of 98 mph, Seismic Design Category D2, and marks ice barrier underlayment as not required (2021 Seattle Residential Code, Chapter 3, Table R301.2 (PDF)). The code requires asphalt shingles to be tested and labeled for wind resistance under ASTM D7158 (or ASTM D3161), a drip edge at eaves and rakes, replacement of rusted, damaged, or deteriorated flashings, edgings, and vents during reroofing, and flashing installed to the manufacturer’s instructions (2021 Seattle Residential Code, Chapter 9, §§R905.2.4.1, R905.2.8.5, R908.5, R908.6 (PDF)). If a bid includes an ice and water membrane, that’s a choice rather than a Seattle code item, so ask what it adds. Because a permit-exempt reroof gets no city inspection, ask the roofer to name the shingle product and its wind label in writing and to photograph the deck, underlayment, and flashing before they’re covered.

6. Has an asbestos survey been done, and how will the debris and dumpster be handled?

Why it matters: The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency requires an asbestos survey before any renovation. An owner-occupant of a single-family house may do the survey for their own home (except for demolition); otherwise it must be done by an AHERA-certified building inspector, and a copy of the survey must be kept on site and shared with the people doing the work (Puget Sound Clean Air Agency: Homeowner renovation). Ask the roofer who will do the survey and what happens if asbestos roofing or flashing cement turns up. A dumpster or container placed in the public right-of-way, such as the parking lane in front of your house, needs an SDOT Street Use permit before it’s delivered (SDOT: Storage container and residential dumpster permits), so ask who gets that permit and where the debris will be staged.

7. Is my house a city landmark or in a historic district, and have you worked with a Certificate of Approval?

Why it matters: Seattle requires a Certificate of Approval, a written authorization much like a permit, before changes to the designated features of a City Landmark, or to the external appearance of any building in the city’s eight historic districts. The Department of Neighborhoods says staff respond within 28 days, applications go to a board or commission meeting, and a decision must be issued within 45 days of the application being found complete (Seattle Department of Neighborhoods: Certificate of Approval; Seattle Department of Neighborhoods: Historic districts). The districts include residential Harvard-Belmont as well as areas like Ballard Avenue, Columbia City, and Pioneer Square. Ask whether a change in roofing material or color needs approval, and build the review time into the schedule before you sign.

8. Will you give me Washington’s “Notice to Customer” disclosure and a written contract before work starts?

Why it matters: For residential work on four or fewer units with a bid or contract price at or above a threshold set in RCW 18.27.114, a contractor must give you a disclosure statement before starting work. It lists the contractor’s registration number, bond amount, and registration expiration date, warns that the bond might not be sufficient to cover a claim, says you may withhold retainage, warns that suppliers and subcontractors may lien your property, and says you may ask for lien release documents. A contractor that doesn’t give the disclosure can’t keep a lien claim against your property (RCW 18.27.114). L&I says to get the disclosure statement before work begins and a written contract with the total price including sales tax, payment terms, the completion date, who pays permit fees, the specific work and materials, subcontractors and suppliers, warranties, and how change orders work (L&I: Hire Smart). If a city permit is issued, Washington law requires the city to verify the contractor’s registration and print the registration number on the permit (RCW 18.27.110).

9. What is the payment schedule, and will you give me lien releases from your suppliers and any subcontractors?

Why it matters: L&I lists cash-only deals, large deposits or the full cost up front, and paying in a personal name rather than a business name as warning signs, and suggests paying as phases are completed (L&I: Hire Smart). In Washington, suppliers and subcontractors who don’t contract with you directly must give you notice of their right to claim a lien on an existing owner-occupied single-family home, and their liens can then be paid only from amounts you haven’t yet paid your contractor when you got the notice; laborers can claim a lien without notice (RCW 60.04.031). A lien must be recorded within ninety days after the claimant last furnished labor or materials, and a copy must be mailed to the owner within fourteen days of filing (RCW 60.04.091). Once paid, a claimant must provide a release of lien rights on request (RCW 60.04.071). L&I suggests signed lien releases from major contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers before final payment, joint checks to the contractor and supplier, and holding further payments if you get a lien notice until it’s released (L&I: About liens).

10. If this is an insurance claim, will you pay or waive any of my deductible, and who is handling the claim?

Why it matters: Washington makes it unlawful for a service provider, defined to include anyone preparing, presenting, or negotiating an insurance claim, to make a regular practice of waiving, rebating, paying, or offering to pay all or part of a claimant’s property insurance deductible; it’s called trafficking in insurance claims and is a gross misdemeanor, with repeat violations a felony (RCW 48.30A.015; RCW 48.30A.010). The Office of the Insurance Commissioner has ordered a Washington contractor to stop offering “deductible assistance,” and says the policyholder must pay the deductible (OIC: Kreidler orders 911-Dry to stop waiving deductibles). The OIC also says public adjusters, whom you hire to represent you, must be licensed and bonded in Washington, and warns that signing an assignment of benefits lets a contractor deal with your insurer and collect payments without your approval (OIC: Beware of fraud after home or property damage). Talk to your insurer yourself before signing anything that hands over the claim.

11. You knocked on my door — does your contract include my right to cancel?

Why it matters: The Washington Attorney General says the FTC’s Cooling-Off Rule gives you three business days to cancel covered door-to-door sales and sales made away from the seller’s usual place of business, with exceptions such as goods or services needed for an emergency (Washington Attorney General: Cancellation rights). The rule requires the seller to give you a contract or receipt stating that right and a completed Notice of Cancellation form (16 CFR §429.1, via Cornell LII). If you finance the job through the seller on an installment plan after an in-person sale away from the seller’s business, Washington law separately lets you cancel by certified mail by midnight of the third day after signing, not counting Sundays and holidays (RCW 63.14.154). L&I lists a special price only if you sign today and other high-pressure tactics as warning signs; report suspected contractor fraud to L&I at 1-888-811-5974 (L&I: Hire Smart).

Red flags

Next-step checklist

Sources

Note: this guide cites the 2021 Seattle codes, which remain in force; the 2024 Seattle codes are expected no sooner than May 2027 (SDCI: Seattle Code Adoption).