HOW TO HIRE A Roofing Contractor
Plain-English checklist for vetting a roofer in Broward, Palm Beach, or Miami-Dade. From Leon Meir, owner of DR Construction & Roofing, dual-licensed since 2004.
By Leon Meir, Owner · DR Construction & Roofing · CGC 1507284 + CCC 1328855
Updated April 26, 2026 · Reviewed by a Certified General Contractor and Certified Roofing Contractor in the State of Florida.
The 60-Second Answer
How to hire a roofing contractor in South Florida.
To hire a roofing contractor in South Florida: (1) verify both their CCC and CGC licenses on MyFloridaLicense.com, and ideally hire a contractor who holds both; (2) confirm general liability AND workers compensation insurance directly with the carrier; (3) require a written contract with material brand names, payment schedule, and HVHZ-code compliance language; (4) check at least three local references from the last 12 months; (5) refuse upfront payments larger than 10 percent.
The rest of this guide is the long version, written by a contractor who has been on Florida roofs since 2004. If you only have two minutes, read the box above. If you want to hire the right roofer the first time, keep reading.
License verification, the right way.
Florida licenses contractors at the state level, not at the city or county level. Every legitimate roofer in this state holds at least a Certified Roofing Contractor (CCC) license issued by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR). The number always starts with the letters CCC. Without a CCC, the work is illegal and the manufacturer warranty is void.
A Certified General Contractor (CGC) license is separate. It covers structural work: rotted decking, fascia, soffit, framing, full permit-pulled tie-ins. Most roofers do not hold one, which means they subcontract that work to a second crew with a second markup. We hold both. CGC 1507284 since 2004 and CCC 1328855 since 2008. You can see the DBPR records on our licenses page.
To verify any contractor: go to MyFloridaLicense.com, search by name or license number, and confirm the result shows Current, Active. Anything else (Inactive, Null and Void, Delinquent) disqualifies them. The whole check takes under 60 seconds.
Leon's take.
If a roofer hesitates when you ask for their license number, the conversation is over. Real contractors put their license number on every truck, every business card, and every proposal. Ours is on every page of this website. That is not a brag. That is the floor.
Insurance. Both kinds.
"We have insurance" is not an answer. There are two policies that matter on a roofing job, and a roofer needs both:
- 1General Liability. Covers damage to your property: a tile through your skylight, a tarp that blows off and floods the living room, a worker who drops a hammer on your car. In South Florida, $1 million in coverage is the minimum that should be on a residential proposal.
- 2Workers Compensation. Covers injuries to the crew. If a roofer falls off your roof and the contractor has no workers comp, the injured worker can come after your homeowners policy. This happens. Do not let it happen to you.
Ask for a Certificate of Insurance (COI) with your name and property address listed as the certificate holder. Then call the issuing carrier (the phone number is printed on the COI) and confirm the policy is in force on the day work starts. Real contractors expect that call. The ones who get cagey when you mention it are the ones you have to make the call about.
HVHZ and the Florida Building Code.
The High-Velocity Hurricane Zone (HVHZ) is a special section of the Florida Building Code that applies to Broward County and Miami-Dade County. Every roof inside the HVHZ has to meet stricter standards than the rest of the state: higher wind-load ratings, more aggressive fastening schedules, peel-and-stick or self-adhered underlayments instead of felt, and product approvals issued by Miami-Dade Building Code Compliance.
Every product on an HVHZ roof (underlayment, shingles, tile, fasteners, flashings, vents) must carry a Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance (NOA) or an equivalent Florida Product Approval. A real Broward or Miami-Dade roofer can tell you the NOA number for every component on your proposal. If they can't, they are guessing at code, which is how roofs fail inspection and how warranties get denied after the next storm.
Palm Beach County is technically outside the HVHZ, but the Florida Building Code there is still the strictest in the country outside HVHZ. We pull permits in Broward, Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade and build every roof to HVHZ-grade fastening even when the local code allows less. That is one of the reasons we hold two state licenses instead of one.
Why it matters even if you're not in HVHZ.
A 2026 storm doesn't read the county line. A roof built to HVHZ spec in Boca Raton is a roof that survives the storm Palm Beach gets every six or seven years. Building above code is not gold-plating. It is insurance you don't have to file a claim for.
The contract. Eight items, non-negotiable.
Verbal commitments do not survive a roof job. Before you sign anything, the contract has to spell out all eight of these in writing:
- 1
Material brand and full spec
Not "architectural shingles." It should read "GAF Timberline HDZ, Charcoal, Class 4 impact-rated, with StormGuard self-adhered underlayment." Brand, color, model, rating.
- 2
Square footage
Total roof area being torn off and replaced. Roofs are priced per square (100 sq ft). The number on the contract has to match the takeoff and the permit.
- 3
Payment schedule tied to milestones
Deposit at signing (10% max in Florida), draw at material delivery, draw at tear-off complete, balance at final inspection. Never tied to a calendar date alone.
- 4
Start and end dates
A planned start date and a target completion window. Florida weather pushes schedules. A real contractor builds a buffer in and tells you what it is.
- 5
Permit responsibility
The contractor pulls the permit, posts it on site, and schedules the inspections. If a contractor asks you to pull the permit yourself, that is a red flag. It usually means their license is suspended or they are not the qualifier on the job.
- 6
Cleanup and debris removal
Magnetic nail sweep of the entire perimeter, all old shingles or tile hauled off, dumpster fees included. Spelled out.
- 7
Warranty terms
Two warranties. The manufacturer warranty (typically 25-50 years on the materials) and the contractor workmanship warranty (typically 5-10 years on the labor). Both in writing, with the start date defined.
- 8
Change-order rules
What happens if the crew finds rotten decking after tear-off? The contract should list a per-sheet unit price for replacement decking, signed and dated, before work begins. No verbal "we'll figure it out."
Seven red flags. Walk away.
If any one of these shows up in the first conversation, end the conversation:
-
Storm chasers.
Out-of-state crews who roll into South Florida the week after a hurricane, knock on doors, sign contracts, take deposits, and disappear. They are not licensed in Florida. The state DBPR site will not show them. By the time the roof leaks, their phone is disconnected.
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Unmarked vehicles.
A real Florida contractor puts the company name and CCC license number on every truck. If the truck pulling up to your house has no markings, no decals, and no plates from a Florida company, do not let them on the roof.
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Large upfront payments.
Florida law caps roofing deposits at 10 percent. Anyone asking for 30, 40, or 50 percent at signing is either uninformed or counting on you to be.
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"Today only" pricing.
Roofs are not used cars. A real proposal is good for 30 days. High-pressure "sign tonight or lose this price" is a tactic, not a discount.
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No physical address.
A Florida contractor needs a registered business address on file with the state. If their proposal has only a cell phone and a Gmail, they are not set up to stand behind a 10-year warranty.
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No online reviews, or all 5 stars from last week.
A real local roofer has dozens of Google reviews going back years, with the occasional 3-star mixed in. A brand-new account with 40 perfect 5-star reviews posted in the last month is a fake business.
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Refuses to pull permits.
Permitless roofs do not pass a future home sale inspection, do not qualify for insurance discounts, and void the manufacturer warranty. Any roofer offering to "save you money by skipping the permit" is offering to cost you the entire roof.
Insurance claim work. What to know.
Hurricane and hail damage are usually covered by your homeowners policy. But the carrier is not on your side by default. They are a business, and their job is to pay the smallest claim that closes the file. That does not make them villains. It makes the documentation your job.
A roofing contractor experienced in claim work walks the roof before the carrier's adjuster shows up, photographs every damaged slope with date stamps, takes moisture readings under suspect tile, pulls the HVHZ code section that applies to the repair, and prepares a written scope. When the adjuster arrives, the contractor is on the roof with them. Carriers respond to evidence, not opinions. We have done hundreds of these walkthroughs.
When public adjusters help. A licensed public adjuster is a homeowner advocate who negotiates with the carrier on your behalf. They take a percentage (typically 10-20%) of whatever they recover. For complex claims (total roof loss, multiple structures, a denial) a public adjuster can be worth every dollar. For a straightforward repair, you usually don't need one.
What to never sign. An Assignment of Benefits (AOB) form. Once signed, the contractor controls your insurance claim, can sue your carrier in your name, and can settle the claim without your approval. Florida tightened AOB law in 2019 and again in 2022, but the form still exists. We do not use AOB. We will never ask you to sign one.
Ready to put a real contractor on your roof?
We hold the two state licenses Florida issues for this work, CGC 1507284 and CCC 1328855, both Current and Active and verifiable in 60 seconds at MyFloridaLicense.com. We carry general liability and workers comp. We pull every permit. We build to HVHZ spec across Broward, Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade. And we will never ask you to sign an AOB.
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