Is your Tacoma roofer registered?

Registration is the law

Every contractor must register with L&I. Advertising, bidding or doing contractor work without registering is a gross misdemeanor. (RCW 18.27.020)

The state Small Business Guide sets a minimum fine of $1,000 for contractor work done without registration. (Washington Small Business Guide, read Oct 18, 2026)

Registration is not a skills test. L&I says the state does not require contractors to pass a competency test to register, though it does test and license electricians and plumbers. (L&I)

What the roofing specialty covers

The roofing specialty installs and repairs the materials that form a watertight, weather-resistant surface on roofs and decks. It does not allow structural repair of trusses. (WAC 296-200A-016(44)) If your roof needs framing work, ask who will do it and how that company is registered.

What stands behind a registration

• A specialty contractor bond of $15,000 since July 2024. Before then it was $6,000. (RCW 18.27.040, read Oct 18, 2026) (L&I, read Oct 18, 2026)
• Liability insurance of $200,000 public liability and $50,000 property damage, or a $250,000 combined single limit, with L&I listed as a certificate holder. (L&I, read Oct 18, 2026)
• An application fee of $150.20. (L&I, read Oct 18, 2026)

L&I's Verify tool shows registration, workers' comp, safety violations and lawsuits against the surety bond. (L&I) I search the company on L&I Verify before I sign anything.

The small-job exception

State law exempts a single job whose total price for labor and materials is under five hundred dollars, treated as casual or minor work. The exemption does not apply when that job is part of a larger one. (RCW 18.27.090(9)) A roofer who splits a reroof into small invoices doesn't qualify.

Tacoma and moss work

• A business based outside Tacoma with less than $4,000 of Tacoma gross income in a year needs no Tacoma registration, as of January 1, 2026. (City of Tacoma, read Oct 18, 2026)
• WSDA says a company that treats roof moss needs a license, even if it does so once, by hand, or part-time. (WSDA)

What I ask before the bid

1. What is your L&I registration number? I will check it on Verify.
2. Is your registration in the roofing specialty or as a general contractor?
3. Who carries your liability insurance, and can you send the certificate?
4. If you find rotten framing, who repairs it?
5. Will anyone apply moss treatment, and under whose WSDA license?

Next

See how to hire a Tacoma roofer and what a fair roof repair quote looks like.