The bid tells you what a roofer plans to do. The contract is what you can hold them to. Here is a five-minute check before you sign, with the California rule behind each line.
Get a Free Estimate →Sign when every line below has an answer in writing. If the contract is silent on one, ask for it to be written in before you sign, not after. A promise that isn't on the paper isn't part of the deal, and that goes for every roofer on your table, us included.
Every California contractor has to print the license number on bids, contracts and ads. Type it into the CSLB license check and confirm the license is active, the name matches the company on the contract, and roofing (C-39) is among the classifications. The lookup also shows the address of record and the bond.
CSLB requires every active C-39 roofing contractor to carry workers' compensation insurance, or have a self-insurance certificate on file, whether or not they have employees. It shows on the license lookup. If a worker is hurt on your roof and the contractor isn't covered, you could end up paying.
A licensed contractor has to give you information about workers' compensation and commercial general liability insurance in the written contract. General liability isn't required by law, but it's what pays for damage to your property, so if a contractor has none, ask how damage would be covered.
Ask to see the pocket license and a photo ID, and make sure it's the same person. A salesperson working for a contractor has to be registered with CSLB as a Home Improvement Salesperson and carries a registration card.
California expects the contract to describe the work and the products in detail: what gets installed, size and color, who does what, and the manufacturer's model. On a roof, that means which sections are in the job, the tear-off, the deck and every layer by name. Our bid comparison guide goes through the scope line by line; here's the short version for the paper you're about to sign.
If only part of the roof is in the job, the contract should say which sections, ideally on a diagram attached to it. A house with a garage, a patio cover and an addition has more than one roof.
The old roof comes off down to the deck, and the contract says how many layers the price covers and what happens if another one turns up.
"Title 24 compliant shingles" or plain "underlayment" names nothing. The contract should name the product, the line and the color you picked, and the underlayment by product name too.
Nobody sees the deck until the old roof is off. The contract should say how much damaged wood is in the price and what wood past that costs, per sheet and per foot.
New flashing at walls, chimneys, pipes and valleys, and the ventilation by type and amount, not just the word "vents."
Who hauls the old roof away and how often the site is cleaned, plus a plain list of what the price does not include.
The contract has to say who gets the permits, and CSLB suggests checking whether the permit fee is in the price. What needs a permit depends on the city or county and the scope, so the building department for your address has the final word.
The normal arrangement is that the licensed roofer pulls the permit under their own license and schedules the inspections. Ask whether the fee is included or billed at cost with the receipt.
If a roofer asks you to sign the permit as the owner-builder, the legal responsibility for the work moves from the contractor to you. If anyone slides owner-builder paperwork across your table for a roof they're supposedly building, that's the end of the conversation. More in our owner-builder warning.
That's the legal limit on a home improvement contract in California, and special-order material is not an exception. On a $14,000 roof, the most anyone can collect up front is $1,000. On a $7,500 job, it's $750. The only exception is a contractor with a blanket performance and payment bond on file with CSLB, and CSLB counts about two dozen of those.
Each payment should be tied to a described stage of work. The contract itself has to warn you that it is against the law for a contractor to collect payment for work not yet completed or materials not yet delivered. Pay as the work is done, not before.
California home improvement contracts carry a statement that once you pay for a portion of the work, the contractor gives you a full and unconditional lien release for that portion before any further payment. Ask for it.
The contract price should be one stated total, with any add-ons or options listed as their own lines, so the payments add up to it.
The contract has to give approximate dates for both. California law makes it a violation for a contractor, without lawful excuse, to fail to substantially start the work within 20 days of the approximate start date in the contract.
A good contract defines it. Ours counts the delivery of roofing materials or the start of tear-off, tile lifting or other work on the roof, whichever comes first.
Rain, permit and inspection scheduling, material delivery, and deck repairs approved at tear-off. When a date moves, it should be confirmed in writing, by email or text at the time, not as a surprise at the end.
Any change to the price or the scope has to be a written change order, signed by you and the contractor before the change is made. It should say what the extra work is, what it adds or subtracts, and how it changes the payment schedule.
If somebody promised you something at the table, it belongs in the contract before you sign. That goes for every company, ours included.
CSLB's advice is to get any warranty on labor and materials in writing. A new roof usually comes with two, from two different companies.
The roofer's promise about the installation: how long it lasts, what it covers, and whether it transfers if you sell.
The materials warranty, on the manufacturer's own terms. Ask who registers it and get the registration information.
Unless the contract was negotiated at the contractor's place of business, you get a three-day right to cancel. The contract has to include the notice and the cancellation form. You cancel by written notice, and the deadline printed on the notice is midnight of the third business day after you receive a signed and dated copy.
Since 2021, homeowners 65 and older have five days to cancel a home improvement contract.
A service and repair contract for an emergency you asked for on short notice, under $750 for labor and materials, loses the cancellation right once it's signed and the work begins.
A subcontractor, worker or supplier who helps improve your property and doesn't get paid can record a mechanics lien against it. The contract must include the lien warning. Ask for lien releases as you pay, and see CSLB's guide to preventing mechanics liens.
The contract also tells you that you have the right to require the contractor to carry a performance and payment bond. CSLB notes it usually costs 1 to 2 percent of the contract price.
Keep one folder for the roof, paper or digital. It's what you'll need for a warranty claim, a sale or an insurance question years from now.
$1,000 or 10 percent of the contract price, whichever is less, on a home improvement contract. Special-order materials are not an exception. The only exception is a contractor with a blanket performance and payment bond on file with CSLB, which very few have.
California requires a written contract for home improvement work over $500, and any changes to it have to be in writing too.
Only through a written change order that describes the work and the price, signed by you before that work is done.
Three business days after you receive a signed and dated copy, or five days if you are 65 or older, unless the contract was negotiated at the contractor's place of business. Emergency service and repair contracts under $750 are the main exception.
The contract has to say. Normally it's the licensed roofer, under their own license. If a roofer asks you to sign the permit as the owner-builder, stop and read our owner-builder warning first.
No. It's a homeowner checklist built from CSLB's published guidance and the way we write our own contracts. For a legal question about a specific contract, contact CSLB or an attorney.
If you're holding another roofer's bid, bring it. I read competitors' scopes with homeowners at the kitchen table, line by line. We do four kinds of roofs: asphalt shingle roofs, tile replacement with new tile, tile lift and relay, and flat roofs, across the Inland Empire.
Next in the library: the Roof Replacement Timeline. If you haven't compared your bids yet, start with How to Compare Roofing Bids.
Get a Free Estimate →Pages checked October 6, 2026. The GAX notes describe our own contract. This page is a checklist, not legal advice.