The Illinois roofing license and its bond

A self-employed roofer licensing in Illinois

A roofer going alone in Illinois licenses with the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, passes an exam as the qualifying party, files a $500,000 insurance form, and posts a bond of $10,000 or $25,000 by license tier. The application fee is $125.

The tier is the first real decision in the file, because the bond and the exam both follow it. The limited license covers residential roofing only and carries the $10,000 bond. The unlimited license covers residential and commercial roofing and carries $25,000.

The license runs on its own clock: it expires December 31 of each odd-numbered year, whenever it was issued. Where the full purchase order sits in the stack is the get bonded and insured guide; this page stays on the roofing file.

$125An Illinois roofing contractor application fee is $125, and the license expires December 31 of each odd-numbered year regardless of when it is issued. — Illinois Dept. of Financial and Professional Regulation, roofing contractor application, retrieved 2026-09-29

The two license tiers and the two bonds

The bond forms are printed at the back of the application itself, and the two of them differ by $15,000 and by the work they license.

The BD-LRF is the limited-license bond: $10,000 total, "regardless of the number of years the bond is in force or the number of claims against the bond," for residential roofing only. The BD-URF is the unlimited bond: $25,000 total, for residential and commercial roofing together.

Both are continuous bonds, remaining in force until the license is terminated or not renewed, and the surety can cancel either on sixty days' notice — with liability still attaching to anything accruing before the cancellation date. That is the opposite arrangement from the plumbing bond, which the state refuses to write continuously. Premium-wise the tiers are apart by a factor of two and a half, and the honest tier is the one the work actually needs — the arithmetic is on the bonding costs page.

$10,000 and $25,000The Illinois limited roofing bond (BD-LRF) is $10,000 for residential work only; the unlimited bond (BD-URF) is $25,000 for residential and commercial work. — Illinois Dept. of Financial and Professional Regulation, roofing contractor application, retrieved 2026-09-29

sixty daysThe Illinois roofing license bond is continuous, and the surety's liability ends sixty days after cancellation except for liability accruing before that date. — Illinois Dept. of Financial and Professional Regulation, roofing contractor application, retrieved 2026-09-29

The qualifying party

Illinois licenses the roofer through a person named the qualifying party, and every roofing license needs one. For a self-employed roofer, that person is you.

The qualifying party passes either the Illinois Residential Examination or the Illinois Residential, Commercial and Industrial Examination, matching the license tier. Under a sole proprietorship the qualifying party must be the owner. If the qualifying party terminates, the licensee and the party both notify the Division in writing within 30 business days, and the new qualifying party has seven months to pass the exam if they have not already.

The license does not survive a missing person. With no active qualifying party associated, the license becomes inoperable, and operating without an active license is prohibited until a replacement is submitted and processed. One person, one exam, one license — the trade's whole control runs through that signature.

qualifying party examEvery Illinois roofing license requires a qualifying party who passes the Residential or the Residential, Commercial and Industrial exam, and a sole proprietorship's is the owner. — Illinois Dept. of Financial and Professional Regulation, roofing contractor application, retrieved 2026-09-29

30 business daysAn Illinois roofing license becomes inoperable with no active qualifying party; termination is notified within 30 business days, and a new party has 7 months to pass. — Illinois Dept. of Financial and Professional Regulation, roofing contractor application, retrieved 2026-09-29

The insurance form and the workers' comp proof

The roofing file carries its own insurance form — RF-INS — and the application is blunt that it is the only proof accepted for liability and property damage.

The form certifies liability insurance in at least $500,000 for each occurrence of personal injury and property damage insurance in at least $250,000 for each occurrence. The insurer's section is completed by the insurance company and returned to the insured — the same arrangement as a certificate, on the state's own paper.

Workers' compensation is a separate line: proof for roofing as a certificate of insurance, or a Certificate of Approval as a Self-Insurer from the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission, or an out-of-state equivalent. The application also requires the firm's unemployment insurance account number and proof it is not delinquent, and it makes the applicant attest to any failure to secure workers' compensation obligations. The no-employee version of that question is unpacked on the workers' comp exemption page.

$500,000 / $250,000The RF-INS form certifies at least $500,000 liability per occurrence of personal injury and $250,000 property damage, and is the only proof the Department accepts. — Illinois Dept. of Financial and Professional Regulation, roofing contractor application, retrieved 2026-09-29

unemployment accountAn Illinois roofing application requires the firm's unemployment insurance account number and proof it is not delinquent under the Unemployment Insurance Act. — Illinois Dept. of Financial and Professional Regulation, roofing contractor application, retrieved 2026-09-29

The entity paperwork behind the license

The application sorts its attachments by ownership type, and the roofing license adds one requirement the plumbing file does not have: a purposes clause in the Secretary of State filing.

An LLC or PLLC submits its Articles of Organization, and the purposes section of the Secretary of State application must include one of two sentences: providing limited roofing services, or unlimited roofing services, pursuant to the Illinois Roofing Industry Licensing Act. A corporation submits its Articles of Incorporation or Certificate of Authority. A partnership submits its agreement — or a signed statement that no formal one exists.

The sorting matters for the bond too, because the bond must be completed by a bonding company licensed in Illinois, on the department's BD forms, "do not change the language." The name matching rules run through every attachment, as they do in the plumbing program. How the structure changes the forms without changing the amounts is the structure page.

purposes clauseAn Illinois roofing LLC files its Articles of Organization, with the purposes clause stating roofing services under the Roofing Industry Licensing Act. — Illinois Dept. of Financial and Professional Regulation, roofing contractor application, retrieved 2026-09-29

The odd-year calendar and the wait

The roofing clock is slower than the plumbing one and renews half as often. It expires December 31 of each odd-numbered year, and the application warns of eight business weeks from applying before an inquiry is worth making.

The two-year rhythm does not make the paperwork lighter. A lapsed license needs a new application, and a terminated qualifying party starts the 30-business-day notification and the seven-month exam clock. The bond being continuous does not save the license when the renewal itself is missed.

Plan the first license against the calendar you are standing in. A license issued in an even-numbered year expires at the end of the next odd year, so a fresh application filed in mid-2026 buys seventeen months of license life at most, on a two-year fee paid once.

eight business weeksThe Illinois roofing license application advises allowing eight business weeks before an inquiry, and a lapsed license requires a new application. — Illinois Dept. of Financial and Professional Regulation, roofing contractor application, retrieved 2026-09-29

Buy the tier the work needs

The tier decision is the only bond decision a roofer actually gets to make, and the honest one is also the cheaper one: buy the license for the work on the books, not the work you hope for.

A residential-only roofer posting the unlimited bond pays premium on $15,000 that no residential permit ever asked for. On the published Illinois rates — 1% to 4% with strong credit — the limited bond runs roughly $100 to $400 a year against $250 to $1,000 for the unlimited, before any weaker-credit tier is priced in.

When commercial work arrives, the upgrade path exists inside the same program: a limited licensee applies for the unlimited license in a new application, with the exam to match. Growing into the bigger bond costs a filing; starting there costs premium from day one. The rate side of both tiers is the lower premium guide, and the full costs table is the bonding costs page.

1460.10(d)Under 1460.10(d) of the Illinois roofing rules, a holder of a limited roofing license who wants an unlimited license must submit an application for an unlimited license. — Illinois Dept. of Financial and Professional Regulation, roofing contractor application, retrieved 2026-09-29

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