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Hiring a roofer in Boca Raton: the licence, the contract and the insurance-claim rules

Florida rewrote the rules for roofers and insurance claims, and most homeowners have not caught up. How to check a roofer, what a Florida roofing contract has to contain, what a roofer may no longer offer you — and South Florida Roofing, a request service run by the company that publishes this site.

First, who is writing. South Florida Roofing, the service this guide introduces, is run by PangeaUp, which is owned by the publisher of BocaRatonFL.org. That is the business relationship the label above refers to. Everything before the last section holds whoever you hire.

Check the licence before the quote

• A roof needs a roofing licence. Florida licenses roofing contractors separately, and a general, building or residential contractor generally has to hand the roofing itself to a licensed roofer (s. 489.113). On the state's licence lookup, a certified roofing licence can work anywhere in Florida; a registered one only where it is registered.
• Search by the number, not the name. Directory sites sometimes print the wrong licence number against a company. Take the number from the contract or the truck, look it up, and check that the name and status that come back match.
• The city wants it registered too. Before a roofer can pull a Boca Raton permit, it has to register with the city, with its licence, insurance naming the city, workers' compensation cover or an exemption, and a business tax receipt. A roofer who has done that has already shown the city most of what you would ask for.
• Insurance. Ask for the certificates — general liability and workers' compensation — and read the dates.

What the contract should say

• An itemised, good-faith estimate. Florida bars a roofer from handing you a repair agreement without one.
• Scope: tear-off to the deck, decking replacement and how it is priced, underlayment, flashing, the covering, and the hurricane mitigation work that comes with a re-roof (see our permit guide).
• Who pulls the permit and books the inspections. It should be the roofer.
• Warranties in writing, the manufacturer's and the roofer's own workmanship warranty, separately.
• The notices the law requires. Every Florida roofing contract must carry a printed notice about the ban on rebates for insurance claims, and one telling you to check your coverage with your insurer. If the rebate notice is missing, you can void the contract within 10 days of signing.
• Your cancellation right after a hurricane. If you sign within 180 days of a storm the Governor declared an emergency for your area, you have 10 days to cancel — less if the job's official start date falls sooner. The contract must say so, in bold.

What a roofer may no longer offer you

Under s. 489.147, a roofing contractor may not:

• Offer anything to get you to file a claim — a rebate, a gift card, cash, or "we'll cover your deductible". A deductible waiver is the most common version, and it is illegal.
• Tell you what your policy covers or negotiate the claim on your behalf, unless it is also a licensed public adjuster.
• Pay or take referral fees for work an insurance claim pays for.
• Advertise a roof claim without the warnings the law requires about the deductible and insurance fraud.

And one rule for you: on a home insurance policy issued on or after 1 January 2023, you cannot sign your claim over to a contractor — an "assignment of benefits" is void (s. 627.7152). A roofer asking you to sign one is asking for something the law no longer allows.

If a roofer knocks after a storm offering to "handle the insurance", the safest answer is no. Call your insurer yourself.

South Florida Roofing

South Florida Roofing is a request service, not a roofer: it does no roofing work itself. You describe the job once — repair, replacement, inspection, storm damage or a leak, on a tile, shingle, metal or flat roof — and give your ZIP code. Its site says it then checks whether a participating independent roofing contractor serves that address and does that kind of work, and passes the request on if one does. The contractor may then contact you; whether to hire anyone is up to you.

What its site says about how it works:

• Free, with no obligation to hire, and no guarantee of an estimate or a visit.
• You see who gets your details before you send them. Once you enter a ZIP code, the form shows which participating contractors serve it; where none do, the form tells you, and your request goes no further.
• Your details are not sold, and email updates and texts each need their own consent.
• Not an emergency service. For a roof that is leaking badly now, its advice is to stay off the roof, stay away from sagging wet ceilings, cut the power where water is near fixtures, and call 911 if anyone is in danger.

Its Boca Raton page makes three local points worth knowing whoever you hire: a Boca mailing address may be county rather than city for the permit, most associations here approve roof materials and colours, and on a tile roof the waterproofing is the underlayment beneath the tiles — a roof can look fine from the street and still need it replaced.

Whoever the request reaches, check the licence and the certificates yourself, as you would with any roofer.

Where this comes from

Checked against these on 2026-10-14. Fees, deadlines and portals change — if one of these pages disagrees with this one, the official page is right and we would like to know.

• Florida DBPR — licence lookup
• Florida DBPR — Construction Industry licensing
• City of Boca Raton — Contractor registration
• Florida Statutes s. 489.147 — roofing and insurance claims
• Florida Statutes s. 489.113 — who may do roofing work
• Florida Statutes s. 627.7152 — assignment of benefits
• South Florida Roofing
• South Florida Roofing — Boca Raton
• South Florida Roofing — Start a request