How to Start a Roofing Business in Michigan: Why It Runs on a Builder License

Michigan does not have a separate roofing license. Roofing is a named trade under Article 24 of the Occupational Code (MCL 339.2401 et seq.), and you work it under a contractor license. That makes the license the center of your startup plan. A company can apply for the license, but it must designate a qualifying officer who passes the exam and also holds an individual license.

This guide covers what the license requires, how it connects to forming your LLC or corporation, and which local approvals you still need before a crew goes on a roof. Michigan has no general statewide business license. Registering an entity with LARA is a filing, not a license, and roofing is licensed by trade.

Informational content only. This article is not legal, tax, or insurance advice. Fees, deadlines, and license rules change. Confirm current requirements with LARA, the Michigan Department of Treasury, and your city, village, township, or county before you spend money. If you have employees, partners, or a complicated ownership setup, talk with a licensed Michigan attorney and a CPA.

What You Need Before You Start

• A decision on which person will hold the individual contractor license and act as qualifying officer
• Proof of 60 hours of approved prelicensure education
• A passing result on the PSI exam
• The $195 application fee for LARA's Bureau of Construction Codes
• A business name you have checked on the MiBusiness Registry business search
• A resident agent with a Michigan physical address (a P.O. box alone is not enough)
• Articles of Organization for an LLC ($50 filing fee) or Articles of Incorporation for a corporation ($60 filing fee)
• A federal Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS
• Contact details for the building department of every city, village, township, or county where you plan to work
• Insurance quotes you can show customers, confirmed with your insurance agent

Step by Step: Starting a Roofing Business in Michigan

Step 1: Decide which contractor license fits your work

Roofing is a named trade of the Maintenance and Alteration (M&A) contractor license. A Residential Builder license also covers roofing. The M&A route may fit a business focused on repairing and replacing roofs on existing buildings. If you also plan to build homes, the Residential Builder license may fit better. Confirm the choice with LARA before you pay for education or book an exam, because the path you pick determines the prelicensure and testing you need.

Article 24 covers work on a residential structure, meaning a detached 1- or 2-family dwelling or a townhouse of not more than 3 stories (MCL 339.2401). On a residential structure, a license is required for any single roofing project with an aggregate contract price of $600 or more. Splitting one job into several smaller contracts to stay under $600 does not work, as MCL 339.2403(f) makes clear. Ask LARA how the law applies to commercial roofs. Smaller jobs may not require a license, but confirm that with LARA before you rely on it, especially when a small job grows through change orders.

Step 2: Complete 60 hours of approved prelicensure education

The license requires 60 hours of approved prelicensure education. Before you enroll, confirm with LARA that the course is approved for the license you chose. Keep the completion certificate. You will need it for the application, and it is the record you will want if anyone asks later. Plan your start date around this step, since you cannot bid licensed work until the license is issued.

Step 3: Pass the PSI exam

The PSI exam is the testing step for the license. Schedule it through PSI using the instructions LARA provides with your application. Study from your prelicensure course materials and the trade and code topics your course covers. Do not book the exam until your education hours are complete and the application path is confirmed, because a test you cannot use is wasted time and money. If you do not pass, prepare for the retake with the same care as the first attempt.

Step 4: Apply to LARA's Bureau of Construction Codes

Submit the license application to LARA's Bureau of Construction Codes with the $195 application fee. Your education and exam results must be on file for the application to move forward. Once licensed, the renewal fee is $150 every 3 years, using the 2026 figure. Confirm the current renewal amount and requirements with LARA before your first renewal, because fees change. Put the renewal date on your calendar the day the license is issued.

Your company also needs a qualifying officer. The person who holds the individual license must serve as the qualifying officer for the business. Think ahead about what happens if that person leaves, becomes unable to work, or sells their ownership share. If the qualifying officer ceases to serve, the company's license is suspended, although LARA may let it stay in force for a reasonable time while a new qualifying officer qualifies (MCL 339.2405(4)). Ask LARA how a change is handled before you depend on one license holder for the whole company.

Step 5: Choose a business structure and file it

Your structure determines which office receives your filing. Use this table as a starting point, then confirm each filing with the agency that receives it.

Structure	Where you file	Formation filing and fee	Yearly filing
Sole proprietorship	County clerk, if you use a trade name (assumed name certificate)	County fee, set by the county and by statute	No LARA annual filing; county fees are set separately
Limited liability company (LLC)	LARA Corporations Division, through MiBusiness Registry	Articles of Organization (Form CSCL/CD-700), $50	Annual Statement (Form CSCL/CD-2700), $25, due February 15
Corporation	LARA Corporations Division, through MiBusiness Registry	Articles of Incorporation for Profit Corporation (Form CSCL/CD-500), $60	Annual Report (Form CSCL/CD-2500), $25, due May 15

For an LLC, the Articles of Organization must include a resident agent and registered office. Michigan uses the term resident agent. The agent must be a Michigan resident, a Michigan corporation, a foreign corporation authorized to transact business in Michigan, a Michigan LLC, or a foreign LLC authorized in Michigan. The registered office is a physical location and may be the same as your shop, but a P.O. box alone is not sufficient. You file changes on Form CSCL/CD-520.

The LLC name must contain Limited Liability Company or the abbreviation L.L.C. or L.C., with or without periods. Check availability on the MiBusiness Registry business search before you file. If you need time to decide, you can hold a name with Form CSCL/CD-540 for a $25 fee. The reservation lasts six months following the month of filing.

An LLC formed or qualified after September 30 does not owe an Annual Statement on the February 15 immediately following its formation. Corporations file the Annual Report by May 15. Late fees for corporations escalate on a published schedule from $35 (May 16 to May 31) up to a $75 maximum on or after September 1.

If you need speed, expedited review is available on top of the filing fee through Form CSCL/CD-272. The options are $50 for 24-hour review of a formation document, $100 for same-day review, $500 for two-hour review, and $1,000 for one-hour review, each with a same-day deadline set on the request form. File through the MiBusiness Registry Portal, and use the LARA Corporations Division page to confirm current forms.

Step 6: Register a trade name if you need one

If you operate under a name other than your legal name or your LLC's name, you need an assumed name filing. An LLC files a Certificate of Assumed Name (Form CSCL/CD-541) with LARA for $25. A corporation or limited partnership pays $10. The certificate is effective through December 31 of the fifth full calendar year after the year it was filed, and a Certificate of Renewal of Assumed Name (Form CSCL/CD-542 in LARA's fee schedule, at the same fee) extends it. Confirm the current renewal form with LARA. Sole proprietors and general partnerships do not file with LARA. They file an assumed name certificate with the county clerk of each county where they do business, under MCL 445.1.

Step 7: Register with the Michigan Department of Treasury

Michigan imposes no franchise tax. A standard LLC is a pass-through entity, so its members report the income on the Michigan individual income tax at the flat 4.25% rate for the 2026 tax year. If your LLC elects federal C corporation treatment, it is subject to the 6% Corporate Income Tax, with a small business alternative credit that offers an alternate rate of 1.8% of adjusted business income. Michigan also offers an elective Flow-Through Entity Tax. Ask a CPA whether any of these options fits your situation.

Sales tax is a separate question. Michigan's state sales tax rate is 6%. Retailers must register with Treasury for a sales tax license, which is free, and the license can arrive in as little as 7 business days. Whether your roofing invoices involve sales tax depends on how you bill and what you sell, so confirm this with Treasury before your first invoice. Treasury's business registration page is at michigan.gov/taxes, with general tax information at michigan.gov/taxes. Also check whether your city levies a city income tax. Only 24 Michigan cities do.

Step 8: Get local permits and inspections

Your state license does not replace local permits. Michigan has 83 counties, about 275 to 280 cities, about 255 to 258 villages, and 1,240 townships. Each may run its own building department with its own rules. Before you quote a job, ask the building department where the property sits whether re-roofing, decking repair, or structural work needs a permit and inspection, and what the fee is. Local rules control here, so confirm them directly with the city or county building department rather than relying on a general answer.

Step 9: Prepare for storm-damage work

Storm work brings heavy marketing, quick decisions, and frequent disputes. Before you take storm-damage contracts, check consumer protection guidance from the Michigan Attorney General. Build your contract, deposit terms, and cancellation process around that guidance. Photograph the damage before you start, and keep the photos with the signed contract and the job file.

Step 10: Set up a filing and renewal calendar

Put every deadline in one place: the February 15 Annual Statement for an LLC, the May 15 Annual Report for a corporation, the Treasury filings you registered for, your license renewal every 3 years, and any local permit renewals. Missing a state filing can create late fees and can complicate the records you need when you bid or renew, so review the calendar every January.

Tips for Getting It Right

• Confirm the license path with LARA before you enroll in any course. The path sets your education and testing.
• Use the same legal name across LARA, the IRS, Treasury, your bank, your insurance policy, your contracts, and your trucks.
• Document the qualifying officer role in your internal company records, and name a backup plan in case that person leaves.
• Put your license number on estimates and contracts so customers can check it with LARA's State License Search.
• Ask each building department where you work for its permit list and inspection schedule before you sign a contract.
• Write a contract for every job, even small ones, and keep it on file for the length of the work and beyond.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Splitting a job to stay under $600. Under MCL 339.2403(f), splitting does not avoid the license requirement.
• Using a P.O. box as your registered office. A physical location is required.
• Forgetting the LLC name requirement. The name must include Limited Liability Company, L.L.C., or L.C.
• Missing the February 15 or May 15 filing. Late fees and standing issues can follow.
• Starting work before the permit is issued. Local building departments set their own rules, so check before you schedule the crew.
• Depending on one person for the whole license. Plan for the qualifying officer leaving or becoming unavailable.
• Assuming a trade name needs no filing. Sole proprietors file with the county clerk, and LLCs and corporations file with LARA.

What Results to Expect

A company that works through these steps in order may be ready to bid licensed roofing work. The timeline depends on your education schedule, exam availability, LARA processing, and how quickly your local building departments respond. Because processing times are not guaranteed, build slack into your launch date rather than promising customers a start date before your license is issued. Results vary by market, crew, and the kind of work you take on, and nothing in this guide promises any particular outcome.

Where to Get Help

The Michigan Small Business Development Center offers free business advising that can help you think through your structure and plan. The SBA Michigan district page lists federal resources for Michigan owners. For license questions, contact LARA's Bureau of Construction Codes directly. For entity and tax questions, use the LARA Corporations Division and the Michigan Department of Treasury. For complicated ownership, insurance, or contract questions, consult a licensed Michigan attorney and a CPA, and treat this guide as a starting point rather than a substitute for their advice.