Before a roofer climbs the ladder: paperwork in New Jersey

The state's Division of Consumer Affairs runs registration for home improvement contractors, and its FAQ calls it mandatory: a business that makes or sells home improvements needs a registration number before it does the work. The number has to appear on ads, business cards, commercial vehicles and business documents, and each registration is renewed annually, before March 31.

According to the FAQ, state registration replaces any municipal licensing of these contractors, and since 1 January 2006 a town cannot issue a construction permit to a contractor who is required to register and has not. Checking is done online, through the Business Search on the Division's verification site. Roofing is not named as a trade in the FAQ, so the plain step is to ask for the number and look it up. Some people are exempt, such as someone working on a home they or a family member own.

Per the same FAQ, a registered contractor files proof of commercial general liability coverage with a $500,000-per-occurrence minimum, written in the contractor's own name. NJAC 13:45A-17.5 repeats the $500,000 floor and runs registration periods from 1 April through 31 March. A homeowner can ask to see the certificate before work begins.

Home improvement work priced above $500 needs a written contract under NJAC 13:45A-16.2, signed by every party, with any later change put in writing as well. The rule's list of contents: the seller's legal name and business address; what the work is and the main products and materials; the full price including finance charges; start and finish dates or a time period; and anything the seller promises about the products, materials or labor. When someone besides the seller will act as general contractor, that name and address go in too.

The same rule has two lines worth reading twice. A seller may not ask a buyer to sign a completion certificate, or to make the last payment, until the job is done as the contract describes it. Work also cannot start until the seller has confirmed that the required permits were issued. The rule as read sets no limit on deposits.

The state's ordinary-maintenance alert, effective 5 March 2018, covers detached houses with one or two families. On such a house it counts any amount of re-covering or repair of existing roof covering, a full replacement included, as ordinary maintenance. Exterior gutters and leaders are on the list, and so is liquid-applied lining inside an existing chimney. Under NJAC 5:23-2.7, ordinary maintenance can proceed without a permit application or any notice to the construction official.

The alert also stresses that ordinary maintenance is no excuse for skipping the code. The Spring 2025 construction code newsletter treats reroofing as ordinary maintenance too, with a solar wrinkle: an electrical permit is required only when panel rails come off and grounding or bonding is compromised. Since the alert is written for detached homes with one or two families, anything attached or larger goes to the town office.

The state's codes page lists 17 August 2026 as the adoption date for the New Jersey editions of the 2024 International Building Code and International Residential Code. On ice, bulletin 07-3 (revised June 2015) requires an ice barrier where the daily January average temperature runs 25 degrees or colder, and its New Jersey entry is Sussex County. Teterboro's January average is 32.8 degrees, which is above that line.

The bulletin was written before the 2024 edition, so ask the town office whether anything has changed and whether it applies to a specific roof. The bulletin also exempts detached accessory structures with no conditioned floor area.

A federal rule, the FTC's Cooling-Off Rule, allows three business days to cancel certain purchases made in the buyer's own home. According to the FTC page, exceptions include emergencies and a visit the buyer requested in order to get repairs done, and sales under $25 are left out. A roof sale that starts with a homeowner phoning a roofer may fall under an exception, so the written contract is the document to read for any right to cancel.

New Jersey's Department of Banking and Insurance guide to storm claims asks homeowners to report the loss promptly, make temporary repairs and keep the receipts, and photograph damaged property before disposing of it. It also states that the homeowner chooses the contractor, with no obligation to take the insurance company's suggestion. The department's consumer hotline, listed in the guide, is 1-800-446-7467, open 8:30 to 5 on weekdays.

If the paperwork part is still unclear, call __PHONE_DISPLAY__ and name the town and what the roof is doing. Renters get in touch with the landlord or property manager first.