Hiring a roofing contractor in Scottsdale involves more than choosing a roof. There is a state license to check, a city rule about when a permit is needed, a homeowners association that may want to approve the work first, and a price that should be fixed in writing before anyone climbs a ladder. We are Circle G Roofing, a licensed, bonded and insured contractor with our office in Scottsdale. This page sets out how each of those steps works here, from the public sources that govern them, and what to ask of any contractor, us included.
The short version
Arizona requires a contractor’s license for roofing work, apart from a narrow handyman exemption. The City of Scottsdale needs no permit to re-roof with the same material, but its re-roofing guide requires one when roof sheathing or framing is repaired or replaced. Your HOA’s rules are separate from the City’s, and the City does not enforce them. Settle all three before work starts. We put the scope and the price in writing.
Call us with your address and the name of your community. We will inspect the roof for free and give you the scope and the price in writing.
What a roofing license means in Arizona
Roofing in Arizona is licensed by the Arizona Registrar of Contractors. The roofing classifications are C-42 for commercial work, R-42 for residential work and CR-42, a dual classification that allows the scopes of both. The Registrar’s rules describe CR-42 in exactly those terms. Circle G Roofing’s license is in the CR-42 Roofing classification.
State law does let an unlicensed person take on paid work, but only narrowly. The handyman exemption in the Arizona statutes covers a small job, under a dollar limit that the statute sets on the total for labor and materials, and only when the work is of a casual or minor nature. The exemption does not apply to any work that requires a local building permit, and a person relying on it must say “not a licensed contractor” in any advertising.
How to check any contractor, including us
- Ask for the license details. A contractor should give them without hesitation. Ask us at the inspection.
- Look the license up yourself. The Registrar of Contractors has a public contractor search that takes a company name or a license. A record shows whether the license is active, its classification, any complaint cases and the bond.
- Check the name on the paperwork. The business named on your written quote should be the business that holds the license.
- Ask who will be on the roof. Our work is done by our own crew.
When a Scottsdale roof job needs a city permit
Scottsdale publishes two pieces of guidance that answer this, and they fit together.
| The work | What the City of Scottsdale says | Where it says it |
|---|---|---|
| Re-roofing with the same roofing material | Listed among work that does not require a permit | Home improvement guidance |
| Any roof sheathing or structural framing repaired or replaced | A building permit is required | Citizen’s guide to re-roofing |
| Tile laid over an existing roof covering | Allowed only when approved by city building plan review, with structural data showing the framing can carry the added weight, on a slope of 4 in 12 or greater | Citizen’s guide to re-roofing |
| New asphalt shingles over old | No more than one overlay over one existing layer of asphalt shingles | Citizen’s guide to re-roofing |
| A new covering over a built-up flat roof | The old covering is to be removed completely, unless the building official allows it to stay after an inspection | Citizen’s guide to re-roofing |
Three more points from the same sources are worth knowing. A reroof permit may be obtained by the homeowner or by a licensed contractor, but the City says the owner of the property is ultimately responsible for making sure one is issued. Where a permit applies, the City’s guide lists three inspections: roof sheathing, flashing and underlayment, and a final. And the City states that work completed without a permit will be fined an amount equal to double the permit fee.
Permit applications go through the City’s online portal, Scottsdale SPUR. The One Stop Shop at 7447 East Indian School Road takes questions about an application. If your job changes the roofing material, for example shingles to tile, it falls outside the City’s no-permit wording, so ask the One Stop Shop how it will be treated. Ask before the tile is ordered, not on the day it arrives.
A caution about the re-roofing guide
The City’s citizen’s guide to re-roofing cites the 2003 International Residential Code. The City’s building codes page shows that Scottsdale now works to the 2021 edition, with amendments in effect since January 2023. Treat the guide as the City’s plain-language summary and confirm anything that affects your job with the One Stop Shop.
Your HOA is a separate approval
The City is direct about this. Its home improvement page tells residents to check with their homeowners association before proceeding, says it is the responsibility of the property owner and not the City to be aware of any covenants, and says the City does not maintain, monitor or enforce them. A job can be fine with the City and still break a community rule.
McCormick Ranch shows how such rules tend to read. The McCormick Ranch Property Owners’ Association states that any change that affects the exterior of a property must be approved in advance, and that no work may start until approval is obtained. Where a home also sits in a sub-association, that body’s permission usually comes first, and approval from the main association does not count as approval from the sub-association. A paint application is required even for colors from its pre-approved palette.
Other planned communities in Scottsdale, such as Gainey Ranch, Scottsdale Ranch, DC Ranch and Grayhawk, have associations and documents of their own. For a roof, the rules that usually matter are the ones on roof material, tile profile and color. Before we order tile for a home in an association, we check its rules on profile and color, and the quote names the exact material so that you have something to submit.
Desert overlay, historic districts and roof color
Two city designations can affect what goes on a roof.
- Environmentally Sensitive Lands. The City’s ESL overlay is a set of zoning rules covering 134 square miles of desert and mountain land, located north and east of the Central Arizona Project canal. The City’s citizen’s guide to the overlay, written in 2004, says it shapes development in almost two-thirds of the city. Among its design standards, the guide lists reducing glare and reflection by not allowing mirror-like or shiny materials and by limiting the brightness of colored materials to a light reflective value of 35 percent. The City’s home improvement guidance also puts exterior painting in ESL districts on its courtesy review list.
- Historic Property districts. The same courtesy review applies to exterior painting in Historic Property zoning districts. Scottsdale has four historic districts: Village Grove, Town and Country Scottsdale, Villa Monterey and Sands North Townhouses. Under the City’s Historic Property Ordinance, the Historic Preservation Commission must review and approve exterior alterations to buildings on the Scottsdale Historic Register, and each district has preservation guidelines of its own. A new roof material or color on a home there belongs in front of the City before it is ordered.
This matters most on flat roofs, where the finish coat is normally bright and reflective. Scottsdale’s amendments to the energy code set a minimum reflectance for low-sloped roofs on homes, and the same sentence carves out the places where the ESL ordinance prohibits it. The City defines a low-sloped roof as one with a slope of less than 2 units vertical in 12 horizontal. Whether that requirement reaches a recoat of an existing roof is a question for the City. If your home is in the ESL overlay or a historic district, confirm with the City what finish is acceptable before the coating is chosen.
The SRP cool roof rebate and the paperwork behind it
If Salt River Project is your electric utility, a flat roof recoat may qualify for SRP’s Cool Roof Rebate. SRP’s published terms say the home must be a residence with a roof pitch of 2 in 12 or less, the roofing product must be tested and labeled by the Cool Roof Rating Council and meet SRP’s reflectance figures, and the cool roof material must carry a warranty of at least seven years. New construction does not qualify, and neither does a cool roof over a patio or a garage. The application has to be sent within six months of installation, with a dated paid invoice and a photo of the product label.
This is where the contractor’s paperwork comes in. SRP’s terms say the roof must be installed by a contractor licensed by the Arizona Registrar of Contractors, or by the customer. Its application checklist asks for an invoice that shows the installing contractor’s name, address and Registrar of Contractors license, and for a contractor terms form signed by the contractor. SRP also says its requirements and rebate levels can change or be canceled without notice, so read its current terms before you count on it. We do not promise a rebate. SRP’s terms point to the Cool Roof Rating Council’s product directory, where anyone can look up a product’s rating.
What our written price contains
We do not estimate over the phone. The inspection is free, and so is the quote, whether or not there is work to do. After the inspection you get:
- Photographs of what we found, so you can see the reason for each line of work.
- The scope in plain words: what comes off, what goes on, and what is being reused.
- The exact materials. On a tile roof, the underlayment, flashing and fastening detail are written into the quote. On a foam roof, the foam, the coating and the prep are specified.
- A fixed price, agreed in writing before work starts.
One note on warranties. Our full foam roof makeovers carry a 5-year warranty. That warranty is for full foam roof makeovers only. For other work, ask us what applies to your job and we will put it in the quote.
Ready for a written price? Call us and we will arrange the free inspection.
How the job runs once you say yes
- Approvals first. Association approval and any city permit are best settled before materials are ordered. We check your association’s rules on tile profile and color before we order.
- Scheduling around the weather. Permanent roofing work is done in daylight on a dry roof, and on a tile job the roof is never left open overnight. That matters most in the monsoon season, which the National Weather Service dates from June 15 through September 30.
- The work. Our own crew does it. On a tile job the tiles are stacked in order and reset. On a flat roof the surface is washed and dried, failed areas are cut out and rebuilt, and the coating is applied as one continuous layer.
- Walk-through and clean-up. We clear the site and walk the finished roof with you.
Which of our pages covers what
| If you want to know | Read |
|---|---|
| Who we are and every roof system we work on | Roofing company Scottsdale AZ |
| How a leak is traced and repaired | Roofer Scottsdale AZ |
| When a roof is past repair, and what replacing it involves | Roof replacement Scottsdale AZ |
| Flat roof work in Gilbert | Flat roof repair Gilbert AZ |
Our main site is Circle G Roofing. We work across Scottsdale and in Tempe, Paradise Valley, Fountain Hills, Cave Creek, Carefree and Phoenix. Permit rules differ from one city to the next, so the Scottsdale rules on this page do not carry over: outside Scottsdale, check with that city.
Common questions
Does a roofer need a license in Arizona?
A roofing contractor does, apart from a narrow handyman exemption. State law exempts only small jobs of a casual or minor nature under a dollar limit set in the statute, and the exemption does not apply to any work that needs a local building permit. Roofing contractors are licensed by the Arizona Registrar of Contractors.
What is a CR-42 license?
CR-42 is the Arizona Registrar of Contractors’ dual roofing classification. It allows the scopes of work permitted by both the commercial C-42 roofing license and the residential R-42 roofing license. It is the classification Circle G Roofing holds.
Do I need a permit to re-roof my house in Scottsdale?
Not if you re-roof with the same roofing material: the City lists that among work needing no permit. Its re-roofing guide says a building permit is required if any roof sheathing or structural framing is repaired or replaced. If the material is changing, ask the City’s One Stop Shop before work is ordered.
Who is responsible for getting the permit?
A reroof permit can be obtained by the homeowner or a licensed contractor. The City of Scottsdale says the owner of the property is ultimately responsible for making sure one is issued, and that work completed without a permit will be fined double the permit fee.
Does the City of Scottsdale enforce my HOA’s roof rules?
No. The City says it does not maintain, monitor or enforce covenants, and that knowing them is the property owner’s responsibility. Check with your association before the work starts. We check tile profile and color rules before ordering.
Can a flat roof in north Scottsdale be coated bright white?
It depends on the property. Scottsdale’s energy code amendments call for reflective low-sloped roofs, except where the Environmentally Sensitive Lands ordinance prohibits it, and the City’s guide to that ordinance describes limits on glare and on the brightness of colored materials. If your home is in the ESL overlay, confirm the acceptable finish with the City before the coating is chosen.
Are you licensed, bonded and insured?
Yes. Circle G Roofing is licensed, bonded and insured. Ask us for the license details at the inspection and check them on the Arizona Registrar of Contractors’ public contractor search.
Will you give me a price over the phone?
No. We inspect the roof for free, photograph what we find and give you a fixed price in writing before any work starts. The inspection and the quote cost nothing whether or not there is work to do.