C-39 — Roofing

What Is a C-39 Roofing License?

A California C-39 license is the specialty contractor classification that lets you legally contract for, bid, and get paid for roofing work as a standalone trade. Issued by the Contractors State License Board (CSLB) under Business & Professions Code §§7058–7059 and 16 CCR Division 8, Article 3, it authorizes you to install, repair, and maintain roofing and roof-related waterproofing systems on residential and commercial buildings. It’s the license CSLB requires before a roofing company can pull permits, sign contracts, and advertise re-roofing or roof-repair services on its own — something a General Building (B) contractor is not permitted to do outside a larger multi-trade remodel.

Scope of Work: What a C-39 Actually Covers

CSLB’s official classification description defines a roofing contractor as one who “installs products and repairs surfaces that seal, waterproof and weatherproof structures,” preventing water and moisture from reaching the material or space beneath. The classification specifically lists materials including asphaltum, pitch, tar, felt, glass fabric, urethane foam, metal roofing systems, shakes, shingles, roof tile, slate, and other roofing, waterproofing, or membrane materials. In day-to-day practice, that scope covers projects such as:

• Tearing off and replacing a composition shingle roof on a single-family home after storm or age-related damage
• Installing a new concrete or clay tile roof system on new residential construction
• Applying low-slope/flat commercial roofing — built-up (BUR), modified bitumen, single-ply membrane (TPO/EPDM), or spray polyurethane foam (SPF)
• Installing standing-seam or other metal roofing systems on barns, shops, or custom homes
• Flashing, underlayment, and ventilation work around chimneys, skylights, and roof penetrations
• Waterproofing exposed decks, balconies, and below-grade membrane systems that fall under the same “weatherproofing membrane” scope

The C-39 Exam: Full Breakdown

Every C-39 applicant must pass two separate, computer-based PSI exams: the Law & Business exam (common to all 44 CSLB classifications) and the C-39 Roofing trade exam. Per CSLB’s Examination FAQ, you’re given 3.5 hours to complete each exam. Both are closed-book, multiple-choice exams with four answer choices and one best answer per question; a calculator is provided for the trade exam’s quantity and estimating questions, and there’s no penalty for guessing.

Note on scoring: CSLB does not publicly publish the exact number of scored questions or the passing-score percentage for either exam — candidates are told the pass threshold only at the test site, and CSLB’s own FAQ confirms this is intentionally withheld. Treat any site that states a precise pass percentage as unverified unless it links directly to CSLB.

What CSLB does publish is the content weighting for the C-39 trade exam, from the official CSLB C-39 Study Guide (Form 13E-39, revised 03/2026), which divides the exam into five sections:

• Planning and Estimating — 22% (planning and estimating roof projects)
• Job Site Preparation for Roof Projects — 13% (protecting surroundings, correcting problems, tear-off)
• Low-Slope Roof Projects — 17% (flashings/ventilation/underlayment, installation, repair)
• Steep-Slope Roof Projects — 26% (flashings/ventilation/underlayment, installation, repair)
• Safety — 22% (personnel safety, job site safety, fall protection)

Steep-slope work and safety/fall-protection together make up nearly half the exam — a reflection of how much of California’s roofing stock is pitched composition or tile, and how heavily CSLB and Cal/OSHA weight fall-protection competency for a trade with one of construction’s highest injury rates.

Requirements to Qualify

• Experience: 4 years of journey-level roofing experience within the last 10 years, documented on CSLB’s Certification of Work Experience form and verified by someone with direct knowledge of your work. CSLB evaluates relevant trade school, apprenticeship, or construction-related education as a partial substitute for experience on a case-by-case basis — there’s no fixed public formula, so confirm your specific credit with CSLB’s application unit before filing.
• Application steps: file the Application for Original Contractor License with the $450 non-refundable application fee → CSLB reviews your experience certification → Live Scan fingerprinting/background check → schedule and pass both the Law & Business and C-39 trade exams through PSI → submit your $25,000 contractor’s bond and proof of workers’ compensation → pay the initial license fee → license issued.
• Application fee: $450, non-refundable, per CSLB’s current fee schedule.
• Initial license fee: $200 for a sole owner, $350 for a non-sole-owner entity (partnership, corporation, or LLC) — this issues the license for a two-year cycle.
• Contractor’s bond: $25,000 Bond of Qualifying Individual, the statewide minimum that applies to most CSLB classifications.
• Workers’ compensation: mandatory, with no exemption available. C-39 is one of the small number of CSLB classifications explicitly barred from filing a workers’ compensation exemption under Business & Professions Code §7125 — even a sole owner with zero employees must keep active workers’ comp insurance or a Certificate of Self-Insurance on file at all times.

C-39 vs. Commonly Confused Classifications

C-39 vs. B (General Building): A B contractor is allowed to perform roofing, but only as part of a larger project requiring at least two unrelated building trades — framing and roofing together, for example — under B&P §7057. A B contractor cannot take a standalone re-roof or roof-repair contract; that scope belongs to C-39. If your business is roofing and only roofing, C-39 is the right license. If you’re a general contractor who occasionally re-roofs as one piece of a remodel, your B license likely already covers it.

C-39 vs. C-54 (Ceramic and Mosaic Tile): The overlap in the word “tile” trips up a lot of applicants. C-39 covers roof tile — concrete or clay tile installed as a roofing surface. C-54 covers an entirely different scope: wall, floor, and shower tile installed inside and around a building. A crew tiling a clay roof needs C-39; a crew setting bathroom tile needs C-54. The two scopes essentially never overlap on the same job.

C-39 vs. C-46 (Solar): Rooftop solar jobs frequently need both trades working together. C-46 covers the solar energy system itself — panels, racking’s electrical tie-in, and thermal or photovoltaic components. Structural roof penetrations, flashing around mounts, and any re-roofing needed to prep a roof before solar installation remain C-39 (or B) scope. Many solar companies either hold both licenses or subcontract the roofing prep to a C-39 contractor.

Who Needs a C-39, and Who Hires One

C-39 licensees typically work for: homeowners needing a full re-roof or storm/insurance leak repair; property managers, HOAs, and commercial building owners maintaining flat or low-slope roofs under preventive maintenance contracts; general contractors on new construction or remodels who subcontract out the roofing package; solar installers who need roof prep and tie-in before panel mounting; and insurance restoration companies handling wind- or hail-damage claims. Because the license covers both steep-slope residential and low-slope commercial systems, C-39 businesses range from single-crew residential re-roofers to commercial roofing firms running multiple low-slope maintenance contracts.

C-39 Roofing FAQ

Do I need a C-39 to install rooftop solar panels?
Only for the roofing portion. The solar system itself falls under C-46; any re-roofing, flashing, or structural roof prep required to mount it falls under C-39 (or B). Solar companies commonly hold or subcontract both.

Can I do a small roof repair without a C-39 license?
California’s general “handyman exemption” (B&P §7048) allows unlicensed work only when the total project cost — labor and materials combined — is under $500 and no building permit is required. Any roofing job above that threshold, or one requiring a permit, needs a licensed C-39 (or an appropriately licensed B contractor as part of a larger job).

Is workers’ compensation really mandatory even as a one-person roofing company?
Yes. C-39 is explicitly excluded from the workers’ comp exemption under B&P §7125, regardless of employee count.

How many questions are on the C-39 exam, and what’s the passing score?
CSLB does not publicly disclose either figure. You’ll learn the passing threshold on test day; CSLB does publish the topic weighting shown above.

Can a roofing apprenticeship count toward the 4-year experience requirement?
CSLB evaluates apprenticeship and trade-school credit toward the experience requirement on a case-by-case basis; there’s no fixed public substitution table, so confirm your specific credit with CSLB before applying.

What does the $25,000 C-39 bond actually protect?
It’s a consumer-protection bond, not a performance or warranty bond — it compensates consumers and the state for losses caused by a contractor’s violation of the license law, up to the bond amount, not for general project defects.

Does C-39 cover deck and balcony waterproofing, or just roofs?
Yes. The official classification description covers “weatherproofing or membrane material” broadly, which includes exterior deck and balcony waterproofing membrane systems in addition to conventional roofing.

Do I need a separate license per roofing material (shingle, tile, metal, low-slope)?
No. A single C-39 license covers all roofing materials and systems named in the classification — shingle, tile, metal, and low-slope/membrane systems alike — there’s no separate sub-license per material type.

Sources: CSLB Licensing Classifications (C-39), CSLB C-39 Roofing Examination Study Guide (Form 13E-39, rev. 03/2026), CSLB Examination FAQ, CSLB Fee Schedule, Business & Professions Code §§7048, 7057, 7058–7059, 7125.