Roof Replacement Requirements in Illinois

01 The requirements, sourced

• Roofing contractor licence required (IDFPR Limited or Unlimited), tied to a qualifying party — Any roofing contracting business in Illinois must hold an IDFPR Roofing Contractor licence — Limited (LRF) for residential roofing 'including residential properties consisting of 8 units or less', Unlimited (URF) for 'residential, commercial and industrial properties' (RF application verbatim). The licence is INOPERABLE without an active qualifying party ('The license will become INOPERABLE if there is no active qualifying party associated to the license'), and a change of qualifying party must be reported 'within 30 business days' (IL486-1920). The licence 'will expire on December 31st of each odd numbered year regardless of when it is issued'. S-IL-RF-APP
• Roofing qualifying party must pass the Illinois Residential or Residential-Commercial-Industrial examination within 3 years — RF application verbatim: every roofing contractor application must designate a qualifying party, who 'must take and pass either the Illinois Residential Examination or the Illinois Residential, Commercial and Industrial Examination'; 'The qualifying party shall be required to pass the examination within three (3) years from the date of application or their fee will be forfeited and the applicant will be required to submit a new application.' If the licence lapses or the QP is replaced, the new qualifying party must be a person who has passed the examination. S-IL-RF-APP
• Continuous surety bond — $10,000 (Limited) or $25,000 (Unlimited), cancelled without hearing on termination — The Department requires a continuous surety bond before issuing or renewing the licence: BD-LRF 'in the aggregate amount of Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000) … the total amount of the bond shall be for $10,000' and BD-URF '$25,000' (RF application packet pp. 8–9, citing Section 3(2)(d) of the Act). 225 ILCS 335/3.2 (mirror verbatim): 'A license shall be cancelled without hearing on the termination date of the roofing contractor's bond, unless a new bond is filed with the Department to become effective at the termination date of the prior bond.' The surety terminates by filing a 60-day notice with the Department and the contractor. S-IL-RF-APP
• RF-INS insurance — $500,000 personal injury and $250,000 property damage per occurrence — RF-INS form verbatim (packet p. 7): 'I, the applicant, hold property damage insurance in at least the minimum amount of $250,000 for each occurrence of property damage; and I hold liability insurance in at least the minimum amount of $500,000 for each occurrence of personal injury.' Businesses with employees must ALSO file workers' compensation proof (certificate, self-insurer approval, or an all-states endorsement) and an IDES Statement of Account showing a non-delinquent unemployment insurance account (packet p. 2). S-IL-RF-APP
• Chicago general contractor licence — five value classes (A–E), annual, with the matching insurance ladder — A City of Chicago general contractor licence 'is required to perform most types of building construction, alteration, repair, and demolition work within the city' (DOB page, verbatim via search index). Classes and caps (application verbatim — the packet prints each class's ceiling as a 'not entitled to engage' bar, abbreviated below to the value itself): A — 'no limitation as to the value of any single contract project', $3,500; B — 'not entitled to engage in construction of any single contract project of value in excess of $20,000,000', $1,800; C — in excess of $10,000,000, $1,300; D — in excess of $4,000,000, $900; E — in excess of $500,000, $300. Insurance (§ 4-36-090 verbatim): CGL at $5M/$3M/$2M/$2M/$1M per occurrence respectively, from an insurer 'with a credit rating of B+ or higher by A.M. Best Company', with '30 days' advance notice to the commissioner prior to cancellation or lapse', the City 'as an additional insured on a primary, non-contributory basis', and 'A single violation of this section shall result in suspension or revocation … in accordance with section 4-4-280'. Term (§ 4-36-070): 'payable annually … shall expire one year after issuance'. The Commissioner MAY require an online training programme completed by a licensee employee in the preceding 12 months (§ 4-36-065). No examination appears on the City's application. S-IL-CHI-GC-APP
• Unincorporated Cook County — contractor registration by trade: $150 initial + $75 per trade per year, $1M general liability — County page verbatim: 'All contractors performing work in unincorporated Cook County are required to register with the Cook County Department of Building and Zoning.' 'The initial registration fee is $150 per trade. To keep your registration active, there is an annual fee of $75 per trade due by December 31 each year.' Every lane needs '$1,000,000.00 in General Liability' naming the County as certificate holder. Trade conditions: electrical — a supervising electrician's licence from an Illinois city/town/village 'that has an electrical commission that administers an examination'; plumbing — 'Only a corporate officer holding the state plumbing license for the corporation may register', with the IDPH plumbing contractor registration, a State Plumber or Chicago Journeyman Plumber's licence, three completed-installation and three business references; roofing — 'a State of Illinois Roofing License must be submitted'; demolition — an approved bond; crane operators — City-of-Chicago-recognised certification, notarised, non-transferable. Homeowners register free as 'General' contractors, residing on the property, with $1M homeowner GL naming the County as additional insured. Initial registration is IN PERSON (application PDF). S-IL-COOK-REG

02 Which credentials this project can touch

Each row is one (project, classification, relation) triple the research record can source — the rendered sections and the seeded evidence can never disagree.

03 Deterministic rules applied

• IL-ROOFING
• IL-CHI-GC
• IL-COOK-REG
• IL-NO-STATE-GC
• IL-LOCAL-PERMITS

Illinois has no conflict rows (the research pass found no official-vs-official disagreement), so this page publishes no conflict notice — the eleven named gaps live on the fees page's withheld list instead.

04 What it costs

Municipal permit fees are LOCAL_AUTHORITY_REQUIRED and are not published here.