How Much Does a New Roof Cost in Alabama in 2026

A roofer contracting with you for more than $2,500 of work on your home must be licensed by Alabama’s Home Builders Licensure Board. The nearest sourced price is national: the Remodeling 2025 Cost vs. Value Report (www.costvsvalue.com) lists $31,871 for asphalt shingles. BLS put the mean Alabama roofer wage at $23.01 per hour for May 2025; the U.S. mean was $27.95.

The price benchmarks, and why none is an Alabama average

Zonda’s report averages 119 U.S. markets. Its national 2025 roofing figures: the asphalt-shingle project, $31,871 in cost against $21,501 in resale value (68% recouped); the metal project, $51,865 against $25,972 (50%). The cited pages give no roof size or shingle grade for either project.

Inside Alabama, the Bureau of Labor Statistics measures only pay: 1,010 employed roofers in May 2025 (self-employed excluded), median $21.96 per hour versus $26.65 for the U.S. Pay is one cost inside a bid, not the bid.

$2,500: Alabama’s roofer license threshold

Ala. Code § 34-14A-2(16) sets the general home builder threshold at a cost of the undertaking above $10,000, then adds: “Notwithstanding the foregoing, the term includes a residential roofer when the cost of the undertaking exceeds two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500).” A residential roofer is one who “installs products or repairs surfaces on the external upper covering of a residence or structure that seals, waterproofs, or weatherproofs” it. The dollar test counts “materials, labor, supervision, overhead, and profit.”

A roofers license covers only the roof covering. The board’s rule gives an example: a roofer who repairs a storm-damaged truss, which needs a framer, and reroofs for $11,000 “is required to hold a residential home builder’s license without limitation because more than one trade is involved.” For a roofers license the board asks for a “$10,000 License/Permit Bond naming the Board as the Obligee.”

Section 34-14A-6 lists who the chapter does not reach:

1. a licensee’s employees who do not hire themselves out;
2. authorized federal, state or local government employees working within their employment;
3. general contractors holding a license issued before January 1, 1992, under Chapter 8 of Title 34;
4. real estate licensees, engineers and architects acting within their licenses;
5. owners acting as their own contractor, “providing all material supervision themselves,” on a one- or two-family home they occupy that is not offered for sale; the exemption cannot be transferred, and a sale within one year is presumptive evidence the work was done for sale;
6. mobile homes and other structures installed, inspected or regulated by the Alabama Manufactured Housing Commission, and repairs to them;
7. agricultural buildings, except any residence in them.

Permit offices must “refuse to issue a permit for any undertaking which would require a license hereunder” unless the applicant shows a license or an exemption (§ 34-14A-13). Working unlicensed is a Class A misdemeanor under § 34-14A-14(a). After a storm, § 13A-9-111.1 makes home repair fraud tied to a Governor’s state-of-emergency declaration a Class C felony. That includes knowingly concealing noncompliance with a state occupational license requirement and damaging property to get a repair contract. Look a roofer up in the board’s licensee search.

Insurance claims: five business days under § 8-36-2

Since Act 2019-99, a homeowner who signs a written roofing contract to be paid from a property and casualty policy may cancel “prior to midnight on the fifth business day” after the insurer says in writing that all or part of the claim “is not a covered loss” or “that the covered claim will not be sufficient to cover the amount of the contract.” Written notice to the contract address is enough. Mail counts when deposited, and email counts if sent to the address in the contract.

Until the five-day period runs out, the roofer “shall not require any payments,” except for emergency services you signed off on as needed to prevent damage; no other fee in a cancelled contract can be enforced. Nor may the roofer negotiate your claim. The chapter covers one-to-four-family homes, including detached garages (§ 8-36-1).

FORTIFIED roofs: discount, grant and deduction

Under § 27-31D-2, insurers “shall provide a premium discount or insurance rate reduction” for homes retrofitted to the IBHS FORTIFIED Home hurricane or high-wind-and-hail standards, or to another program the insurance commissioner approves; the discount takes effect only after the certification (for FORTIFIED, from an IBHS certified inspector) is presented to the insurer. The amount comes from each insurer’s “actuarially justified” rating plan, and the adjustment applies only to “policies that provide wind coverage.”

The Department of Insurance’s Strengthen Alabama Homes program pays “100% of the cost of mitigation up to $10,000” toward a FORTIFIED Roof. It is limited to owner-occupied single-family homes claimed as the primary residence, with no rentals, townhomes, condominiums or mobile homes, and the home cannot be listed for sale. You must also show an in-force homeowners policy and, when the work is done, wind coverage; if you cannot get insurance, the FAQ makes the cost of the work yours. Per its FAQ (updated 3/26/26), a roof claim “within the past 6 months” disqualifies you, and the evaluator’s fee is yours. The 2026 schedule opens applications quarterly for Mobile and Baldwin counties, next on October 6 and October 8, 2026, first come, first served. The home page separately announced grants for Jefferson, Tuscaloosa and Escambia counties starting November 4, 2025.

Section 40-18-15.5 adds a state income-tax deduction for retrofitting your legal residence against windstorm or flood loss. The statute still requires certification “in a manner prescribed by the Alabama Residential and Energy Codes Board,” but Act 2024-443 repealed that board’s article of the Code effective October 1, 2024. The total over all years since 2011 is capped at the lesser of 50% of the cost or $3,000, shared with any deduction under § 40-18-15.4, and costs paid with grant money that was not counted as income do not qualify.

Which code applies to a reroof

Section 34-14A-12, as amended by Act 2024-443, gives the board “sole authority” to adopt an Alabama Residential Building Code, enforced by “local jurisdictions that have permitting and inspection programs.” Beginning January 1, 2027, a builder who “constructs, renovates, or repairs” a home must follow the applicable state or local residential code (§ 34-14A-12.1). Local codes in effect on that date are not superseded.

Questions Alabama owners bring up

A partial reroof comes in under $2,500. License required?

No state license is required at or below $2,500 in total cost. Above that, the roofer needs at least a roofers license.

The adjuster approved less than the contract price. Can I cancel?

Yes, if the roofing contract is in writing and is to be paid from the insurance proceeds. Written notice from your insurer that the covered claim won’t cover the contract amount starts the five-business-day window.

Is the $10,000 grant available in Huntsville or Montgomery?

Neither city’s county is named: the 2026 schedule lists Mobile and Baldwin, and the 2025 expansion added Jefferson, Tuscaloosa and Escambia.

See also: national roof replacement costs, storm damage roof claims, Alabama homestead exemption, HELOC calculator.

© 2025 Zonda Media, a Delaware Corporation. Complete data from the Remodeling 2025 Cost vs. Value Report can be downloaded free at www.costvsvalue.com.