How Much Does a New Roof Cost in Massachusetts in 2026

New England’s asphalt-shingle roof replacement averages $35,701 in the Remodeling 2025 Cost vs. Value Report (www.costvsvalue.com). Massachusetts roofers earned a mean $35.09 an hour in May 2025, versus $27.95 nationally (BLS). Hire an unregistered contractor and the state Guaranty Fund is closed to you.

The New England number is not a Boston quote

The report’s New England page draws on three sample markets: Boston, Massachusetts; Hartford, Connecticut; and Portland, Maine. The $35,701 is the division average for the report’s defined asphalt-shingle replacement project, not a Massachusetts average, and the captured pages do not give the roof size or shingle grade. Resale value for that project in New England is $22,346 (62.6% recouped). Metal costs $56,282 in the division, with 38.9% recouped. National averages are $31,871 for asphalt and $51,865 for metal. Our roof replacement cost overview covers the national side.

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

Labor is one input to a bid, and a wage is not a price. BLS counts an estimated 1,950 roofers on payrolls in Massachusetts in May 2025, all industries, with self-employed roofers excluded. Their mean pay was $72,990 a year, and the median wage was $34.98 an hour.

Chapter 142A registration and the roof-covering CSL

M.G.L. c. 142A, § 9 bars any contractor or subcontractor from agreeing to “perform residential contracting services unless registered”. The chapter covers a “pre-existing owner occupied building containing at least one but not more than four dwelling units”. The state’s HIC program adds: “New construction, buildings with more than four units, investment, vacation or secondary properties and homes not located in Massachusetts are not covered under this law.” Section 14 exempts:

• the Commonwealth and its subdivisions, and vocational schools that teach home construction;
• licensed trades such as electricians, plumbers and architects working only within their license (construction supervisors are not exempt);
• sellers of materials who do no installation;
• owners building their own home or personally doing the renovations;
• salaried or wage workers who do not act as contractors;
• a single project under $500 in aggregate, unless it was priced that way to evade the chapter;
• part-timers who grossed under $5,000 as a contractor in the previous twelve months, and full-time students who meet the section’s enrollment, staffing and revenue conditions;
• “persons who install central heating, air-conditioning systems, energy-conservation devices, or provide conservation services conducted by or on behalf of a public utility under a program approved by the department of public utilities”;
• firms working only in landscaping, interior painting or wall covering, floor covering, fencing or freestanding masonry walls, above-ground pools, shutters or awnings, ground-level patios, or asphalt and driveway work.

The building-code credential is separate. The Division of Occupational Licensure issues a “Specialty CSL roof covering” for “Construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair, removal of roof covering, including repair” and “Replacement of 25% sheathing and 25% of sistering roof rafters”. For 1- and 2-family homes it says “A licensed construction supervisor or a registered design professional (RDP) must oversee construction”. It adds that “Massachusetts does not recognize out of state contractor licenses.” Check registration on the MA Contractor Hub. The CSL is checked separately, through the Office of Public Safety and Inspections.

Contract terms above $1,000

Section 2 requires a written contract once residential work exceeds one thousand dollars. Among its required items are the registration number, start and substantial-completion dates, the materials, the total price, a payment schedule and a notice of three-day cancellation rights. The deposit “shall not exceed the greater of one-third of the total contract price or the actual cost of any materials or equipment of a special order or custom made nature, which must be ordered in advance”. So special-order material can justify more than a third. The contract must also warn “that homeowners who secure their own permits will be excluded from the guaranty fund provisions of this chapter.” Unlike Connecticut, a contract missing these items is “not invalid solely because of noncompliance.”

If you sign a household job over $25 away from the seller’s address, M.G.L. c. 93, § 48 lets you cancel in writing “not later than midnight of the third business day following execution of the agreement,” and the contractor may not start work before then. That right does not apply where chapter 140D already gives a rescission right. It also does not apply to a bona fide emergency job you initiated, if you hand over a separate signed, dated, handwritten statement that describes the emergency and waives the right.

The Guaranty Fund pays last, up to $25,000

Under § 7, a claim needs a judgment or arbitration award the contractor has not paid, obtained through section 3. The claim must be filed within 7 years of the contract date, and the director must find that reasonable collection efforts were made. One claimant gets the lesser of $25,000 or actual loss. Claims against one contractor are capped at $150,000 per twelve months, unless that contractor has repaid the fund in full, and the administrator may waive the limit with cause. The fund pays nothing for consequential damages (except under section 4), personal injury, punitive damages, attorney’s fees, court costs or interest. Hiring an unregistered contractor forfeits the fund entirely.

Tenth-edition code and reroofing

The 10th edition of 780 CMR took effect on October 11, 2024, and has been the only building code in force since the concurrency period ended on June 30, 2025. Its residential chapter, 780 CMR 51.00, adopts the 2021 IRC with Massachusetts amendments. Under R901.1, “In roofing and reroofing, the energy conservation requirements of Chapter 11 of 780 CMR 51.00 Massachusetts Residential Code shall also be satisfied”. Under R905.1, where that section conflicts with “the manufacturer’s printed instructions or code evaluation report,” the manufacturer’s document governs. For buildings that are not state-owned, the permit process is run by the local municipal building official.

Questions before you sign

Can the roofer take half up front?

Only if special-order materials cost that much. Otherwise the ceiling is one-third of the contract price.

Does the HIC law cover my summer house?

No. The HIC program lists vacation and secondary properties among the homes the law does not cover.

Can a New Hampshire roofer work on my Worcester house?

Only after registering in Massachusetts like any other contractor. The state does not recognize out-of-state contractor licenses.

See also: Massachusetts renovation costs and what a roof inspection checks.