How Much Does a New Roof Cost in South Carolina in 2026

Over $500, a South Carolina roofing job is residential specialty contracting that the Residential Builders Commission registers. Price data is regional: the Remodeling 2025 Cost vs. Value Report (www.costvsvalue.com) puts a South Atlantic asphalt-shingle roof at $32,253. South Carolina roofers averaged $24.13 an hour in May 2025 (BLS), versus $27.95 nationwide.

Charleston, Columbia, Greenville, Myrtle Beach: inside a division average

The report’s South Atlantic page gives $32,253 as the 2025 cost of the report’s defined asphalt-shingle roof replacement project and says 69.9% of it, $22,535, is recovered at resale. For its metal roof the division figures are $50,181 and 56.5%; the national averages are $31,871 (asphalt) and $51,865 (metal). Four South Carolina markets appear in the page’s city menu: Charleston, Columbia, Greenville and Myrtle Beach. No South Carolina total is printed, so $32,253 is not a Charleston or Greenville price. Roof size and shingle grade are not given in the captured pages.

South Carolina wage data, May 2025, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics: 850 roofers employed on payrolls, mean pay $24.13 an hour ($50,180 a year), median $22.00, against a U.S. mean of $27.95 and median of $26.65. The survey skips the self-employed, and a wage rate is not a roof price.

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

Roofers in Title 40, Chapter 59

Section 40-59-20(7) defines a “residential specialty contractor” as an independent contractor who works for a licensed residential builder, general contractor or individual property owner “when the undertakings exceed five hundred dollars and are not regulated by the provisions of Chapter 11,” and lists “(f) roofers” among the trades. The Commission’s page offers a “Specialty Contractor Registration” apart from its plumber, electrician and HVAC licenses, and links a licensee lookup. A builder licensed by examination in South Carolina may do roofing without a separate registration.

• A registration may cover no more than three classifications; beyond that, the contractor must be licensed as a residential builder (§ 40-59-240(A)).
• When materials and labor for an individual owner’s job exceed $5,000, the specialty contractor must post a bond in an amount the Commission approves (§ 40-59-240(D)).
• Counties and cities may still require business licenses and their own examination, though not a second exam for a trade the Commission has already examined (§ 40-59-240(C)).
• The local building official “shall refuse to issue a permit” for work needing registration unless the applicant shows it is registered, licensed or exempt (§ 40-59-280). Owner exemptions sit in §§ 40-59-260 and 40-59-265.

Section 40-59-25: roof contracts paid by insurance

The section reaches a licensed residential builder, a registered specialty contractor, and anyone contracting without the required registration or license, for goods or services tied to a “roof system” (covering, sheathing, weatherproofing, framing, ventilation or insulation).

• Cancel after a denial. If the insurer notifies you in writing that all or part of the claim or contract is not covered, the contract can be cancelled until midnight on the fifth business day after that notice arrives. Written notice in any form, sent to the contract address, suffices; a mailed notice takes effect on deposit.
• Forms first. Before signing, the contractor must give a 10-point bold statement of the right and a detachable “NOTICE OF CANCELLATION” in duplicate.
• Payment waits. Where insurance may pay, no payment may be required until the five-day period ends, except for emergency services the insured acknowledged in writing as needed to prevent damage. Fee clauses for anything else fall away if you cancel.
• No claim negotiating. A builder or contractor may not represent or negotiate for the owner on the claim, though the owner may still hire one to evaluate the roof and use that evaluation in the negotiation.
• No deductible offers. Advertising or promising to cover or refund any part of your deductible is barred. The ban reaches price allowances and discounts, a yard-sign discount included, and cash, gifts, prizes, bonuses, coupons, credits, referral fees or any other thing of monetary value handed to anyone tied to the property. A violation is a misdemeanor and grounds for suspension or revocation.

The section dates from 2013 Act No. 77, effective July 1, 2013, and its Code history line shows no later amendment.

Code enforced by cities and counties; 2024 edition from January 1, 2027

Section 6-9-10(A) says all municipalities and counties “shall enforce” the building codes, and “only the national building and safety codes provided in this chapter.” On August 26, 2025 the Building Codes Council adopted the 2024 International Residential Code with South Carolina modifications and set January 1, 2027 as the implementation date for local jurisdictions. The Council’s notice leaves administrative policies and procedures to “each local jurisdiction.”

Wind credits and the SC Safe Home grant

At each new policy and renewal, personal-lines property insurers must tell you “the availability and the range of each premium discount, credit, other rate differential, or reduction in deductibles” for windstorm-resistant construction (§ 38-75-755(A)).

SC Safe Home, set up in § 38-75-485 and raised by 2023 Act No. 29, pays up to $7,500 (non-matching) or $6,000 (matching) for a roof retrofit meeting both SC Safe Home and IBHS FORTIFIED Roof guidelines, and up to $5,000 or $4,000 for a roof meeting SC Safe Home guidelines only. Non-matching awards scale with household income; applicants at or below 80 percent of the county median may get the maximum. The statute requires a primary legal residence owned and occupied by the applicant, a single-family site-built, manufactured or modular home, coverage from a licensed or surplus lines insurer at least equal to fair market value, and a program wind inspection. The Department of Insurance lists its own criteria: residence “in a designated South Carolina coastal county,” a single-family freestanding home, an active homeowner’s policy, no Safe Home grant previously awarded and used, and no prior storm damage or claim payouts on the home. Funding depends on appropriations. The Department’s page, as archived on August 16, 2026, said the program “is not currently accepting applications,” with applications opening “twice a year.”

South Carolina roof questions

Does my roofer need to be registered?

Yes, for a job over $500, unless the roofer is an examined residential builder, the work is regulated under Title 40, Chapter 11, or an exemption applies.

Can the roofer knock my deductible off the bill?

No. Under § 40-59-25(E) even an advertised promise to pay or rebate it is a misdemeanor.

Is SC Safe Home taking applications?

Not in the Department’s page archived August 16, 2026; check doi.sc.gov for the next round.

Related: South Carolina wind and hail coverage, storm-damage claims, HELOC calculator, and the Georgia roof page.