Short answer: As of October 2026 The Roofing Brief ranks no roofer in the Burlington metro. The one manufacturer-certified firm in our pool could not be found on Vermont’s residential contractor register, which has been mandatory since 1 April 2023 for any residential job over $10,000, roofing included, so we will not rank it. Instead this page lists six Chittenden and Franklin County roofers that hold an active Vermont registration and an Owens Corning network listing, each checked on the state’s own roster.
The Roofing Brief searched the GAF certification registry across the principal cities of the Burlington-South Burlington, VT statistical area. No roofing contractor based inside the metro clears the evidence floor this ranking applies, which is manufacturer certification plus at least five independent customer reviews, so this page ranks nobody rather than pad a list. What it does instead is set out the contractors we could verify individually against the credential that actually exists here. Vermont introduced a residential contractor register in 2023, and in this market it is the credential that sorts roofers more sharply than any manufacturer badge. Several of the area’s established roofers do not appear on it under their trading names. A homeowner here should treat the registration number as the first question, not the last.
Wind, terrain and the Burlington housing stock
Vermont now requires a contractor to register with the Office of Professional Regulation before contracting with a homeowner for residential construction worth more than $10,000, and the statute’s definition of residential construction names roofing explicitly, on dwellings of four or fewer units. Registration has been mandatory since 1 April 2023. Registrants must carry liability insurance of at least $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate, and the fee is $250 for a business and $75 for an individual, renewed every two years. Unregistered contracting can draw an injunction or civil penalty, and the Office may discipline registrants for failing to use a written contract, failing to carry insurance, or deceptive acts.
The contract rules are the most useful part for a homeowner. On any job over $10,000 a registered contractor must sign a written contract before taking a deposit or starting work, stating the price basis, estimated start and completion dates, the scope and materials, and how change orders are approved. And the deposit is capped: where the contract sets a maximum price, the down payment may be no more than half the labour cost or half the materials price, whichever is greater. A roofer asking for more than that up front on a Vermont job is outside the statute.
Inspection is patchy, and that is why the register matters. Vermont’s state fire and building safety code applies to public buildings, and the statute excludes an owner-occupied single-family residence from that definition, so outside towns that run their own permitting there may be no inspector on a house reroof at all. The City of Burlington does run its own, offering short-form permits for simple projects including roofing, and South Burlington requires a zoning permit for replacement roofing over $5,000 including labour.
Winter defines the roof here. NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 normals for Burlington International Airport give 87.5 inches of snow a year, 21.1 inches in January alone, and a January mean temperature of 20.9 degrees. The convective record is moderate, with 147 thunderstorm wind reports and 19 hail reports of an inch or more across the three counties in the decade; on 30 October 2017 NWS recorded damage indicative of winds above 70 mph in spots across Chittenden County. The housing in the city is old, with a median year built of 1957, and 58.5 percent of Burlington’s homes are rented.
Burlington-area roofers on the Vermont register
No roofer is ranked this year. These six hold an active Vermont residential contractor registration, checked on the Office of Professional Regulation’s roster on 4 October 2026, and an Owens Corning Preferred network listing. They are not scored and we are not recommending them; we did not check their BBB records.
| Company | Verified credential |
|---|---|
| Bannister Custom Exteriors | Vermont registration 174.0000102, active, first issued 10 February 2023, at Fairfax in Franklin County; Owens Corning Preferred Contractor. |
| Best Way Roofing and Siding LLC, trading as Exteriors and Renovations | Vermont registration 174.0000386, active, first issued 2 May 2023, at Shelburne; Owens Corning Preferred Contractor. |
| CG Family Construction | Vermont registration 174.0000517, active, first issued 11 January 2024, on Faith Street in Burlington; Owens Corning Preferred Contractor. |
| Rivers Construction LLC | Vermont registration 174.0000526, active, first issued 29 January 2024, at Essex Junction; Owens Corning Preferred Contractor. |
| Top Notch Roofing, Inc | Vermont registration 174.0000955, active, first issued 7 March 2025, at St Albans Bay; Owens Corning Preferred Contractor. |
| Forthright Construction Inc. | Vermont registration 174.0001103, active, first issued 2 April 2026, at Hinesburg; Owens Corning Preferred Contractor. |
The 147 wind reports that shape a Burlington roof
Aggregate hail counts tell you very little about a specific roof. These are the individual events: every severe-weather report logged by the National Weather Service across the 3 counties of the Burlington-South Burlington, VT statistical area over ten years, with the dates, the stone sizes and the towns they landed on. Over that decade the metro logged 24 hail reports, 147 severe thunderstorm and high wind reports and 0 tornadoes. Reported property damage from hail, severe wind and tornado over that decade totalled $1.6 million; flood and winter-storm losses are counted separately and are not included.
The biggest hail to fall on Burlington in a decade
| Date | Stone size | Reported near | County |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17 May 2025 | 1.75 in | Charlotte | Chittenden |
| 17 May 2025 | 1.75 in | Richmond | Chittenden |
| 4 May 2018 | 1.5 in | Shelburne | Chittenden |
| 4 May 2018 | 1.5 in | Richford | Franklin |
| 21 May 2022 | 1.25 in | Highgate Spgs | Franklin |
| 3 July 2025 | 1.0 in | East Berkshire | Franklin |
The largest stone on record for this metro fell on 17 May 2025 near Charlotte, measured at 1.75 inches. That is ping-pong-ball sized, enough to bruise asphalt shingles and shorten a roof’s life without necessarily looking dramatic from the ground.
Wind. The strongest thunderstorm gust logged in the metro was 66 knots, about 76 mph, near North Hero on 30 July 2019. Asphalt shingles begin lifting at roughly 67 mph when they are correctly nailed, and considerably below that when they are not.
What the National Weather Service wrote about it
The NWS logs a written account of each severe-weather episode. This is its description of the 4 May 2018 event near Shelburne, reproduced verbatim:
Another round of thunderstorms produced additional damage in the form of trees, utility lines down and some structural damage from fallen trees, including roof damage.
That is the kind of damage a roof in this metro has to be specified against, described by the agency that recorded it rather than by a contractor selling the repair.
When it happens. Severe weather reports cluster in July (77), May (40), June (24). The worst years on record were 2016 (33), 2022 (21), 2020 (20). If you are scheduling non-urgent work in Burlington, the months outside that window are when crews are least stretched and least likely to be triaging emergency callouts ahead of your job.
Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, county-level detail files 2016 to 2025, filtered to the counties of this statistical area by The Roofing Brief. Damage figures are as reported to the NWS and undercount insured losses.
What to do with this. Hail is not the governing risk in Burlington. Weight your decision toward wind rating, ventilation and flashing detail rather than paying extra for impact-rated shingles.
Vermont’s new contractor register, and the roofers who are not on it
The legislature was explicit about what the register is for. Registration is intended to protect against fraud, deception, breach of contract and violations of law, but is not intended to establish standards for professional qualifications or workmanship. There is no exam. What it does give you is a written contract, a deposit cap, a minimum of $1 million in liability insurance, and a regulator with power to discipline a contractor who deceives you. That is a fraud and contract tool, and in a market without state inspection of owner-occupied homes it is the main one you have.
The register is new, and its roster shows how new. Of 968 active business registrations on the Office of Professional Regulation’s roster when we downloaded it on 4 October 2026, 364 were first issued in 2023, 309 in 2024, 129 in 2025 and 132 so far in 2026. Every current registration expires on 31 March 2027.
Several roofers with an Owens Corning network listing in this metro are on it, and those are the six named below. Others are not findable under their trading names. Searches of the lookup and the roster on 4 October 2026 returned no registration for the one manufacturer-certified firm in our ranking pool, under its trading name or its owners’ surname, and none for several other established local roofing names. A firm may legitimately register under a different legal name, which is why we do not say any of them is unregistered. But it is why we will not rank a firm we cannot find on a register that the law makes compulsory for almost any reroof.
The practical answer is simple and takes a minute: ask any roofer for its registration number, and look it up on the Office of Professional Regulation’s lookup. If a firm cannot give you one on a job over $10,000, it is either exempt, which a roofing business doing whole roofs almost never is, or out of compliance. The Office states that it will not be a venue for resolving billing disputes, so the written contract the statute requires is your real protection, and it is worth reading before you sign it.
The energy code adds one technical point that a good roofer here will raise unprompted. Vermont’s Residential Building Energy Standards exempt reroofs that expose neither the sheathing nor the insulation, but if the cavity is opened it must be filled with insulation, and an uninsulated roof opened in a reroof must be insulated above or below the deck. The standards’ own handbook ties warm roof decks to ice damming, which in a city with 87.5 inches of snow a year is the failure that matters most.
What Vermont’s registration does and does not do
| Item | Rule or figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Registration required | For residential jobs over $10,000, roofing named; mandatory since 1 April 2023 | 26 V.S.A. chapter 106 |
| Examination | None; the statute says it sets no standard for workmanship | 26 V.S.A. chapter 106 |
| Liability insurance | $1,000,000 per occurrence, $2,000,000 aggregate | 26 V.S.A. 5509(a) |
| Written contract | Required before any deposit on jobs over $10,000 | 26 V.S.A. 5509 |
| Deposit cap | Half the labour or half the materials, whichever is greater | 26 V.S.A. 5509(c) |
| Active business registrations | 968 statewide, all expiring 31 March 2027 | OPR roster, 4 October 2026 |
| State inspection of owner-occupied single-family homes | None; excluded from the state building code | 20 V.S.A. 2730(b)(1) |
| Reroof energy rule | Exempt unless sheathing or insulation is exposed | Vermont RBES |
| Annual snowfall, Burlington airport | 87.5 inches | NOAA 1991 to 2020 normals |
| Median year built, City of Burlington | 1957 | ACS 2020 to 2024, B25035 |
Source: 26 V.S.A. chapter 106 and the Vermont Office of Professional Regulation roster and lookup; 20 V.S.A. 2730; Vermont Residential Building Energy Standards and handbook; City of Burlington Department of Permitting and Inspections; City of South Burlington; NOAA 1991 to 2020 Climate Normals and NCEI Storm Events Database; US Census Bureau ACS.
How to check a Burlington roofer in ten minutes
Licensing is required in VT. Vermont requires residential contractors, roofers included by name, to register with the Office of Professional Regulation before contracting with a homeowner for any residential job worth more than $10,000, under 26 V.S.A. chapter 106. Registration has been mandatory since 1 April 2023.
It is a registration, not a competency licence: there is no exam, and the statute says it does not set standards for workmanship. Registrants must carry liability insurance of $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate, sign a written contract before taking a deposit on any job over $10,000, and keep the deposit to half the labour or half the materials, whichever is greater.
Check here: Vermont Office of Professional Regulation lookup. Vermont’s state building code excludes owner-occupied single-family homes, so outside towns with their own permitting nobody may inspect a reroof; the registration and the written contract it requires are the main protections. A firm may register under its legal rather than trading name, so ask for the registration number itself.
Four checks to run before you sign anything, in any state.
- Verify certification at the source. Use the GAF verification tool rather than trusting a badge image on a company website.
- Get the certificate of insurance from the insurer, not the contractor, and confirm general liability and workers compensation are both active on the day work starts.
- Confirm who pulls the permit. If a contractor asks you to pull it as the homeowner, that moves liability onto you. Decline.
- Get warranty terms in writing before any deposit, and check the manufacturer warranty being promised actually requires the certification tier the contractor holds.
The Burlington market behind this ranking
0 certified roofing contractors serve the principal cities of the Burlington-South Burlington, VT statistical area, of which 0 hold the top President’s Club tier. The pool carries 0 customer reviews between them at a mean rating of 4.7. The statistical area had a 2024 population of 229,445, a change of 1.71% against the 2020 census base, per the U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2024 estimates.
How these Burlington rankings were produced
Every contractor in the Burlington-South Burlington, VT pool was scored out of 100 on four published components: certification tier, a Bayesian adjusted rating, review depth and distance from the metro centre. In this metro that meant scoring 0 certified contractors, of whom 0 hold President’s Club standing and 0 Master Elite, against a metro mean rating of 4.7. No contractor cleared the floor, so the alternatives listed above were instead researched individually against Better Business Bureau records, state licence registers and manufacturer directories. Good and bad findings are published together, and no contractor paid for a place here.
Set aside in Burlington. A contractor that would otherwise have scored into the top no was removed for the reason stated. The score is computed from public data, but where the research pass finds evidence undermining an input to that score, the score is set aside.
- Blue Sky Roofing & Custom Exteriors, which scored 75.9: The only manufacturer-certified firm in our Burlington pool, and not ranked because we could not find it on Vermont’s residential contractor register. Searches of the Office of Professional Regulation’s lookup and full roster on 4 October 2026 returned no registration under its trading name or under the surname of the family named as its owners, and Vermont has required registration since 1 April 2023 for any residential job over $10,000, roofing included. It may be registered under another legal name, so we do not say it is unregistered; ask it for its registration number and look it up. Its other records are also inconsistent: BBB lists it as not rated, files it under commercial roofing and records a business start of 2018, while other listings give 1993 and its own site implies about 2004, and its address is Colchester on BBB and the manufacturer’s listing but Richmond on its website.
The full method, the weightings, what the GAF certification tiers actually mean, who is eligible to be ranked and what we do not claim are all set out on our roofer ranking methodology page. Last updated: October 2026. Scoring run: 2026-10-04. Corrections go to the editor and are actioned on verification.
Burlington roofing questions, answered
Who are the best roofers in Burlington, VT?
No Burlington roofer is ranked this year. The one certified firm in our pool did not appear on Vermont’s mandatory residential contractor register when we checked. The roofers we verified as registered and network-listed are Bannister Custom Exteriors, Best Way Roofing and Siding, CG Family Construction, Rivers Construction, Top Notch Roofing and Forthright Construction. Check any roofer’s registration on the Office of Professional Regulation lookup before signing a contract over $10,000.
How many certified roofing contractors serve Burlington?
0 contractors on the GAF certification registry serve the principal cities of the Burlington-South Burlington, VT statistical area as of October 2026, of which 0 hold President’s Club status.
How much damaging hail does Burlington get?
The Burlington-South Burlington, VT statistical area recorded 19 hail reports of 1 inch or larger and 0 of 2 inches or larger between 2016 and 2025 in the NOAA Storm Events Database. The largest hailstone reported measured 1.75 inches.
Did any contractor pay to appear on this list?
No. The Roofing Brief takes no placement fees, no lead fees and no affiliate commission from any roofing contractor. Ranking comes entirely from the published formula applied to public registry data, followed by an individual research pass on every verified alternative listed.
What was the worst hailstorm in Burlington in the last ten years?
The largest hailstone logged by the National Weather Service in the Burlington-South Burlington, VT statistical area between 2016 and 2025 measured 1.75 inches, reported near Charlotte on 17 May 2025. That is ping-pong-ball sized, enough to bruise asphalt shingles and shorten a roof’s life without necessarily looking dramatic from the ground. Across the decade the metro recorded 24 hail reports. Reported property damage from hail, severe wind and tornado over that decade totalled $1.6 million; flood and winter-storm losses are counted separately and are not included.
When is the worst time of year for roof damage in Burlington?
Severe-weather reports in the Burlington-South Burlington, VT statistical area cluster in July, May, June, on the NOAA record for 2016 to 2025. Scheduling discretionary work away from that window tends to get you a better crew and a faster start, because nobody is juggling emergency callouts.
Do roofers need a licence in VT?
Vermont requires residential contractors, roofers included by name, to register with the Office of Professional Regulation before contracting with a homeowner for any residential job worth more than $10,000, under 26 V.S.A. chapter 106. Registration has been mandatory since 1 April 2023. It is a registration, not a competency licence: there is no exam, and the statute says it does not set standards for workmanship. Registrants must carry liability insurance of $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate, sign a written contract before taking a deposit on any job over $10,000, and keep the deposit to half the labour or half the materials, whichever is greater.
What should I check before hiring a roofer in Burlington?
Vermont’s state building code excludes owner-occupied single-family homes, so outside towns with their own permitting nobody may inspect a reroof; the registration and the written contract it requires are the main protections. A firm may register under its legal rather than trading name, so ask for the registration number itself.
Vermont’s new contractor register, and the roofers who are not on it?
The legislature was explicit about what the register is for. Registration is intended to protect against fraud, deception, breach of contract and violations of law, but is not intended to establish standards for professional qualifications or workmanship. There is no exam. What it does give you is a written contract, a deposit cap, a minimum of $1 million in liability insurance, and a regulator with power to discipline a contractor who deceives you. That is a fraud and contract tool, and in a market without state inspection of owner-occupied homes it is the main one you have.
Is Burlington a hard market to find a good roofer in?
Vermont introduced a residential contractor register in 2023, and in this market it is the credential that sorts roofers more sharply than any manufacturer badge. Several of the area’s established roofers do not appear on it under their trading names. A homeowner here should treat the registration number as the first question, not the last.
Is wind or hail the bigger risk to a roof in Burlington?
Wind, by a wide margin. The Burlington-South Burlington, VT statistical area logged 147 severe thunderstorm and high wind reports against 19 hail reports of an inch or more between 2016 and 2025. Wind damage shows up at the rake, ridge and edge rather than across the field of the roof, so the fastening schedule and edge detail matter more here than the impact rating of the shingle.
Why is Blue Sky Roofing & Custom Exteriors not on this list?
The only manufacturer-certified firm in our Burlington pool, and not ranked because we could not find it on Vermont’s residential contractor register. Searches of the Office of Professional Regulation’s lookup and full roster on 4 October 2026 returned no registration under its trading name or under the surname of the family named as its owners, and Vermont has required registration since 1 April 2023 for any residential job over $10,000, roofing included. It may be registered under another legal name, so we do not say it is unregistered; ask it for its registration number and look it up. Its other records are also inconsistent: BBB lists it as not rated, files it under commercial roofing and records a business start of 2018, while other listings give 1993 and its own site implies about 2004, and its address is Colchester on BBB and the manufacturer’s listing but Richmond on its website..
Roofer rankings for other metros
The Roofing Brief scores certified roofing contractors in the 400 largest U.S. metropolitan and micropolitan areas on the same formula.
- Best roofers in Albany, NY, about 129 miles from Burlington
- Best roofers in Lafayette, IN, a metro of comparable size
- Best roofers in Las Cruces, NM, a metro of comparable size
See the full index of all 400 metro roofer rankings, or read how to find and vet a roofing contractor anywhere in the country.
Cite this analysis
The Roofing Brief. “Best Roofers in Burlington, VT: The Roofing Brief Contractor Score.” Published October 2026. Inputs: GAF certification registry; NOAA Storm Events Database 2016-2025; U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2024 population estimates; Better Business Bureau and independent review-platform records for each ranked contractor.