How to Verify a Roofing Company in Fort Walton Beach, FL Before You Hire

A&M Construction

2 days ago

5 min read

If you are looking for a roofing company in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, you can narrow the field fast by verifying four things before anyone talks about price: a current Florida roofing contractor license, active general liability and workers' compensation insurance, a willingness to pull the permit in the company's own name, and a roof assembly with current Florida Product Approval for your wind zone. All four are checkable from your kitchen table in about twenty minutes. A&M Construction of NW Fla has worked out of Mary Esther since 1994, holds Florida Certified Roofing Contractor license CCC1326077 and Certified Solar Contractor license CVC57246, and is GAF certified. Here is how to run those four checks on any roofer you are considering, including us.

Check 1: the state license, and which kind it is

Florida licenses roofers in two tiers, and the difference matters more than most homeowners realize. A Certified Roofing Contractor holds a state license, carries the CCC prefix, passed the state exam, and can legally work anywhere in Florida. A Registered Roofing Contractor met a particular county's requirements and may only work in the counties where they are registered. Both can be perfectly good roofers. But if a registered contractor from three counties over is bidding your Okaloosa County job, that is worth a question.

Ask for the license number in writing, then look it up yourself through the state's DBPR licensee verification search. You can search by name or by license number. What you want to see is a status of current and active, a license type that actually says roofing, and no open disciplinary actions. What should stop you cold is a number that returns nothing at all, or a license held in a different company's name than the one on your estimate.

Ours is CCC1326077. Type it in.

Check 2: insurance, and why a certificate emailed to you matters

Two policies matter on a roofing job: general liability, which covers damage to your property, and workers' compensation, which covers the crew if someone is hurt on your roof. If a contractor carries no workers' compensation and a worker falls, the exposure can land on the homeowner.

Do not accept a photocopy. Ask the contractor to have their insurance agent email a certificate of insurance directly to you, with your name listed. It takes an agent about five minutes, it confirms the policy is active today rather than in March, and a company that hesitates has told you something useful.

Check 3: who pulls the permit

A reroof in Okaloosa County requires a permit, and the licensed contractor should pull it under their own license. Trade, window, door, and roof permits move through the county's Fast Lane and are issued next day, and since November 2025 applications go through the online Customer Service Support portal. You can read the current process on the Okaloosa County permitting page.

The red flag here is specific: if a contractor asks you to pull the permit as the homeowner, they are moving the code liability onto you, and it often means they cannot pull it themselves. An unpermitted roof also creates problems years later, at resale, at an insurance renewal, and on any future claim, because none of the inspection documentation exists. We walk through the whole sequence in our guide to roof permits in Fort Walton Beach.

Check 4: the roof assembly, not just the shingle brand

Okaloosa County builds to the 2023 Florida Building Code, 8th Edition, with ASCE 7-22 wind design criteria. In practice that means the products on your roof have to carry current Florida Product Approval for the design wind speed at your address, and they have to be installed as an approved assembly. A premium shingle paired with an underlayment that is not part of its approved system is how a manufacturer warranty quietly stops applying.

So ask which specific products are going on, from the deck up, and ask whether the contractor is certified by that manufacturer to install them. Manufacturer certification is what unlocks the stronger system warranties. You can confirm what the code requires at the Florida Building Commission, look up a shingle line such as GAF Timberline HDZ directly with the manufacturer, and compare the upgrades in the IBHS FORTIFIED Roof standard. What GAF certification actually requires of a contractor is covered in our post on choosing a roofing company and GAF certification.

After a storm, add one more filter

Every named storm brings out-of-town crews into the neighborhoods around Fort Walton Beach, Mary Esther, and Navarre. Some are legitimate. Some take a deposit and vanish before the permit is pulled. Three behaviors should end the conversation: pressure to sign on the spot, an offer to waive or absorb your insurance deductible, which is not legal in Florida, and a large cash deposit requested before any permit exists.

A local address you can drive to is the simplest protection there is. The Florida Department of Financial Services also publishes consumer guidance on contractor fraud and the claims process on its homeowners insurance resource page. Ours is 2225 W Highway 98 in Mary Esther, and we have been at this since 1994.

Frequently asked questions

How do I check if a roofer is licensed in Florida?

Use the DBPR licensee verification search and look the contractor up by name or license number. Confirm the license is current and active, that the license type covers roofing, and that the name on the license matches the name on your estimate.

How many roofing estimates should I get?

Two or three is plenty, as long as each one lists the same scope of work. Comparing a detailed line-item estimate against a one-page total tells you nothing useful about price. Ask every bidder to break the job out the same way.

Is the cheapest roofing bid ever the right call?

Sometimes, but find out why it is cheaper first. Usually the gap is a thinner scope: no tear-off, no decking allowance, a cheaper underlayment, no permit, or a shorter warranty. If the scope truly matches and the license and insurance check out, a lower price is just a lower price.

Should I pay a deposit before the work starts?

A reasonable deposit against materials is normal. A large cash payment before a permit has been pulled is not. Pay by check or card so there is a record, and make sure the payment schedule is written into the agreement.

Does it matter if a roofing company is local?

For warranty service, yes. A roof warranty is only as good as the company's ability to come back, and workmanship coverage depends on the contractor still being in business. A local roofer also knows the county's inspection requirements and the salt-air conditions your roof actually faces.

Run the checks on us

We would rather be hired by someone who checked. Look up CCC1326077, ask us for a certificate of insurance, and see our work on the projects page. If you want a starting point, a roof inspection will tell you whether you are looking at a repair or a residential roof replacement before you start collecting bids. Family owned in Mary Esther since 1994.

Contact A&M Construction or call 850-803-0650.