Roof Repair in Mount Sterling, KY: What You Can Verify Before You Hire

Corridor Roof Report · Mount Sterling & Montgomery County

If you are hiring someone to repair a roof in Mount Sterling, there is one thing you cannot check: a Kentucky roofing licence. The state does not issue one. A bill to create one was filed in January 2026 and is still sitting in committee. Here is what you can verify instead, and which code the work has to meet in the meantime.

Does Kentucky license roofing contractors?

No. The Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction’s licence lookup covers “Building inspector, Electrical, Electrical Inspection, Manufactured Housing, HVAC, Plumbing and Fire.” Roofing is not on the list.

That is worth stating plainly because the phrase “licensed and insured” appears on roofing advertising all over Central Kentucky, and for the roofing trade specifically the first half of it does not refer to a state credential. You can confirm the scope of what Kentucky does licence yourself on the department’s Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction licence search page. If a roof job involves electrical work — a new service mast, a bath fan circuit, a repaired weatherhead — that portion does involve a licensed trade, and that licence is searchable there.

Is that about to change?

A bill exists but has not passed. House Bill 150 of the 2026 Regular Session, “AN ACT relating to roofing contractors,” would establish licensing for roofing contractors under the Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction.

The Legislative Research Commission’s record for the bill shows its last action as 01/14/26, referred to the House Licensing, Occupations, and Administrative Regulations committee, sponsored by D. Grossberg. Its summary of the original version would create new sections of KRS Chapter 198B to define terms, establish licensing under the department, prohibit unlicensed persons from holding themselves out as roofing contractors, set applicant requirements and fee limits, and establish a fine and potential misdemeanor penalty for violations.

A referral to committee is not a law. Read this as the state of play as of 25 September 2026, not as a prediction — most filed bills do not pass, and I have no idea whether this one will.

Which code does a Mount Sterling roof have to meet?

The 2018 Kentucky Residential Code, Second Edition, for a house. The department states it “adopted the 2018 Kentucky Building Code, Second Edition and the 2018 Kentucky Residential Code, Second Edition on August 3, 2019.”

Two consequences follow for a homeowner. First, the applicable standard is a statewide document, not a Mount Sterling document — the same residential code governs a roof in Mount Sterling, Winchester, Richmond and Lexington. Second, the code in force is a 2018 edition adopted in 2019, and it is built on the 2015 International Residential Code with Kentucky amendments. The department publishes the full 2018 Kentucky Residential Code, Second Edition as a free PDF, so the roofing chapter is something you can read rather than take on faith. For commercial and multifamily buildings, the Kentucky Building Code is the companion document.

What that means for permits on a re-roof is a separate question with a separate answer — see when a re-roof needs a permit in Central Kentucky.

Who do I ask about a permit in Mount Sterling?

City Hall. The City of Mount Sterling directs building, permit and code questions to City Hall at (859) 498-8725.

Checking this today produced a finding worth passing on: the city’s website does not currently publish a standalone building-permit page with downloadable forms and fees. Older links to a Building Inspector page on the city site no longer resolve. What the city does publish online is its comprehensive plan and its official zoning map. Verified 25 September 2026.

Practically, that means you should not treat “I couldn’t find a permit page, so there must not be a permit” as an answer. Call the number and ask two specific questions: whether a permit is required for the scope you are doing, and who will inspect it. Write down the name of the person who told you. That call takes four minutes and it is the only part of this process a website cannot do for you.

So what can a homeowner actually verify before hiring?

Four things, none of which depend on a licence existing: the insurance, the scope, the code reference, and the paper trail.

On insurance, ask for the certificate and then call the number on the certificate rather than the number the contractor gives you. A certificate is a snapshot; policies lapse. The carrier or agent named on it will confirm whether it is current, and general liability and workers’ compensation are two different questions, not one.

On scope, the thing I look for in a written proposal is whether it names materials and assemblies rather than outcomes. “Repair leak” is not a scope. “Remove and replace X squares of covering, install underlayment of type Y, replace flashing at the chimney and the two plumbing penetrations, replace deteriorated decking at time-and-material” is a scope, because every line in it is checkable afterward by looking at the roof. A proposal that describes only the result gives you nothing to hold up against the finished work.

On code, ask which edition the work is being done to. You now know the answer — the 2018 Kentucky Residential Code, Second Edition — and a contractor who does not know that, or who names a code that was superseded, has told you something useful about how they keep up.

On the paper trail, photograph the roof before work starts and get photographs of anything that will be covered up, particularly decking, flashing and the ice-and-water membrane at the eaves. If the repair is storm-related there are also deadlines running on the insurance side that have nothing to do with the contractor’s schedule — see Kentucky insurance claim deadlines on a roof.

Questions Mount Sterling homeowners ask

If Kentucky has no roofing licence, is anyone regulating the work?

The work is regulated through the building code rather than through an occupational licence. The Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction adopted the 2018 Kentucky Building Code and 2018 Kentucky Residential Code, Second Editions, on August 3, 2019, and those documents set the requirements the roof itself has to satisfy. Enforcement of a residential permit is a local building-department function, which is why the call to City Hall matters.

Does a contractor need a Mount Sterling business licence?

Local business licence and occupational-tax requirements are set by the city and county, not by the state, and they are separate from any trade licence. Ask City Hall at (859) 498-8725 what the city requires of a contractor working inside the city limits, and ask the contractor to show you what they hold.

What if HB 150 passes?

Then licensing of roofing contractors would move to the Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction under new sections of KRS Chapter 198B, with applicant requirements, fee limits and penalties for holding yourself out as a roofing contractor without a licence. As of 25 September 2026 the bill’s last recorded action is its 01/14/26 committee referral, so nothing has changed yet.

None of this is legal advice. Permit requirements, local licence requirements and the application of the code to a specific roof are determined by the authority having jurisdiction, and insurance questions are determined by your policy and your carrier.

Quoted code-adoption language and the licence-type list above are from the Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction, read 25 September 2026. House Bill 150 status is from the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission bill record, read 25 September 2026. City of Mount Sterling site read 25 September 2026. Central Property Services and Central Roof Repair are owned by Marcos Gil, who is also a licensed Kentucky REALTOR®. Last updated 25 September 2026.

By Marcos Gil, REALTOR® — Keller Williams Commonwealth · KY Real Estate License No. 296259 · Call or text (859) 310-1209.