SBA loans for roofing contractors

What SBA lenders approved for roofers

Roofing contractors (NAICS 238160) took 880 SBA 7(a) loans from FY2024 through June 2026, worth $385,479,600, from 174 lenders. The typical loan is modest: the median was $175,000 and the middle half ran from $60,000 to $365,200. A smaller group of large loans, 97 of $1 million or more, pulls the total up. With acquisition loans at a median of $897,100, purchases of established roofing companies account for much of that top end.

The median shop supported 4 jobs, and only 3.9% of loans went to franchised roofers. Start-ups were 8.2% of loans. This is an industry of owner-run crews, and lenders underwrite it that way: the owner's history, the owner's license and the owner's personal guarantee carry much of the file.

Why half the loans are SBA Express

Half of all roofing loans, 49.8%, were SBA Express loans. Express loans go up to $500,000, carry a 50% guaranty instead of the 85% or 75% on a standard 7(a), and are decided on the lender's own credit process. For a roofer who needs working capital to buy materials and carry crews before an insurer or a general contractor pays, that is often the product a bank offers first. The industry's middle half tops out at $365,200, comfortably under the Express ceiling.

The trade-off shows in pricing. SBA caps variable rates at the base rate plus 6% for loans from $50,001 to $250,000 and plus 4.5% from $250,001 to $350,000, against plus 3% above $350,000, so small loans price higher. Small size, a smaller guaranty and little hard collateral all push a lender toward the upper part of what the caps allow. That helps explain why the roofing median rate is 10.5% while the industry's acquisition loans, larger and mostly above the Express ceiling, priced at a median of 9.5%. See SBA 7(a) vs SBA Express and SBA's maximum interest rate.

For a roofer whose need is seasonal rather than permanent, a term loan may be the wrong tool. A revolving line tied to receivables, or an SBA CAPLine, matches borrowing to the jobs being carried. See lines of credit for roofing contractors and SBA CAPLines.

Storm revenue, and the kinds of roofing work

A hailstorm or hurricane season can double a roofer's work for a year and then disappear. Lenders know it, and the first thing an underwriter does with a roofing file is separate revenue by source and by year. A company that grew on retail re-roofing and repair reads as durable; one whose best year was a single storm reads as a peak, and the lender sizes the loan to the years around it.

Weather also sets the calendar. In northern markets work slows sharply in winter, and a roofer draws down cash to carry payroll until spring. Lenders look at monthly revenue, not just annual totals, and at whether the business has ever needed a merchant cash advance to get through the slow months. See refinancing cash advances for contractors.

Show the storm years for what they are. A lender that finds an unexplained spike sizes the loan to the worst year; one that sees it explained sizes to the durable base.

Collateral and the liabilities lenders look for

A roofing company owns trucks, trailers, lifts and tools, and it is owed money by homeowners, insurers and contractors. That is modest collateral for its revenue, and most roofers work from a leased yard or warehouse rather than a building worth financing, which is why the industry took only 51 SBA 504 loans. SBA lenders do not decline a loan for lack of collateral alone, but they take what is available, including, where business assets fall short, a lien on the owners' personal real estate. Every owner of 20% or more personally guarantees the loan. See SBA and the personal residence.

• Licensing. In many states a roofing or contractor license is held by a qualifying individual, often the owner. Lenders want to know whose license the company works under and what happens if that person leaves.
• Warranty exposure. Workmanship warranties run for years after the job is paid. A history of warranty claims, or a reserve for them, tells the lender whether past revenue carries future cost.
• Insurance and labor. Roofing carries some of the highest workers' compensation costs in construction. Lenders check that coverage is in force and that subcontracted crews are properly insured, because an uninsured fall on a job becomes the company's problem.
• Customer deposits. Deposits collected for jobs not yet done are a liability. Cash in the bank that is really customers' deposits does not count as liquidity.

Buying a roofing company

Changes of ownership were 11% of roofing loans, close to the national 10.4%, but the median acquisition loan was $897,100, five times the industry median. A roofing company worth buying usually has a sales operation beyond the owner, a crew structure that runs without the owner on the roof, and a reputation that brings retail work. The mechanics are in financing a roofing company acquisition.

Two roofing-specific issues come up in every purchase. The first is the storm year. From 1 October 2026 a change of ownership must show debt service coverage of 1.25x on historical results, and a buyer paying for a storm year's earnings may find the historical average does not support the price. See financing an acquisition with declining earnings. The second is the license: if the seller is the qualifier, the buyer or a key employee needs to hold or obtain the license before closing.

SBA's usual acquisition rules apply: an equity injection of at least 10% of total project costs, a seller note counting toward half of it only on full standby for the life of the loan, no earnout, and a seller who may consult for up to 12 months, or up to 24 months under SOP 50 10 8.1 from 1 October 2026. From that date every change of ownership also needs financial due diligence. See seller notes and full standby.

Preparing a roofing contractor's file

SBA's standard list: business tax returns for 2–3 years, a P&L and balance sheet with a year-to-date P&L through last month-end, a debt schedule with copies of any notes being refinanced, and personal tax returns and a personal financial statement for each owner of 20% or more. An acquisition adds the target's latest full year of figures, never an older year, and the letter of intent.

For a roofer, add revenue by type of work and by month for at least two years, a job list with gross margin, an AR aging that separates insurers, homeowners and contractors, retainage balances and signed backlog for commercial work, the license and bonding letter, certificates of insurance, a warranty claims history and an equipment list.

Transparent builds that file into a full lender package — financing model, lender presentation, blind teaser and underwriting memo — in a day, with the storm years explained rather than buried, and sends it to the 278 lenders in its book that write SBA 7(a) and 504. On SBA loans the lender pays Transparent, not the borrower. See how we underwrite.