There is no roofing licence in the UK. Anyone may set up as a roofer tomorrow with no qualification, no registration, no accreditation and no insurance, and be trading entirely lawfully.
The answer is confirmed, not assumed
The gov.uk licence finder, which lists what you need permission to do in the UK, returns no roofing licence. The government's competent person scheme guidance describes the roofing schemes as voluntary. And gov.uk states plainly that membership of such a scheme is voluntary, so you can still use local council or private inspectors if you prefer.
The distinction that makes sense of this: it is not that roofing is unregulated. The work is regulated by the Building Regulations, and a full re-roof is notifiable. What is unregulated is who may hold themselves out as a roofer.
Compare that with gas and electrics
Gas is restricted. Regulation 3(3) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 provides that no person may carry out gas fitting work unless a member of a class of persons approved by the Health and Safety Executive, which in practice means the Gas Safe Register. Working outside it is a criminal matter.
Electrical work sits in between: notifiable work must be certified, either through a competent person scheme or through building control under Part P.
Roofing has no equivalent. If you have assumed a roofer must be on some register the way a gas engineer must, that assumption is the thing to drop.
The one scheme that carries statutory force
Competent person registration is materially different from the other credentials, because it has legal effect.
Schedule 3 of the Building Regulations 2010, paragraph 16, covers installation, as a replacement, of the covering of a pitched or flat roof, together with work carried out as a necessary adjunct to it. Two bodies are authorised for it: the National Federation of Roofing Contractors and NAPIT Registration Ltd. Most consumer content mentions only the first, which is incomplete. Solar panel installation is expressly excluded from the schedule.
What registration certifies is narrow and practical: the member may self-certify that replacement roof covering work complies with the Building Regulations, without a Building Control inspection. The scheme then notifies your local authority and you receive a Building Regulation Compliance Certificate. That certificate is the document a buyer's solicitor will look for.
Check a contractor at nfrccps.com/find-a-contractor.html.
NFRC membership is a different thing from the same organisation
Ordinary membership of the federation is not the same as competent person registration, and the shared name causes real confusion. Membership involves vetting on trading record and financial stability, inspection of live and past contracts, and evidence of public, employers' and third-party insurance, with re-vetting every three years. It says nothing about self-certification.
Check membership at nfrc.co.uk/find-a-member.html.
TrustMark
TrustMark is the Government Endorsed Quality Scheme, licensed by the Department for Business and Trade and operated by a not-for-profit social enterprise. It vets through approved scheme providers and requires registered businesses to give a minimum two-year workmanship and product guarantee, backed by financial protection covering prepayments, deposits, post-completion workmanship and rectification of defects.
Check at trustmark.org.uk/homeowner/find-a-tradesperson.
One credential to disregard: the Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering is the professional body for plumbing and heating and has no roofing remit at all.
Insurance is not a licence either
The main covers are routinely described as legal requirements. Only one of them is.
Employers' liability insurance is compulsory under the Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 for a firm with employees, at a statutory minimum of £5 million. Sole traders with no staff fall outside it, and a company employing only its owner is exempt only where that person holds at least 50% of the issued share capital.
Public liability insurance is not legally required. HSE describes it as generally voluntary. A roofer without it is uninsurable in practice, unlikely to be accredited and a poor risk to have on your property, but no law is being broken. Telling homeowners otherwise sets them up to accept a certificate at face value instead of verifying it.
Since the law will not do the checking for you, someone has to.