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Keyword(s): "7291"

7291 Roofers and Shinglers

Roofers install, repair or replace flat roofs and shingles, shakes or other roofing tiles on sloped roofs. Shinglers install and replace shingles, tiles and similar coverings on sloped roofs. They are employed by roofing and general contractors, or they may be self-employed.

Example Titles

  • apprentice roofer
  • asphalt roofer
  • built-up roofer
  • flat roofer
  • residential steep roofer
  • roofer
  • shingler
  • single-ply roofer
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Main duties


Roofers perform some or all of the following duties:
  • Install, repair or replace built-up roofing systems using materials such as asphalt saturated felts and hot asphalt and gravel
  • Install, repair or replace single-ply roofing system using waterproof sheet materials such as modified plastics, elastomeric or other asphaltic compositions
  • Install, repair or replace shingles, shakes and other roofing tiles on sloped roofs of buildings
  • Install sheet metal flashings
  • Apply waterproof coatings to concrete or other masonry surfaces below or above ground level
  • Install and repair metal roofs using hand and power tools
  • Set up scaffolding to provide safe access to roofs
  • May estimate materials required and quote costs.

Shinglers perform some or all of the following duties:
  • Install or replace asphalt shingles, wood shingles and shakes and masonry or baked clay roofing tiles on sloped roofs of buildings
  • Set up scaffolding to provide safe access to roofs.

Employment requirements

  • Completion of secondary school is usually required.
  • For roofers, completion of a two- to three-year apprenticeship program
    or
    Over three years of work experience in the trade are usually required to be eligible for trade certification.
  • Roofing trade certification is compulsory in Quebec and British Columbia and available, but voluntary, in Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Nunavut, Northwest Territories and the Yukon.
  • Trade certification for residential steep roofers is available, but voluntary, in British Columbia.
  • Interprovincial trade certification (Red Seal) is also available to qualified roofers.
  • Shinglers require one to two years of on-the-job training.

Additional information

  • Progression to supervisory positions is possible with experience.
  • Red Seal trade certification for roofers allows for interprovincial mobility.

Classified elsewhere

  • Supervisors of roofers and shinglers (in 7219 Contractors and Supervisors, Other Construction Trades, Installers, Repairers and Servicers )