Commercial Roofing in Los Angeles, CA

Commercial roofing in Los Angeles is mostly low-slope work. The roofs are flat or close to it, water leaves through drains and scuppers, and the surface carries air conditioning units, vents and conduit that each need a watertight detail. We repair, replace and maintain these roofs for shop owners, landlords and property managers, and we plan the work around the people underneath.

What commercial roofing in Los Angeles covers

Each kind of job has its own page. Start with the one that matches your building.

• Commercial roof repair: leaks at drains, parapets, seams and equipment curbs
• Commercial roof replacement: tear-off or recover, phased around tenants and rooftop trades
• Commercial roof maintenance: scheduled inspections and drain cleaning before the rains
• Industrial roofing: tilt-up and metal buildings, which we assess case by case
• Multi-family roofing: apartment buildings, dingbats and walk-ups
• HOA roofing: townhome and condo associations that need approvals and phasing

Smaller buildings such as a corner shop or a two-unit office sit between these pages. If yours does not fit one cleanly, call and describe it.

Which systems suit low-slope commercial roofs?

The existing roof decides more than the catalog does. A new membrane over wet insulation fails early, and a coating over a split seam hides the split. We look at what is up there before we talk product.

Our pages on TPO roofing, torch-down roofing, foam roofing and roof coating go deeper on each.

Signs a commercial roof needs attention

Tenants often see the problem before the owner does. Call when you notice any of these:

• Stained ceiling tiles or a damp smell after rain
• Standing water that is still there two days after a storm
• Blistered or split membrane, or gravel washed into the drains
• Soft spots underfoot, which can mean wet insulation
• Daylight or drips around rooftop units and vent pipes

Do not climb up in the wet to look. Take photos from inside and from the ground, note the date, and send them to us.

How an occupied-building roof job runs, step by step

1. Walk the roof and the rooms below. We take photos and measurements, and tell you what the roof is made of.
2. Test the roof where we can. Cores or a moisture survey show whether the insulation is wet.
3. Write the scope. You get the system, the area, the sequence and how rooftop equipment is handled.
4. Set the schedule with the manager. Noisy work, staging and tenant notices are agreed before day one.
5. Work in sections. The crew closes up every section it opens, which keeps the building protected.
6. Clean up and review. We check the site for debris and fasteners, then go over the finished roof with you.

What changes the price of a commercial roof?

Size and access come first, then the system, then what is hidden. A roof that needs a crane lift for materials costs more to stage than one reached by a stair. Wet insulation, soft deck and many rooftop penetrations all add labor. Occupied buildings add their own costs: phasing the work in sections, protecting air intakes, and scheduling noisy tear-off at times the property manager agrees to. A roof with many curbs, vents and conduit runs takes longer to flash than an open field of membrane, whatever its area.

We do not publish a price per square foot because the same area can swing widely with those factors. We put the price in writing once we have seen the roof. Ask every contractor to price wet insulation and damaged decking as separate lines, so the totals can be compared fairly.

Permits, cool roof rules and inspections on commercial roofs

Permit rules depend on the building and the jurisdiction. Within the City of Los Angeles, re-roofing goes through LADBS, and other cities run their own building departments. Unincorporated areas follow the county. Settle in the contract who applies for the permit and who calls in the inspection. One customer says the permit process was taken care of for them.

Cool roof rules matter on larger jobs. For a nonresidential building, the California Energy Commission sets the trigger at re-roofing over half the roof area, or over 2,000 sq ft if that is the smaller number. Exceptions exist, the City of Los Angeles adds rules of its own, and your building department can confirm what applies at your address. Our cool roofing page explains rated products.

Asbestos can turn up in older roofing. When signs show, lab testing before removal is the sensible step, and SCAQMD Rule 1403 may call for a survey.

Why Clear Shield for commercial roofing in Los Angeles

Clear Shield Roofers is on Sherman Cir in Van Nuys, and Google shows 4.9 from 69 reviews as of November 2026. Most of those reviews describe homes, and we say so plainly. One customer's jobs included a commercial building and a home for the same owner, another received drone photos during the work, and reviewers mention pictures and measurements before quoting.

Those are habits we bring to a commercial roof: look first, document, then price. We treat each building as a new job and scope it that way.

We work across the Valley and the basin, including Burbank, Glendale, Santa Monica and Culver City. For leak sources, read our guide to why commercial roofs leak at parapets and drains, and for upkeep see the commercial roof maintenance plan post.