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Home / Roofers / West Virginia / Apprenticeships

Roofer apprenticeships in West Virginia

West Virginia has 3 registered roofer apprenticeship programs: 3 union and 0 open shop.1 Apprentices are hired and paid while they learn.

Find a program near you

Enter your ZIP to sort by distance.

3 programs

  1. Central Wv JAC & Roofers Local 242

    Mineral Wells · Wood County

    Union

  2. Charleston Roofers JATC

    Charleston · Kanawha County

    Union

  3. Wheeling Area Roofers

    Wheeling · Ohio County

    Union

Union locals and training centers in West Virginia

Call the local or its training center for the next application date.

Roofers union locals

  • Roofers Local 185Charleston
  • Roofers Local 188Wheeling
  • Roofers Local 242Mineral Wells

Training

Roofers locals run their apprenticeship through a joint committee with union contractors.

Contractor associations

The national trade group for roofing contractors is the National Roofing Contractors Association.

Union or open shop?

Union

Run by the Roofers union local's joint committee. You apply to the committee, take an aptitude test and an interview, and wait on a ranked list. The committee sends you to its contractors.

Pay is a set share of the union journey-level rate and steps up on a schedule. Classes are nights or week-long blocks, usually paid for by the program.

Open shop

Run by a roofing contractor or a contractors' association. You usually get hired by a member contractor first, and the contractor enrolls you.

Your employer sets the pay and the raises. Classes are nights or weekends, and some programs charge tuition.

What do programs ask for?

Applying this month

  1. Get your papers together1 week

    High school transcript or GED, a photo ID, and your birth certificate or proof of age. Programs that ask for algebra want the transcript that shows it.

    Time
    1 week
  2. Practice for the aptitude test2 to 4 weeks

    Union programs test algebra and reading. A few evenings with a practice test helps your ranking.

    Time
    2 to 4 weeks
  3. Pick three programs and check their dates1 evening

    Union programs take applications in set windows, some once a year. Open-shop programs and employer programs often take them year-round.

    Time
    1 evening
    Back to the program list
  4. Apply, then keep working

    Apply to all three. While you wait, a helper or trainee job with a licensed contractor gives you hours and a reference.

    The license steps

Can't get in yet?

Pre-apprenticeship

Short programs, often free, that teach the basics and help with the application. Ask the programs above which ones they take graduates from.

Start on a crew

Licensed contractors hire helpers with no experience. Keep a log of your hours and employers; many programs and license boards count them.

The license steps in West Virginia

How do you get into a roofer apprenticeship in West Virginia?

Pick programs near you, check each one's website for its application dates, and apply to more than one. Union programs test and interview, then rank applicants; open-shop programs usually start once a member contractor hires you.

How much do roofer apprentices make in West Virginia?

Programs set their own scales, usually a share of journey-level pay that rises every year. For a floor, the lowest-paid tenth of all roofers in West Virginia earned $13.78 an hour or less in May 2025.

Roofer pay in West Virginia

Other routes in West Virginia

Sources

  1. U.S. Department of Labor, apprenticeship.gov registered apprenticeship partners (apprenticeship.gov)
  2. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, West Virginia, May 2025 (bls.gov, May 2025)