Your information hub for Certi-label® Shakes and Shingles
What is Certi-label® cedar shake and shingle roofing?
Certi-label® is the mark we apply to shakes and shingles produced by our manufacturer members once those products meet our published grading rules. Each bundle carries the label along with its grade, so anyone on a job site can confirm at a glance what they are installing and whether it meets the specification called for on the plans. We built this system so that "Certi-label® Cedar Shakes" and "Certi-label® Cedar Shingles" mean something consistent from one bundle to the next, regardless of which member mill produced it.
Why choose certified cedar over uncertified product?
Non Certi-label® cedar shakes & shingles can vary in grain, thickness, and clear length from bundle to bundle, which makes it difficult to predict how a roof or sidewall will perform once it is installed. Certi-label® removes that guesswork. It's the consistent and periodic inspections of the manufacturing Mills that make all the difference. This quality control cannot be matched by the non-bureau Mills or Non Certi-label product in the market.
We grade every product line in all our Mills (Premium, Number 1, and Number 2) against fixed criteria for grain, clear length, and defect allowance, so a Premium bundle from one member mill matches a Premium bundle from another.
We publish the Roof Installation Manual and the Exterior and Interior Wall Manual so installers work from one authoritative reference instead of conflicting shop practices.
We administer the Manufacturer's Lifetime Limited Warranty on behalf of our member manufacturers, which gives specifiers a documented backstop tied directly to the certified product.
We issue fraud alerts when we identify misuse of the Certi-label® mark or false warranty claims, so the label continues to mean what it is supposed to.
Provide education, training and installation support for our material even after the material has been delivered to you. We stand by our product and quality.
Certi-label®'s strong market reputation, supported by more than a century of proven performance, reinforces confidence in our products.
We recognize three core product types under the Certi-label® mark:
Certigrade shingles
sawn on one or both faces for a uniform, tailored look
learn moreCerti-Split handsplit-resawn shakes
split by hand and resawn for a rugged, pronounced grain
learn moreCerti-Sawn tapersawn shakes
sawn on both sides for a smoother, more tapered profile than a handsplit shake.
learn moreWithin each line, we also certify treated options, Certi-Last for preservative treatment and Certi-Guard for fire-retardant treatment, for jurisdictions and applications where those properties are required. Treatment itself is carried out by independent treatment companies working to our specification, not by our office.
We cover both roof and sidewall applications.
On roofs, our members' products are cut and graded specifically for weather exposure.
On walls, our rebutted-and-rejointed and machine-grooved shingle options give architects a squared, uniform reveal for sidewall and accent work where a rustic split-face texture is not the goal.
Where to find grading detail, installers, and members
Everything we publish (our installation and maintenance manuals, our product and installation FAQs, and our case studies) is organized under Literature & Education so a builder or specifier can go straight to the document they need rather than searching a generic library. When a project calls for someone to actually cut, order, or install Certi-label® product, we point people to our Find a Member directory rather than take on that work ourselves. Our member network includes manufacturers, export-ready companies, and independent Member Contractors and Installers across the regions we cover, and it is the fastest way to confirm who is authorized to carry the label in a given area.
We do not sell shakes or shingles directly, and we do not perform installation, repair, or engineering assessments on individual projects. Those decisions belong with a licensed Member Contractor, an architect of record, or a qualified roof inspector, and we built our manuals and Find a Member directory specifically so that expertise is easy to reach. What we do is hold the line on the grading standard itself, so that everyone downstream, from mill to roof, is working from the same definition of quality.
If you are specifying, sourcing, or installing Certi-label® cedar and need a grading question answered directly, reach our office at info@cedarbureau.org.
