This is a checklist for reading a commercial roofing quote before you accept it. It applies to a repair, a coating or a replacement, and it assumes you have a document in front of you that states a number.
The aim is to find out what the number does and does not cover.
The scope
| Should state | Why |
|---|---|
| The system, by manufacturer and product | Type alone does not define what is being installed |
| Recover or tear off | The largest single difference between two prices |
| Insulation type and thickness | Invisible after installation, easy to reduce quietly |
| Attachment method | Governs wind performance and deck suitability |
| Surface preparation | Governs whether anything adheres to anything |
| Detail treatment, named | Upstands, curbs, penetrations, edge metal |
| Drainage work | Outlets, strainers, clamping rings, overflows |
| Area, with a basis | Measured from a plan or a survey, not estimated |
The allowances
| Should state | What to ask |
|---|---|
| Deck repair allowance | What rate per unit area sits behind it |
| Any provisional sum | What exactly it is provisional on |
| Quantities to be verified | Who measures, and when |
| Photographs before covering | Agreed in the quote, not requested later |
| What happens if unused | Whether it is credited back in full |
The exclusions
| Should appear, even as a line | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Deck repair | The commonest unpriced item on any roofing quote |
| Drainage work | Frequently absent rather than excluded |
| Equipment removal and reinstatement | Usually a separate trade |
| Disposal | Costs rise sharply with certain older materials |
| Asbestos or hazardous material | Needs its own process and its own price |
| Code driven upgrades | Insulation values move; the existing roof predates them |
| Internal making good | Nobody’s scope unless somebody writes it down |
The terms
| Should state | What to watch for |
|---|---|
| Payment schedule | Proportionate to work completed, not to signature |
| Deposit | Covering materials, not the whole contract |
| Change order process | How a variation is priced and who authorizes it |
| Retention | An amount held until completion and sign off |
| Programme | Duration, with the weather assumptions behind it |
| Liability during the works | Who carries the risk if water enters an open roof |
| Lien waivers | Provided as payments are made |
The warranty
| Should state | Why |
|---|---|
| Who issues it | Manufacturer, contractor, or both |
| What it covers | Material only, or material and labor |
| How long, and from when | Duration without a start date is incomplete |
| What voids it | Unauthorized work is the commonest clause |
| Maintenance required | Frequency, and who will perform it |
| Transferability | Whether it survives a sale, and at what cost |
What to do with it
- Ask whether it is a quote or an estimate. In writing, before anything else.
- Require every common exclusion to appear as a line. Even if the line says excluded.
- Get a rate behind every allowance. An allowance without a rate hides the exposure.
- Agree photographs before anything is covered. This ends most deck disputes.
- Read the warranty conditions before the contract. The conditions are the warranty.
Want the reasoning behind these checks? Read what drives commercial roofing cost, and if the work in front of you is a repair rather than a replacement, how a repair estimate is put together covers the same ground for smaller scopes.
Walked by Date Roof
Common questions
What is the difference between an estimate and a quote?
An estimate is an opinion about what the work will probably cost and a quote is an offer to do it for a stated price. The words are used loosely in the trade, so what matters is which one you have been given rather than which word appears at the top of the page.
- A quote states a price the contractor is offering to hold
- An estimate states a likely cost that may move
- Either can be fair, provided you know which you have
- An estimate for unknown work is often the honest document
- Ask directly, in writing, which one this is
Repairs are frequently estimated rather than quoted, and reasonably so, because nobody knows what is under a membrane until it is opened. Replacement should normally be quoted, with a named allowance for the one genuine unknown, which is the deck. If a replacement arrives as an estimate, ask what specifically is uncertain and why.
Which omissions cost the most later?
Deck repair, drainage work, equipment handling and disposal. Each one is easy to leave out of a price, hard to spot when you are reading it, and expensive to add once the roof is open and the crew is standing on it waiting for a decision.
- Deck repair, which is unknown until the roof is stripped
- Drainage work, which is frequently absent altogether
- Equipment removal and reinstatement, which is another trade
- Disposal, particularly of older materials
- Code driven insulation upgrades on a like for like price
Ask for each of these to appear as a line, even if the line says excluded. An explicit exclusion is a negotiating position you can act on before signing; a silent one is a variation after you have. The difference costs nothing to request and it is the single most useful change you can make to a quote you have been sent. Send the list of required lines with your scope, so every bidder is answering the same question in the same order.
How should allowances and provisional sums be treated?
As numbers that will change, and therefore as numbers that need a rate behind them. An allowance for deck repair is only useful if the quote also states what the repair costs per unit area, because otherwise the allowance tells you nothing about the exposure.
- A deck repair allowance needs a stated rate per unit area
- A provisional sum should say what it is provisional on
- Ask what happens if the allowance is not used
- Ask who verifies the quantity before the work is done
- Agree that photographs are taken before anything is covered
The practical protection is a verification step. Agree that the area of deck repair is measured and photographed before it is covered over, with somebody from your side present or the photographs sent that day. It is a small discipline that converts the most common source of dispute into an arithmetic exercise both parties can check.
What terms matter as much as the price?
The payment schedule, the change order process, retention, and who carries the risk of water entering the building while the roof is open. A good price on poor terms frequently costs more than a slightly higher price on terms that were thought about properly.
- A deposit proportionate to materials, not to the contract value
- Payments tied to completed work rather than to dates
- A written process for pricing and authorizing variations
- Retention held until completion and sign off
- Clear liability for water entering during the works
The weather question is the one most often left unanswered, and it is the one with the largest potential consequence. A roof that is open is the most vulnerable the building will ever be, and the answer to what happens if it rains tonight should be a described routine rather than an assurance that it probably will not. Read the terms before the number on a quote you are inclined to accept, because the number will colour how carefully you read everything after it.
What should the quote say about the warranty?
Who issues it, what it covers, how long it runs, what voids it and what maintenance it requires. A line saying twenty year warranty with nothing attached to it is marketing rather than information, and it is not something you can rely on later.
- Manufacturer and workmanship warranties are separate documents
- Material only cover excludes the labor to put it right
- Nearly all require documented maintenance at a stated frequency
- Unauthorized work by another trade commonly voids cover
- Transferability matters if the building may be sold
- Who inspects the completed roof before the warranty is issued
Ask for the specimen document before the contract rather than the certificate after completion. Reading the conditions takes ten minutes and frequently changes how two quotes compare, because the longer warranty sometimes turns out to carry obligations that nobody in the building has any intention of meeting. Note the maintenance obligation in the building calendar the day the warranty is issued, rather than filing the document and discovering the requirement during a claim.