Category: Latest Homeowner Articles

No other step is so important as the roofing contractor providing insurance when it comes time to perform work on your home. Your failure to ensure that coverage exists exposes you to the possibility of a lawsuit. Think about this for a moment. You have workers on the roof of your home and one of them falls and requires medical care. Who pays for that accident?

If your contractor isn’t carrying insurance at the time of the accident, the cost falls on you. Many home policies only cover $5,000 of medical care for accidents around the house. Do you really believe that the costs for medical care for somebody falling off your home is going to be less than $5,000?

How do you know if your roofing contractor has coverage? What do you look for to verify coverage?

The primary document every contractor should put forth without being asked is a Certificate of Insurance (commonly referred to as a COI). It looks like this:

This is a nationally recognized form called the ‘Accord’ presentation format. Here are the four critical parts to review:

Block 2 – The name of the insurance broker managing the contractor’s insurance. The agent is in Block 9.

Block 3 – The name of the roofing contractor. This should match the name of the contractor you want to engage and to whom you will make payment for services.

Block 5 – This reflects the actual coverage. As a homeowner, you want two critical pieces of insurance. One is general liability coverage, which is always marked with an ‘A’, is typically the first insurance presented. At the bottom of the page (commonly marked with a ‘C’) is Worker’s Compensation Insurance which covers injuries sustained when a worker falls off the roof or steps on a nail etc. 

Check that the policies are in force during the time the work will get done on your property; there are two columns reflecting effective date and date of termination. DO NOT LET YOUR ROOFING CONTRACTOR RENDER SERVICES IF THE INSURANCE HAS LAPSED!

All legitimate professionals will have insurance in place and the date range is always within the time frame of services. If the work is nearing the limits of the date range, professional contractors provide both the current Certificate of Insurance and the future coverage form which is typically provided about two weeks prior to lapsing of coverage. 

Many contractors include the auto policy coverage, property coverage (their equipment and tools) along with specialty coverage such as an umbrella policy or errors and omissions policy. 

Policy Limits – In block 5, at the far right-hand side are limits of coverage. Each state is different in what is required as a minimum level of coverage. And yes, many contractors try to keep costs low by selecting the bare minimum required level of coverage. As for general liability, their level of coverage should cover the cost to replace your home in case they cause a fire or water damage wrecks havoc on your home and belongings. Most contractors will have no less than $1,000,000 as coverage.

With worker’s compensation insurance, coverage should never be less than $500,000; but the best roofing contractors include $1,000,000 as the coverage per incident. Again, imagine a critical accident whereby one guy is falling and he grabs his fellow worker for stability and the two of them end up on the ground injured.

The National Roof Certification and Inspection Association advocates for policy limits of $1,000,000 for both general liability and worker’s compensation. If you want to get in contact with a member that serves your area, fill out the contact form here: Contact an NRCIA Roof Professional

 

As a homeowner, you are concerned about the integrity of your roof. Is it leaking? Will it start leaking soon? Many questions exist and you need someone to provide answers. Well, a professional roofing contractor will provide answers. The better trained professional roofers listen to your concerns, evaluate the situation and then if necessary provide a proposal to you to resolve the problem.

The following sections describe and illustrate what you should expect during that first meeting with your roofing contractor.

Listens to Your Concerns

After arranging a time to meet at your home, a professional roofing contractor will text you ahead of time to alert you that he is on his/her way to your home. Upon arrival, customary pleasantries are exchanged and the roofing contractor should ask three critical questions.

1. 1. What is it about your roof that concerns you?
   2. When was the last time any form of roof repair or replacement occurred?
   3. How can I help?

A professional will listen and after your response to the help question, they will guide you towards the appropriate answer. This process includes describing the current type of roof on the structure then the various types of options customarily found in your area for a roof. If they are well-prepared, he/she should provide brochures that explain these types of roofs and their corresponding benefits and drawbacks.

Once done explaining and illustrating the types of roofs commonly used for your area and structure; the roofing professional will move on and ask permission to evaluate the roof.

Evaluates Your Roof

 This step typically takes anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour to conduct. Many roofers will actually get up on the roof to walk it and get a closer look at the existing condition of the materials. They’ll investigate by inspecting flashing, collars, drip edge and valleys. They will take measurements and review your current air flow system for the attic.

Most of this work is done on the outside; sometimes though, they may request access to your attic. This is to discover leaks but more importantly look at the roof structure and the underside of the roof deck (the planking materials used to support walking on the roof).

Once done, they will report back to you to explain and discuss with you the current condition of your roof. In many cases, you may only need minor repairs; commonly due to maintenance failures. Many homeowners are unaware that roofs do require regular maintenance; at least every five years the roof should be inspected and critical points are either recaulked or replaced (such as pipe boots).

From here, a roofing professional will ask if it is OK to provide a proposal for services.

Submits a Proposal

The better roof professionals currently use customer management software and they have access right there at your home to load the information into their software. If you respond that you are interested in receiving a proposal, many roofing contractors can prepare this for you on the spot. It takes about 30 to 45 minutes to load the measurements and roofing layout and then generate a proper proposal. Often, they will e-mail it to you and complete meeting by explaining and answering any questions or concerns you may have. In some situations, the roofing professional will have to get answers prior to issuing a proposal to you. But they often will explain to you why and get a proposal to you within one business day. It is rare for it to take longer.

With this proposal, a professional roofer will include copies of their business license, insurance compliance, contractor’s license and a copy of the contract. When they submit the proposal to you, they will schedule a phone meeting to answer your questions and explain the next step in the process. 

As with any roof, this is an exterior function and as such, weather plays a big part related to scheduling and completion. The roofer will cover this too during the proposal submittal.

Summary

The key here is that this is all about integrity. The integrity of your roof and that of the roofing professional. Roofing professionals should listen to your concerns, ask appropriate questions and identify solutions to your problem. Before submitting a proposal, a roofing professional investigates and evaluates your roof. This allows them to have accurate information to load into software to prepare a proposal. The best roofing professionals provide three pricing options: good, better and best.

If you are need of a professional roofer, please fill out the contact form at this link and a roofing professional will contact you soon to arrange the first meeting. Contact an NRCIA Roof Professional

As a homeowner, you should only expect the best from your roofing contractor. Professional roofing contractors present proposals with three pricing structures: good, better and best. Well prepared proposals clarify the respective value the three price points provide.

 

For homeowners, each price point provides distinct advantages over the other two. Your decision model as to which price point to select often ties to the respective value advantages you seek. The following three subsections help homeowners understand the decision model applicable to assist in choosing which price point is your optimum selection.

 

Decision Model for the ‘Good’ Option

Naturally, the good option has the lowest price point of the three selections. It is enticing to immediately select this price point due to human instinct to select the lowest price. If you are interested in this price point, please be sure to select this value only for any of the following reasons:

 

First, your goal with the roof replacement is to meet the minimum standard required to fulfill a legal obligation such as placing the home on the market for sale or to comply with your community association standards. This includes a townhome restriction.

 

Secondly, and the most common is a budget limitation. Since this price point is the lowest of the three, it also means the quality of materials used are generally the minimum required by industry standards or life expectancy of the roof. In general, the materials used are for the 25 year life expectancy requirements; the lowest in the industry. In addition, many roofing contractors will limit their respective warranty, especially the workmanship aspect of the warranty to around one year. To acquire a longer term workmanship warranty or even manufacturer’s warranty requires a higher price point found with ‘Better’ and ‘Best’.

 

A third reason for selecting the ‘Good’ price over others is for rental property. It is normal to seek the lowest price to meet the minimum requirements of maintenance related to rental properties. In order to maintain cash flow based on market rents, landlords choose this price point for roof repairs or replacements.

 

Finally, a fourth reason exists to choose this price point over the others. The life expectancy of the structure is limited; thus a higher price point would waste dollars that could be used for other structural purposes or to minimize capital investment in property that has a short window of time before demolition or full restoration.

 

At this price point, the decision model is driven more by the lower price than actual value a homeowner derives from a roof. The window of time for the roof’s purpose is short, often less than five years; thus, there is no need to acquire greater value. However, when value is important, upgrade the roof to the better price point.

 

The ‘Better’ Price Point

The better price point typically includes the longer life or higher quality of the roofing materials installed. Often the roofing materials will have no less than 30 year life expectancies. In addition, roofing contractors use a thicker or non-felt based underlayment. Common examples include synthetic underlayment such as CertainTeed’s DiamondDeck.

 

This higher grade underlayment in combination with a longer life top layer of shingles, shake or tile provides the best protection from extreme foul weather. Whether your home is located in a hurricane zone, tornado alley or way up in the northern parts of the US where ice is common; choosing the better price for the upgrade in materials is a must.

 

If you want true protection from the elements, select this price point. This price point provides the best option within the range of materials available associated with one of the three most common roofing materials.

 

In general, many roofing contractors will extend their workmanship warranty to no less than two years and often many will include a one year check-up as a part of this price point in the proposal. Thus, as a homeowner, this price provides the absolute best in materials and a higher level of protection related to labor.

 

So why choose a higher price point?

 

The ‘Best’

The ‘Best’ price point with a proposal is different, not due to its higher price but due to the additional details, quality and of course warranty involved. Professional roofing contractors add tremendous value at this price point. First, all the roofing materials are of the highest quality and selection. For example, instead of traditional shingles, this price point may include architectural shingles.

 

In addition, more options are available at this price point for roof looks. For example, the roofing contractor may include the option to choose one of the three different looks: 1) woven, 2) closed-cut and 3) open. The proposal would include photos of each allowing the homeowner to choose the look they desire. Other options include roof ventilation systems, replacement of soft roof deck spots, style of flashing and more. In effect, this price point allows the homeowner the ability to get a look on their roof they desire.

 

The most important value this price point provides is warranty, especially workmanship. Many roofing contractors include a five year workmanship warranty with a one year return inspection and a five year inspection with reports to the homeowner.

 

For those reading this article, this price point is the perfect selection if you plan on living in your home for more than 10 years. In addition, there is greater sense of security knowing that your roof has been installed under the most rigid requirements; it is no longer there to prevent water intrusion, it is there to add value for looks and long-term protection.

 

Choose this price point when you need the most out of the looks and quality of your roof.

 

For a qualified roofing job, select an NRCIA authorized Roofer or Contractor to install your next roof. Click here to make contact with a qualified roofer in your area: Contact an NRCIA Roof Professional