Roofing contractor services packages: build the menu

What to take away

General commercial guidance. Contract terms and consumer protections vary by state, so check the rules your state's contractor licensing board publishes, and have your agreement reviewed by a lawyer who works where you do.

Start from the argument you want to avoid

Take the last three jobs that turned into a disagreement. In almost every case the disagreement was about one of four things: what was included, what counted as extra, who decides, and what it costs when the answer changes.

A package is the document that answers those four in advance, in language a homeowner reads once and understands. Write it after the argument, not during.

The four clauses

The trigger. State the condition this package is for. Not the customer type: the roof condition. A package for a roof that is failing at the flashings is a different product from a package for a roof at the end of its service life, and pretending otherwise produces mispriced work.

The inclusions. Name the work, the materials by type — the shingle grade, the underlayment, whether ice-and-water shield is included at the eaves and valleys, the drip edge, the flashing — the cleanup and the disposal. Name the site protection. Name the documentation the customer receives at the end: the signed scope, the photographs and the disposal record. Anything unnamed will be assumed by somebody.

The exclusions. Structural repair. Other trades. Anything behind or beneath the covering beyond your stated allowance. The permit: who holds it, who pays the inspection fee, and any work a condition of it adds. Exclusions are not defensive: they are what makes the price meaningful.

The change mechanism. Who inspects, who authorizes, in what form, and at what stated rate. Get the customer's agreement to the mechanism at signing, so that the conversation on the day is about the finding and not about the process.

The allowance clause

This is the roofing-specific one, and it deserves its own paragraph in every replacement package.

State a quantity of decking or substrate replacement included in the price, counted in sheets of sheathing. State clearly, in the same sentence, what happens beyond it: the rate per sheet, who confirms the quantity, and how it is evidenced. A photograph of the exposed area with a measurement in frame settles nearly every one of these before it starts.

Customers accept allowances readily when they are explained at the quote stage. They resent them when they first hear about them from a foreman standing on a stripped roof.

Tiering that means something

If you offer good, better and best, each step must remove or add a thing the customer can point at.

Do not tier by effort or care. Every customer is entitled to the same standard of work, and implying otherwise is both bad practice and a claim you cannot support. Under the FTC Act a claim needs substantiation before it is made, and a tier described as more thorough is exactly the kind of claim that has none.

The menu, written out

Three packages built from the same four clauses. Substitute your own quantities and rates; the shape is the part worth copying.

Shingle repair package. Trigger: an active leak, a failed flashing detail, or storm damage on a roof that still has service life left. Inclusions: replacement shingles matched as closely as the existing roof allows, new underlayment under the repair, new flashing at the detail, sealant, cleanup, and disposal of the removed material. Exclusions: decking beyond the stated allowance, structural framing, and anything the permit adds. Change mechanism: your written authorization at the stated rate before extra work begins, with a photograph as the evidence.

Full shingle replacement. Trigger: a roof at the end of its service life, or one where repairs would consume a large share of a replacement. Inclusions: tear-off and disposal of the old covering, new underlayment, ice-and-water shield at the eaves, valleys and penetrations, new drip edge, new flashing at walls, chimneys and vents, asphalt shingles in the stated grade, three-tab or architectural, ridge venting, a magnetic nail sweep, and the manufacturer's shingle warranty registered in the customer's name. Exclusions and change mechanism: as in the repair package.

Replacement with a workmanship warranty. Trigger: the same roof as the package above, where the customer wants a higher specification and a longer workmanship warranty. Inclusions: everything in the replacement package, plus synthetic underlayment in place of felt, upgraded flashing metal, a larger decking allowance, and a post-installation inspection visit at the interval stated. Exclusions and change mechanism: unchanged.

What packaging cannot fix

Packaging does not make an unsafe job safe. If a roof needs access your crew cannot manage, no clause changes that.

The OSHA residential fall protection rule, 29 CFR 1926.501(b)(13), lists the methods and puts the duty on the employer, outside any customer agreement. Decide with a qualified adviser which access conditions your firm accepts, then package only within them.

Packaging does not fix a menu that is too wide. If a package exists because a competitor sells one, and your crew has never delivered it, the document will be the most polished part of a bad job.

The menu discipline behind this is in the roofing contractor services and packages guide. Whether a line deserves a package at all is answered by the ranking method in most profitable roofing contractor services.

Test a package before you print it

Give the draft to three people and watch what happens.

Fix what those three find, then print it.

Records the package assumes

A package promises documentation, so the documentation has to exist. Photographs in a fixed order: the roof before tear-off, the exposed deck with the measurement in frame, and the finished work. The signed scope. Every authorized change with its signature and photograph. The disposal record — the receipt from the landfill or transfer station. Keep the set for as long as the workmanship warranty runs, and longer if your state's licensing board requires it.

Keep the financial trail to the standard in IRS Publication 583, Starting a Business and Keeping Records. What the crew needs on the truck is covered in the roofing contractor equipment checklist for new owners.

The capacity a package consumes is set out in the roofing contractor equipment and setup guide. Staffing it is answered in how to hire reliable staff for a roofing contractor business.

Common questions

Should the price be on the package?

Publish a price for anything of known extent, such as an inspection. Do not publish a total for work whose extent depends on what is under the covering.

How many packages is too many?

More than a customer can hold in mind at once. Three is usually the limit for a homeowner conversation, and a fourth tends to exist for the firm's comfort rather than the customer's.

What if a customer crosses out a clause?

Then you have found the clause that matters to them. Talk about the underlying concern rather than the wording, and reprice if the scope actually changed.

Can I package repairs?

Yes, as a diagnostic visit with a stated scope and a stated rate for work found. Packaging an unknown repair as a fixed price is the fastest way to lose money on small jobs.