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How to read a roofing quote
If you are holding three quotes and they are thousands apart, the difference is almost never the tiles. It is what each one has quietly left out.
What a fair quote states
The scope, in plain sentences: what is being removed, what is going back, and over what area. Materials by name and type rather than "like for like", including membrane, batten size and treatment, and the fixings. Whether the ridge and verge are mechanically fixed or bedded in mortar.
Access: what scaffolding is included and for how long. Waste: skips, and who moves them. Making good, VAT, and the payment terms. A start window rather than a promise nobody can keep about weather.
And what is excluded, written down. A quote with no exclusions has not been thought about.
Phrases that should slow you down
"Like for like" without naming the material. "Subject to survey" on a job somebody has already looked at. "Plus scaffolding" at the bottom of an otherwise fixed price. A day rate mixed into a fixed-price job. "Guaranteed for 20 years" with nothing stating what the guarantee covers or who honours it if the firm closes.
None of those mean somebody is dishonest. They mean the number is not yet a price, and you should ask before you compare it with anything.
The questions worth asking every quoter
What will you do if you open up and find rot? How is that priced, and do I see it before the work happens? Who is actually on my roof, employees or subcontractors? What is your public liability cover? What does the guarantee cover, in writing?
Ask all five of each quoter. The answers will separate three numbers faster than the numbers do.
- Materials named, not described
- Scaffolding and waste inside the figure
- Variations shown and agreed before they happen
- Payment terms written down before any work starts
- Photographs of the defect the work is fixing
Deposits and staged payments
On larger work, some money up front for materials is normal, and staged payments against progress are normal. What is not normal is a large deposit before anything has been ordered or scheduled, or a demand for the full amount before the scaffold comes down.
Agree the stages in writing at the start. A payment schedule written on the day it is due is an argument waiting to happen.
Questions
Should I always take three quotes?
Two or three is sensible. Ten is not: you will get a spread wide enough to make the decision harder rather than easier.
Is the cheapest ever right?
Sometimes, when it is cheapest because the firm is local, small and has no marketing overhead. Check what is included before deciding which kind of cheap it is.