EXPECTATIONS ... recommendations for HOA's, residential - commercial roofs Facility Directors and all homeowners.

If I've said it once, I've said it a hundred times... COMMUNICATION is paramount between the building owner(s) and the contractor (in this particuliar case, the hiring of a roofing contractor) ... here are some recommendations that should satisfy the expectations of all parties when talking about existing or new roof maintenance, service, repair or replacement.

FIRST and FOREMOST: Is there truly a need for having called a roofing contractor?

For the record, most prospective roofing customers, aka... those who made first contact by calling a roofing contractor because they saw LIQUID WATER or CEILING STAINS, by majority, immediately think they need an ENTIRE NEW ROOF. In their minds, water infiltrating the building's interior means only one thing: ROOF IS BAD. 

When in fact, there are many reasons why water is coming through the "ceiling", regardless of how many stories/floors a structure has, problem could be; broken plumbing, HVAC pan over flowing, kids overflowed the toilet/bath, duct work condensation, sprinkler system leaking, left open skylight, window or door failure and in one case... a water balloon party where the balloons were picked up.

Regardless of "WHO" called the roofing contractor, or why, it is the sole responsibility of the ROOFING CONTRACTOR to establish "NEED" of any service after speaking with whomever made first contact... period. INVESTIGATION of the call is the first step.

1. Where was the water supposedly coming into the building? Please show me...
2. When was it last seen leaking?
3. Who saw the water leaking, just the stain or a puddle on the floor?
4. What measures were taken to identify the source of the leak? Control it?  
5. Was/is there any damage?
6. And the BIGGEST question of all... WAS THERE ACTUALLY LIQUID WATER SEEN coming down from the ceiling opposed to, just seeing stains? Nothing sucks more, there is NO bigger waste of time, than realizing it was a leak from weeks, months or years past but nobody changed out the tile, painted (killed the stain) the ceiling, or cleaned up the mess... that person is gone and someone new to the building just saw it and called a roofing contractor.

ROOFING CONTRACTOR SHOULD: inquire as to the customers ownership of the building in question, desired expectation(s) (maintain, service, repair or replace based on customers position... own selling/buying/renting... short or long term ownership)

1. Witness the EXACT point of leaking, stain or puddle and PHOTOGRAPH.
2. Locate and eliminate the possible sources of the leak and PHOTOGRAPH.
3. Provide a detailed, yet brief, explanation ON-SITE of the problem to customer... ask customer if they would like "quotation" for service. 
4. If requested, provide a detailed WRITTEN "scope of work" to the customer that may include varied options such as; A) a maintenance call of $500.00 or less, B) a short-term "hold-over" repair to secure the issue that has NO warranty or guaranty, and/or C) a long term resolution that comes with a long term warranty (material)AND guaranty (workmanship).
5. ALL PARTIES MUST SIGN & DATE THE CONTRACT, which includes state mandated "boiler plate" language, start/finish dates and payment terms.

NOTE: In today's roofing marketplace, there is almost NO long term solution (replacement) that does come with a MANUFACTURER CERTIFIED INSTALLER SUPPORTED long term warranty and guaranty based on a FINAL INSPECTION by the MANUFACTURER upon completion... especially FLAT ROOFS. Most roofing contractors today are CERTIFIED INSTALLERS of the manufacturer's products they use and represent and while being CERTIFIED, they are held to a much higher standard than those contractors NOT certified. More importantly, again, the manufacturer independently INSPECTS the final instalation in order to provide warranty/guaranty. Any defect in the installation process is immediately brought to the Certified Contractor to be corrected before warranty/guaranty is extended to the customer. FAILURE on the part of the roofing contractor to make such corrections means EXPULSION from the Certified Installer program... and NO ROOFER WANTS THAT!.

Aside, this CERTIFIED INSTALLER acquired by roofing contractors is NO "gift" from the manufacturers. Roofing contractors must adhere to very strict standards of installation, business practices, and continued education, or again... risk expulsion. This fact alone is why outside ROOF CONSULTANTS, ROOF "INSPECTORS", ROOF "OBSERVERS" or "CONSULTING ENGINEERS" is a WASTE OF MONEY. The service is REDUNDANT as within the last 15 years, the MANUFACTURERS inspect the work of their CERTIFIED CONTRACTORS themselves for... FREE !!!    FREE !!! Why... they hold all the control over the roofing contractor and ALL the liability for the work having been done... NOT SO with other "consultants". Don't waste your time hiring "CONSULTANTS"... it's a waste of money on all FLAT/SLOPED ROOF projects whether they be residential-commercial or industrial.

EXAMPLE: CERTAINTEED'S SELECT SHINGLE ROOFER PROGRAM is one of the best CERTIFIED INSTALLER programs in the roofing industry.

6. Always.........ALWAYS..... get a Certificate of Insurance (COI) from your roofing contractor ... any contractor for that matter. COI should list the roofing contractors current GENERAL LIABILITY POLICY (damage to property) and WORKER'S COMPENSATION POLICY (in case any worker gets hurt on the job).

NOTE: Massachusetts does NOT have an "inherent risk" clause regarding hurt workers like other states. TRANSLATION: if someone is working on your property, whether YOU or somebody else hired them for free or for a fee, IF THEY GET HURT... THEY HAVE THE RIGHT TO FILE A CIVIL SUIT AGAINST THE PROPERTY OWNER! CRAZY RIGHT ???    NOT SO, THAT IS FACT IN MANY STATES. 

7. All completed work... SHOULD BE PHOTOGRAPHED by the contractor.

8. Clean up and ALL debris, men and equipment removed from the property.

9. Warranty/Guaranty to be submitted to manufacturer for scheduled inspection.

NOTE: all manufacturers require roofing contractor be paid in full upon completion of project prior to their inspection.

This is "how it's done" at Cape Cod Roofing & Siding 800-734-7663 (roof). Contact Skip Schiappa @ [email protected], or elsewhere online at LINKEDIN.com, YOUTUBE, FACEBOOK, PORCH or the BLUE BOOK of CONSTRUCTION

         serving all of New England, Cape Cod & the Islands for over 34 years !!!

                           residential-commercial-industrial-institutional

  ROOFING : maintenance programs, emergency service, repairs & replacements

               1,000s of completed work photos and videos online... call us today !

WARNING: Some roofing contractors "BAIT n SWITCH" warranties/guaranties based on ambiguous roofing terminology such as "LIFETIME"... they also "forge" their own Certificate of Insurances... always get the COI from their insurance agent. Always get a firm cost of work to be done... GONE are the days of "estimates"... get a contract with a FIRM PRICE and should something change DEMAND A "CHANGE ORDER" signed by both the customer and the contractor PRIOR to doing the work. 

AND, beware the BULLSHIT of paying cash, discounts and coupons... most are nothing more than UPPING the cost to "GIVE" you a discount.... SCAM...