How to Buy a Commercial Roof?

Why is it so hard to find quality contractors these days?”

Demand for services in the construction industry just seems to keep rising.  With Florida being dubbed as a perpetual growth state, meaning people move here every year no matter any given world circumstances, means that it does not appear the demand is going to subside anytime soon.  If you add the fact that we just endured 2 devastating hurricanes that affected the entire state, the construction industry will be rebuilding Florida for a long, long time.  With demand being so high, it is hard to receive quality service in a timely manner these days.  

In the past month alone I have witnessed some impressively bad installations in my field and with the demand being so high, it is hard to vet out companies you are partnering with to determine if they actually know what they are doing.

Let’s start with the reasons why building owners are buying a new roof systems:

  • General degradation: if the roof is 18-20 years old its likely time to replace.

  • When should I proactively plan for a roof replacement:  The math is simple, if you are experiencing on going or repetitive roof leak(s) and/or you have 3 - 5+ NEW leaks annually and its at least 15 years old, its time to consider replacement.

  • Insurance letters: insurance companies have been dictating to many building owners when their roof system needs to be replaced as of late.  There will be a lot of litigation in the coming years to vet out best practices, but that doesn’t help us in the short term.  With a plethora of insurers leaving the state or filing for bankruptcy, the insurance market is in major flux.  If they said they aren’t re-writing your insurance policy until you have the roof replaced, there is little you can do to argue the point other than replacing it.   

  • “Acts of God – Hurricane damage, hail or wind damage

Where do I start:  Must have a scope of work!

  • Insurance Letter – if you have received a letter from your insurer about not renewing your insurance, start with your roofer for a budgetary estimate so you can start working on financing.  They should be able to tell you updated square footage pricing for roofing these days and give you a range of how much it might cost. Your roofer can help with developing a full scope of work, which should then be supplied to other roofers to provide an apples to apples quote to determine who is going to be the best fit.   

  • “Acts of God” - If you have damage due to an “Act of God” call your insurance company or call an independent adjuster first.  Independent adjusters will tell you to call them first before you call your insurance company, as they are independent of the insurer and can help guide you through the process, without a bias towards protecting the insurer.

  • General Degradation or Proactive replacement:  You can call your roofer to start the replacement proposal process or you can contact your roofing manufacturer for help in this process.  They all employ field reps and tech reps who may be willing to help with your scope of work and help you find qualified roofers to bid on the replacement.

Often times the existing roof system can also be the starting point to determine the best scope of work for your specific building.  If the existing roof has been in place for 18+ years with minimal maintenance or roof leaks, then it is probably best to go back with something comparable.

Step one:

  • Determine your roofing needs: Some Examples

    • Restaurants – PVC membrane is best because fatty acids can eat through TPO

    • Freezers or coolers- fully adhered is better than mechanically attached because fasteners can wick moisture into the building through the fasteners

    • Proximity to ocean or water – Aluminum metals may be better than steel

    • Etc…

  • Determine the best Scope of work that is specific to your building.  Start with what warranty you want?  Warranties on Commercial roof systems are the best warranties you can buy for any product that I am aware of.  The manufacturers back their products 100% and will pay a roofing provider to repair your roof for installation defects for 20 years.  You could end up never paying out of pocket for a roof leak on your commercial building for 20 years.  Not only that, the manufacturer will personally inspect this roof twice: once after its installation and at the 2 year mark, which insures proper installation.

  • Next, the Warranty you choose will have a scope of work that coincides with the warranty you want and the associated details to install this roof in order to attain the warranty.  Either your existing roofer or the existing roofing manufacturer can help with this to get the process started.  Also, the warranty you choose will also exclude any roofing companies who do not have the experience to install these systems.  Roofing contractors cannot offer 20 year No Dollar Limit warranties backed by the manufacturer unless they have a proven reputation and experience with the associated roofing manufacturer.  This is how you insure that all bidders can perform the job effectively.

  • Provide this scope to all bidders- this is the most common mistake made during the bidding process when collecting proposals for a retrofit of an existing building and how building owners end up reroofing their buildings prematurely.  They went with the lowest price the first time and the reason it was lowest was because they were missing details or were not bidding apples to apples.  The minor details in roofing are why roofs leak.

  • Lastly, whomever provides you with the roof, make sure they have a full-time dedicated service department.  Not all roofing companies maintain a full-time dedicated service department and the first 2 years of the 20 year warranty are backed by the roofer whom installed the system.

R/J Group