Planning a Commercial Roof Upgrade

If its late fall and you’re reaching out to request contractor quotes, you’ve got time to lock-in an early summer schedule for project launch. In this article we discuss time frames required to process and plan various aspects of a roofing upgrade.

Exploratory price & project scope

Before discussing project cost with owners, property managers are likely to request soft quotes from contractors. Be conscious, any number of factors and variables (including material brands) have a direct affect on pricing. If you don’t have a roof consultant, ask three different contractors for material recommendations and a soft quote.

If the building is 30 years or older you’ll need a recent core sample and photographs showing a cross section of the roof system(s) and type of deck to determine pricing requirements.

Soft quotes are exploratory in nature and never meant to compare! Your objective here is to determine the project type, selecting a type of roofing material and brand recommended by contractors. The selections you make here help assure prices will compare when you go to bid.

Set pricing expectations high early so there’s room to reduce expense once official bids are in. Defined a 20 year warranty term, use top rated material and consistent system configurations when budgeting a new roof system upgrade. Its easier to fall back on a reduced configuration than it is to increase budgets at the last minute.

Also, never compromise on skilled contractors, the quality of material and installation. A quality roof installation requires 80% to 90% less maintenance minimizing annual expense for many years to come and they last longer than industry standards.

Steps Involved

There are seven steps to upgrading a roof system.

Steps include:

Determine Project Requirements
Selecting a material make and model
Preparing a scope of work
Requesting price quotes
Selecting a contractor (best price)
Preparing and executing contracts
Scheduling a project start date

Variables Affecting Price

Building codes define whether you can overlay an existing roof system or if it must be removed. A current core sample will help determine if there is one or two roof systems installed and identify the type of roof substrate.

If two roof systems are present, you’ll need to perform a full tear-off. Avoid any recommendation to remove only one of these waterproofing systems as you’ll be adding a new layer of roofing to a forty year old system diminished to powder when disrupted.

The type of project (overlay vs tear-off) and roof substrate determine approved materials, component configurations and methods of installation.

The warranty or expected serviceable life also influence price based on approved configurations and installation methods. Always price a 20 year warranty term or higher. Critical operations like data centers, cold storage and box stores that house their inventory on the sales floor should price thirty year configurations.

Material brands are critical to the budget and longevity of your new waterproofing system. Be careful contractors don’t mislead you by recommending a Carlisle system and pricing a Versico brand of single-ply over the parent company Carlisle and its Sure-Weld brands. They’re not the same! But this applies to nearly all roofing materials so we have Cadillac’s and clunkers.

Similar differences can be found when pricing a GAF brand compared to John Mansville and Carlisle. GAF requires up to two inches of insulation to qualify for a 20 year No-Dollar-Limit (NDL) warranty. When installing insulation, the expense for roofing increases by up to 50% or 60%.

Time & Manpower: Step by Step

Determine Project Requirements

1 week or 24 to 48 hours per contractor . . .
Contractors need time for site and roof review to calculate a soft rate.

Selecting a material make and model

1 to 5 days . . .
Contractors may present different options owners and managers need to review.

Preparing a scope of work

1 day to 3 weeks . . .
It takes roof consultants three weeks to write a SOW to price roofing accurately
eScope writes a SOW and line items within an hour that can be edited after the pre-bid walk.

Requesting price quotes

1 week to 10 days . . .
A typical roofing bid requires a week with more complex projects up to ten business days

Selecting a contractor (best price)

1 day to 1 week . . .
If contractors are matched and rates relatively close, price review and selection is simple. Expect delays if mismatched contractors (union and independent) are bidding, to verify prices when rate spreads are more than 10% and allow time when advising ownership in contractor selection

Preparing and executing contracts

1 to 2 months . . .
Boilerplate agreements often require review, discussion and addendums when service providers don’t meet standard language. Special performance requirements also involve delays so allot enough time to meet your firms operating procedures.

Scheduling a project start date

1 to 3 months . . .
Contractors generally won’t schedule a project without a signed agreement. It would be disruptive to other personnel who are busy coordinating schedules for dozens of projects on contracts they’ve signed.

It can take six months or more between initial notice and signing an agreement. Having your agreements signed or in the works by the end of February or March will minimizing “first-in effects” that can delay a project start date.

Irrespective of geographical locations in the U.S. June through August are the best (and busiest) months to start installing a new roof. At the height of this roofing season, market rates are often affected by annual inflation and contractor demand.