How to quote for a roof replacement

A roof replacement is one of the easiest jobs to underquote, because so much of the cost lives in getting safely up there and in what you find once the old covering is off. Strip the roof and you might meet rotten timbers, failed felt or a chimney that needs attention. Quote it without proper access for that, and the unknowns become your problem. Here is how to survey a roof, why access and working at height belong as real line items, and how to build a quote that holds up. This is for qualified roofers carrying out the work safely.

Survey before you price

You can't price a roof from the ground with binoculars alone. Get a proper look, whether from a ladder, a tower or a drone, and inspect what you can. The questions that move the price are about the existing structure and what the customer wants to change.

• What's the covering now, what's going on, and is it a like-for-like or a change of material and weight?
• What does the roof structure look like: pitch, condition of battens, felt and any visible timbers?
• Are there chimneys, valleys, dormers or roof windows that add detail and labour?
• What's the access like for scaffolding, and is there room and a safe route for loading and waste?
• Are the gutters, fascias and soffits part of the job, or being kept?

Treat access and scaffolding as a real line item

Working at height is not an afterthought, it's a cost in its own right and it belongs on the quote as one. A roof needs safe access: scaffolding or an edge-protection system, a way to get materials up and waste down, and time built in for setting up and striking it. Pricing the tiles and labour but burying the scaffold is how a quote ends up short. Make it a visible line so the customer understands what safe working at height actually involves.

The line items to include

Break the quote into clear parts so the customer sees the full job, not just the new covering.

• Access: scaffolding or edge protection, set-up, hire period and strike-down.
• Strip out: removing the old covering, felt and battens, plus skips or waste removal.
• Structure: new battens, breathable membrane and any timber repairs found on strip-out.
• Covering: the new tiles or slates, ridge, hip and verge details, and flashings.
• Details: chimneys, valleys, lead work, roof windows and any dry-fix systems.
• Rainwater goods: gutters, fascias and soffits if they're part of the job.
• Making good, a clean-down and removal of all debris.

Price your own labour and materials

Price the covering, membrane, battens and details from your suppliers, and your labour from the realistic days on a roof of that size, pitch and complexity. Factor the scaffold hire over the likely duration, not a best-case week. Price your own materials and labour for the roof in front of you, because a simple gable roof and a cut roof full of valleys and chimneys are very different jobs for the same footprint.

Handle what you can't see until you strip it

The honest difficulty with roofs is the hidden timber. You won't know the true state of the rafters or decking until the covering is off. Don't quote a fixed price as if everything underneath is sound. Either include a clear allowance for timber repairs and state what's covered, or treat that element as an estimate and explain plainly that any structural repairs found on strip-out are priced separately and agreed in writing before you carry on. This is exactly the line between a fixed quote and an estimate.

Present the price cleanly

Pull it together as a clear scope, the access and staged breakdown, your exclusions, how you'll handle hidden repairs, any guarantee on the work, and the total with VAT shown separately if you're registered. A roof is a major spend and major disruption, so a quote that explains the access and the unknowns earns trust over a bare number scribbled at the kerb.

For the standard sections every quote should carry, see what every professional quote should include. Because you can't see the timbers until you strip the roof, our guide on quote vs estimate explains when to commit to a fixed price and when to estimate.