How to write a quote as a roofer

Roofing is one of the easiest trades to underquote, because so much of the real cost lives in getting safely up there and in what you find once the old covering comes off. Price the tiles and labour, bury the scaffold, and assume the timbers are sound, and the job that looked profitable from the ground turns into one you're funding yourself. A clear written quote makes the access visible, sets honest expectations about the unknowns and the weather, and gets the deposit agreed before you start. Here is how to write one as a roofer. This is for qualified roofers carrying out the work safely.

Treat access and scaffold as a real line item

Working at height isn't an afterthought folded into the labour rate, 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 to set it up and strike it. Burying the scaffold is the single most common reason a roofing quote comes out short. Make it a visible line, with the hire period over the realistic duration rather than a best-case week, so the customer understands what safe working at height actually involves and you're not quietly subsidising it.

Be honest about the hidden timber

The hard truth of roofing is that you can't see the state of the rafters, battens or decking until the covering is off. Quote a fixed price as though everything underneath is sound and any rot you find becomes your problem to absorb. The professional way to handle it is to be upfront on the quote: either include a clearly stated allowance for timber repairs and say what it covers, 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, and our guide on quote vs estimate covers it.

The line items a roofing quote should carry

Break the quote into clear parts so the customer sees the full job, not just the new covering, and so you don't leave the expensive bits out.

• Access: scaffolding or edge protection, set-up, the hire period and strike-down.
• Strip out: removing the old covering, felt and battens, plus skips and 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, dormers and roof windows.
• Rainwater goods: gutters, fascias and soffits if they're part of the job, excluded clearly if not.
• Making good, a clean-down and removal of all debris.

Put weather and timeline caveats in writing

A roof is the one job the weather can stop dead, and the customer needs to know that before you start, not when you're three days behind. Give a realistic duration in working days and a start window, then state plainly that bad weather can extend it and that an open roof won't be left exposed in conditions that risk water getting in. Setting that expectation on the quote protects you from being blamed for delays outside your control, and it reads as a professional who plans for reality rather than one who's caught out by the first wet week.

Price your own labour and materials

A simple gable roof and a cut roof full of valleys, chimneys and dormers are very different jobs for the same footprint, so price the roof in front of you rather than a per-square-metre figure borrowed from another roofer. Cost the covering, membrane, battens and details from your suppliers, your labour from the realistic days at that pitch and complexity, and the scaffold over the likely duration. If your day rate underpins the labour, our guide on how to set your day rate as a tradesperson shows how to build one that covers your costs.

Deposit norms on roofing work

A deposit is normal and expected on roofing, because you're committing real money to scaffold hire and ordering tiles or slates before you set foot on the roof. Tie it to what it actually covers, the access and the materials you have to order, rather than plucking a percentage from the air, and state clearly on the quote what it secures. On a longer job, set out stage payments too: the deposit, a milestone as the work progresses, and the balance on completion. Our guide on how much deposit should a tradesperson ask for covers tying it to your real outlay, and stage payments covers structuring the rest. KeenQuote turns a plain-English description of the job into a structured quote in about a minute, so you can get a professional document back fast while the customer is still deciding. It's free for five quotes a month, and Pro is £19.99 a month for unlimited.