Compare Each Roofer's Job-Day Contact Sheet Before the Crew Arrives

On the morning a roof crew starts, the homeowner usually has one question that no quote answers: who do I call right now? A contract names the company and the price, but the crew's phone numbers, the name of the person in charge that day, and the number to call for a leak in the afternoon rain are rarely written anywhere the homeowner can find them. A job-day contact sheet fills that gap. It is a short document, usually one page, that lists who is on the property, how to reach them, and who answers when the office is closed.

This page compares what each roofer puts on that sheet, and what to ask for before the first truck pulls in. It does not rank roofers or judge their reviews. It looks at one document and what the wording on it says about how the job will be run.

Roofer comparison

Put the sheets side by side and read four lines on each. The first is the name of the crew lead for that day, not the owner or the office manager. The second is a mobile number that the crew lead answers while the roof is open. The third is the office number, which for Keys Roofing is (314) 220-2333. The fourth is the hour window when someone at the office picks up. Where a roofer gives all four, you know who to reach at 7 in the morning and who to reach at 5 in the afternoon. Where a sheet has only a company name and a general phone line, you are left guessing which person will actually answer.

Compare the wording too. A sheet that says to call the office for any question sends every question through one desk. A sheet that says the crew lead handles site questions and the office handles schedule and billing questions shows you the split before anything goes wrong. Neither approach is wrong, but they produce very different days on the roof.

Look for who is not on the sheet. Subcontractors such as a dumpster company, a tear-off hauler or a metal flashing shop often arrive on their own schedule. If the sheet lists only the roofing company, ask who to call when a dumpster driver is blocking the drive. The answer shows whether the roofer has thought about the other people on the property that day.

Check the date on the sheet. A contact sheet printed three weeks before the job may list a crew lead who has since moved to another project. Ask for a version dated the day before the start, and ask the roofer to confirm by text that the numbers still work.

What it costs

A contact sheet adds nothing to the price on paper, but it takes time to write and keep current. The difference between two bids usually does not come from the sheet. What the sheet affects is the time you lose when something goes wrong. A crew that cannot be reached for two hours while a gutter line is loose or a pallet of shingles is blocking the driveway can cost you a lost work day, a rescheduled delivery and a second trip from the dumpster company. Those costs do not appear as a line on the proposal, so they are easy to overlook when you compare totals.

Ask whether a return visit caused by an unanswered call carries a charge. Some roofers add a trip fee when they have to come back because no one could be reached. Others absorb that cost. Neither answer is in the contract unless someone writes it there, so ask before you sign and note the answer, with the date, on the proposal.

Treat the sheet as part of the price. A roofer who lists a crew lead's mobile number and a clear hour window has given you a way to solve small problems the same day. A roofer who cannot say who answers the phone may still do good work, but you should ask each roofer to explain how a return visit would be handled before you choose.

What to ask

Ask each roofer these questions in writing, and keep the answers with the proposal.

• Who is the crew lead for each day, and what is that person's mobile number?
• Who answers the office line while the crew is on the roof, and until what time?
• What number do I call if a tarp comes loose after the crew has left for the day?
• Who speaks to the dumpster company, the hauler or the flashing subcontractor if they block the drive or the curb?
• Will the sheet be updated if the crew lead changes, and how will I be told?
• Does a return trip caused by an unanswered call carry a charge under this proposal?

Ask for the sheet itself, not a description of it. A roofer who says they always give a sheet but cannot send one before the start date has told you something about how the day will run. A roofer who sends a sheet with blank lines for the crew lead's name has told you something too.

Ask how the sheet handles St. Louis weather. A spring storm can move the start date by a day, and a hot July morning can change when the crew arrives. The sheet should say which number to call if the crew does not show up at the hour written on the proposal. That number should belong to someone with authority to change the plan, not only to a voicemail box.

Read the whole sheet against the weather clause in the contract. If the contract says a rain day counts as a day off but the sheet says the crew lead will call before 6 in the morning to confirm, you have two commitments that need to match. Mismatched terms are easy to miss on the day itself, which is why they should be caught on paper before the work starts.

Keep the sheet with the proposal and the signed contract. Write the date on it, the name of the person who sent it, and any changes you asked for. If the crew changes on the second morning, you will have a dated reference showing what was promised and by whom.