Who Wrote Your Roof Number, and Who Answers for It

A roof number usually arrives on one page with a company name, a total and a signature line. Behind that page are at least two people: whoever walked the roof and counted the squares, and whoever sat down to price the job. In a small St. Louis outfit they may be the same person. In a larger one they often are not, and the person you met at the kitchen table may never climb a ladder onto your roof. Before you compare totals, find out who wrote each number and who will answer for it when the crew is on site.

Roofer comparison

Put the bids side by side and look at the author line first. A quote that names the person who measured the roof, and says when that measurement was taken, gives you someone to call if a figure turns out wrong. A quote with no author, or one that says "office," gives you a company name and nothing more. Neither is automatically a bad bid. The difference matters later, on the tear-off day, when the crew finds something the paper did not show.

Ask each roofer which of these roles their own team fills: the person who measured, the person who priced, the person who signed the proposal, and the person who runs the crew. Write the answers next to each other. If one company has a single person in all four roles and another splits them across three people, that tells you how many phone numbers you will have to keep track of during the job, and how many people will need to agree before a figure changes.

Check whether the measurement date matches the date of the proposal. A roof measured in March and priced in August may carry shingle and underlayment prices that no longer hold, and a roof measured before a spring hailstorm may have damage the count never saw. The measurement date should be on the page, and you have every reason to ask for it if it is not.

What it costs

The cost of a roof number that nobody owns is not on the quote. It shows up as a change order when the crew finds that the eave on the north side was measured short, or as a second site visit when the estimator who wrote the number has left and nobody else can explain how the pitch was figured. A change order can be reasonable, because roofs hide things until the old shingles come off. A dispute over who was supposed to catch the error is harder to settle, and in practice it lands on the homeowner, who is the only party that signed the page.

Ask whether the person who wrote the number will attend the start meeting, and whether they will come back to the roof if the crew reports a different count. Some roofers will commit to that in writing. Others will say the estimator "may not be available," which is an answer you can plan around. Either way you know what you are buying before the first bundle is opened.

Pricing also depends on who has authority to move a figure. A number written by a salesperson on commission is not wrong for that reason, but you should know whether the same person adjusts the price when the crew reports an extra layer of old shingles, soft decking or rotten fascia. If a storm changes the condition of the roof between the estimate and the install date, the author of the number should be the one who revisits it, not a stranger on the phone who has never seen the house.

What to ask

Ask each roofer these questions in writing, so the answers can be compared with the same wording:

1. Who measured my roof, on what date, and was it done from the ground, from a ladder, or on the roof itself?
2. Who priced the job, and will that person be reachable on the day the crew starts?
3. If the crew measures a different square count on tear-off, who makes the call on the new number, and how long does that usually take?
4. Does the proposal name the shingle line and the underlayment, and who on your side can confirm a substitution before it happens?
5. If the person who wrote the bid leaves the company before the job starts, who answers for the figures on the page?

Compare the answers by how specific they are. "Our estimator handles that" is weaker than a name, a date and a direct line. A roofer who will give you the number of the person who did the measuring is showing you the chain of responsibility before there is any problem to solve.

What the answers should look like

A good answer names a person and a role, gives a date for the measurement, and says what happens if the count changes. It also says whether a change will be priced the same way as the original number, or whether it will be a fresh estimate. Those are different things, and a bid that is vague about them can add cost after the crew is already on the roof with the old material stripped off and the deck exposed to the weather.

When you call to ask, listen for whether the person answering knows the house. Someone who can describe the pitch, the number of valleys and the condition of the eave at the back of the garage has probably been on the roof or has read the measurement closely. Someone who can only read back the total has not, and you should expect to ask the same questions again on the day the crew arrives.

Keys Roofing can be reached at (314) 220-2333 to ask these questions directly, and the office can tell you who measured a given roof and when. The point of asking is not to catch anyone out. It is to make sure the number you sign is one that someone on the company side will defend if it is challenged, and that you will know that person's name before the first shingle comes off.