Roofing quote template and how to quote a roofing job

How roofers usually price a job

Roofers usually price re-roofing and flat roofs per m², linear work such as ridges, fascias and guttering per metre, repairs per job, and investigations by the day. Scaffolding or other access almost always goes on as its own line.

How to quote a roofing job, step by step

Quote a roof by measuring it properly, pricing each stage of the work, and treating access, waste and weather as real costs rather than afterthoughts.

1. Inspect safely and measure

Take photos. For a pitched roof, measure each slope from eaves to ridge and multiply by its width, rather than using the floor plan. Measure ridges, verges, valleys, fascias and guttering in metres.

2. Decide the work and the materials

Tiles or slates, battens, membrane, leadwork, fixings and any insulation. Match existing materials where the customer expects it, and say so on the quote.

3. Price materials, with breakage allowance and markup

Use your own merchant prices and your own experience of cuts and breakages, then add your markup. Know the difference from margin:

4. Labour for each stage

Stripping, disposal, felt and batten, tiling or slating, ridge and verges, flashings, gutters and clearing up. Allow for days lost to weather in your programme.

5. Access and waste

Get scaffolding priced in writing with the hire period, and say what happens if the job overruns. Add skips or waste removal.

6. VAT

Add VAT only if you are VAT registered. GOV.UK says you must register if your taxable turnover for the last 12 months goes over £90,000, measured on a rolling 12 months rather than your tax year. The standard rate is 20%, but some goods and services carry a reduced or zero rate, so check GOV.UK's VAT rates if you are unsure. If you are not registered, say on the quote that no VAT is charged.

What to include on a roofing quote

A roofing quote has to explain work the customer cannot see from the ground, so be specific.

1. Your details, including your VAT number if you are registered.
2. A quote number, the date and a valid-until date.
3. The customer's name and the site address.
4. The scope, slope by slope, with what will be stripped and what will replace it.
5. The materials, and whether they match existing.
6. Access: scaffolding, the hire period and who arranges any licence.
7. What is not included, such as rotten rafters or decking, chimney rebuilding, internal decorating and scaffold hire beyond the agreed period.
8. A price breakdown and VAT.
9. Who handles building regulations notification, if it applies.
10. Payment terms, how changes are handled and how to accept.

Extras, variations and hidden damage

Write on the quote that hidden damage found once the roof is stripped will be shown to the customer, with photos, and priced before you carry on.

• Rotten rafters, battens or decking.
• Defective chimneys or leadwork.
• Extra scaffold time caused by changes or delays.
• Days lost to weather.

Keep a note of each change with the price and the customer's agreement.

Deposits, payment terms and how long the quote lasts

Put the deposit, any stage payments, the due date for the balance and a valid-until date on every quote. Customers rarely argue with terms they agreed before you started. They argue with terms they first hear about on the invoice.

Deposits and stage payments

How much deposit you ask for is your decision, but tie it to something real, such as tiles, slates or membrane you are ordering for that roof. Citizens Advice tells customers that if a deposit is worth more than the work done so far, they can propose a figure and ask for the difference back, so a deposit that matches what you have spent on their job is easier to defend than a round number. On a full re-roof, link stage payments to finished stages, such as stripped and felted, rather than to dates.

When the balance is due

Write the due date in plain words, for example "balance due within 7 days of completion", and say how to pay. If your customer is a business, GOV.UK explains that on late business-to-business payments you can claim interest at 8% plus the Bank of England base rate, plus a fixed sum of £40, £70 or £100 depending on the size of the debt. If no payment date was agreed, the payment counts as late 30 days after the customer gets the invoice or you finish the service, whichever is later.

How long the price stands

There is no fixed rule, so choose a period and write a valid-until date on the quote. Material prices move and roofing depends on the weather and the season, so a clear date protects you. Citizens Advice says a trader generally cannot raise an accepted quote just because their own costs have gone up, so that date is what protects you if a customer comes back months later.

Rules roofers should know before quoting

Roofing quotes are shaped by building regulations, work at height, scaffolding on the highway, waste and CIS.

Building regulations

GOV.UK lists replacing roof coverings on pitched and flat roofs as work that might need building regulations approval, while gutters and downpipes do not need approval. If you are registered with a competent person scheme, the customer does not need to get approval themselves. Say on the quote who is responsible.

Working at height

HSE explains that the Work at Height Regulations 2005 apply if you are an employer or you control work at height, and that the work must be properly planned, supervised and carried out by competent people, using the right equipment, after assessing the risks. Price the access equipment and the time to set it up safely as their own lines.

Scaffolding on the road or pavement

GOV.UK says you need a licence from the local authority to put up scaffolding or hoarding on a public highway. If the access sits on a pavement, include the time and any fee.

Taking waste away

If you take waste away in your van, check your registration. GOV.UK says a business that transports waste in England must register as a waste carrier, and that registration usually costs nothing if you only carry waste you produce yourself. Put disposal on the quote as its own line so the customer can see it.

Working for a contractor: CIS and the VAT reverse charge

If you work as a subcontractor for a builder or main contractor, the Construction Industry Scheme will usually apply. GOV.UK says contractors deduct 20% from payments to registered subcontractors, 30% from unregistered ones and nothing for those with gross payment status. The deduction is worked out after taking off VAT and materials the subcontractor paid for, among other items, so show materials as their own line on your quote and invoice.

If you are VAT registered and you work for a VAT-registered contractor who reports the payment under CIS, the VAT domestic reverse charge usually applies: the customer accounts for the VAT to HMRC instead of paying it to you. HMRC's technical guide says the invoice must say "reverse charge" and make clear the customer must account for the VAT. It does not apply to work for householders, or to a customer who has told you in writing that they are an end user or intermediary supplier (GOV.UK guidance).

Put it in writing, and know the cancellation rules

Send every quote in writing and get the acceptance in writing too: a signature, an email reply or an online accept button. Citizens Advice describes a quote as a promise to do the work at an agreed price, and an estimate as the trader's best guess at the cost. If you can see and price the whole job, call it a quote. If part of it cannot be known until you start, say so, and either call it an estimate or quote the known part and list your assumptions.

If you agree the job with a customer in their home, it is usually an off-premises contract. Business Companion, the Chartered Trading Standards Institute's guidance for businesses, says the customer then normally has 14 days to cancel a contract for services, starting the day after the contract was made. If you do not give them the cancellation information, that period can be extended by up to 12 months. To start inside the 14 days, the customer must expressly ask you to in a durable medium such as an email, and if they then cancel they pay for the work done up to that point. Contracts of £42 or less are exempt.

Common roofing quote mistakes

Roofing quotes most often go wrong on measurement and access.

• Measuring from the floor plan instead of the slope.
• Forgetting ridges, verges, valleys and flashings.
• Scaffolding missing, or a hire period too short.
• No assumption about rotten timber found after stripping.
• Nothing about weather delays.
• Leaving out disposal of the old covering.
• Not saying who handles building regulations.

Quote on site with Graft'd

Graft'd is a quoting, invoicing and job app for UK tradespeople. Talk or type the job and it builds the quote with a plain-English scope of works for you to check. Parts are priced from supplier guide prices or your own rates, and it is set up for the way roofers price, per m², per day or per job. Your customer accepts the quote online, you invoice in one tap and get paid through your own payment link, and Graft'd chases late payers for you. Job notes, photos and receipts stay with the job, and CIS and the VAT reverse charge are handled on invoices.

It runs in your phone's browser, so there is nothing to download from an app store.