Pricing advice for roofing businesses
When figuring out how to start a roofing business, you’ll need to learn how to price a roofing job.
Fees for your roofing company could vary based on the type of roofing services you offer, location, project scope, and numerous other factors.
If your roofing company is in its early stages—or you’re still trying to learn how to start a roofing business—this guide can help you create prices that work. We’ll break down pricing information for different roofing service types, explore various factors that could impact your prices, and examine a few examples of small businesses that have honed their fee structures.
Types of roofing services
A primary consideration for roofing pricing is the type of roofing services your company performs. Let’s break down four different types and explore pricing advice specific to each one.
Commercial roofing
Commercial roofers design, build, and maintain roofs on a variety of building types, like:
- Retail businesses
- Industrial and manufacturing facilities
- Healthcare buildings
- Pavilions and other outdoor structures
- Showrooms and car dealerships
Essentially, any roofing project for a client that isn’t an individual homeowner, multi-family housing entity, or public institution could fall under the commercial umbrella.
Commercial roofers must heed a few unique elements when designing their pricing model, like:
- The costs of commercial-specific licenses, when applicable per state laws
- Fees for additional insurance policies
- Additional costs of specialized materials
- Safety concerns and equipment needs unique to commercial building design
At its core, your fee schedule should ensure that you can pay your bills, compensate your employees, and turn a profit. Commercial roofers have specific financial obligations to fulfill, and should account for these in their pricing models.
Residential roofing
Residential facilities could include:
- Single-family homes
- Single-family homes converted into multi-unit housing
- Multi-family residences, like duplexes or apartment complexes
- High-rise condominiums
- Temporary residences, like hotels, resorts, hostels, or retreat centers
In some cases, residential-only roofing companies can expect to primarily work on numerous small projects instead of a few large contracts. That quantity-to-value ratio is a crucial consideration for your pricing model—remember that, if you charge low fees on one contract, you may be able to make up your profits by securing a better deal on the next one.
Public projects
Some small roofing businesses may focus specifically on buildings for public entities, like:
- Local governments
- Public service departments, like police and fire stations, courthouses, and utility company facilities
- Public schools
- Colleges and universities
Roofers focused on securing public contracts must pay close attention to:
- Industry-standard pricing
- Unit and hourly fees
- Pre-set budgets funded by public grants, taxpayer money, or allocated government spending
If your business primarily works on public projects, you may have to contend with prices that are essentially set for you.
Specialty roofing
Specialty roofing services—like flat roof construction or roofs supporting solar panels—require equally specialized pricing. If you plan to fill a highly specific niche in the roofing industry, your fees should account for:
- The specialized materials you’ll need
- Unique safety equipment
- Accommodation of changing building codes for novel structures
- Additional resources needed to market specialty services
In addition, one-of-a-kind projects often require bespoke pricing—so, you may run into difficulty if you try to develop standardized hourly or square-footage pricing. Be prepared to:
- Negotiate with your clients
- Alter your materials choices to meet highly specific needs
- Meet changing or developing regulatory requirements
- Consider cost-plus pricing models which usually stipulate that clients will pay:
- Labor costs
- Materials prices
- Permitting fees
- An additional percentage of all project costs
Repairs, maintenance, and remodeling
Perhaps you don’t plan to focus on one building or project type, but want to provide repairs, maintenance, or remodeling services in a variety of sectors.
Roofing businesses that specialize in these areas can benefit from detailed pricing guidelines. What does that look like for each of the project types listed above?
Repairs – If you focus on repairs, you could establish set pricing for:- Service calls
- Patching jobs
- Fixing leaks
- Storm damage mitigation
- Pressure washing
- Soffit and fascia cleaning or repainting
- Leaf removal
- Resealing and leak detection
- Unit prices for materials
- Fees per square-foot
- Hourly costs
How to charge for roofing services
Now that we’ve explored various considerations for different types of roofing services, let’s break down more specific elements to consider as you build out your fee schedule.
#1 Size
Depending on the type of roofing services you provide, you may want to consider building default pricing based on roof size.
Your size-based pricing could account for one or more of the following factors:
- The total square footage of the roof surface
- The rise and run of the roof (or how steep the surfaces are)
- The height of the roof, which could impact your need for additional safety equipment or rented access equipment, like aerial lifts, scaffolding, temporary elevators, or waste chutes
But, remember that size likely won’t be your only consideration for many projects. Materials selections or scope could also impact your overall job costs, including:
- Staffing needs
- Permitting requirements
- Specialty certifications
#2 Roofing material
Speaking of materials, you should consider how certain supply needs will impact your fees. Let’s explore two hypothetical projects:
Project #1 is a residential project featuring:
- A 2,400 square-foot roof
- Painted soffits and fascia
- Asphalt shingles
Project #2 is also a residential project, calling for:
- A 2,4000 square-foot roof
- Powder-coated soffits and fascia
- Clay tiles
While these two projects feature roofs of the same size, charging both clients the same amount would likely be unwise. The difference in costs between paint vs. powder coating and asphalt shingles vs. clay tiles may be significant enough to warrant a fee structure that accommodates the price of supplies. The formula might also vary on other materials, such as metal roofing, tile roofs, slate roofing, etc.
#3 Per hour
Labor time is a critical consideration when building a price schedule for your roofing business. Let’s return to the example projects above:
Project #1 is a three-story building that:
- Can’t accommodate a temporary elevator or waste chute
- Is a one-hour drive from company headquarters
- Requires three roofing inspections per the jurisdiction’s building department
Project #2 is a single-story structure, and it:
- Can accommodate an aerial lift or scaffolding
- Is a ten-minute drive from headquarters
- Requires two roofing inspections
While these projects are the same size, they also might require different amounts of time to complete. Workers on Project #1 will likely spend more time moving materials and waste, have an extended commute to the job site, and must be on-site for three inspections. Meanwhile, the circumstances surrounding Project #2 will potentially allow for quicker and simpler movement of materials, less travel time, and less inspection time.
#4 Per service
Per-service pricing can be particularly useful for roofing businesses specializing in maintenance and repairs. While you should still consider materials, labor time, and size in your estimating process, you could set base price ranges for specific, commonly-requested services, like:
- Pressure washing
- Leaf removal
- Shingle replacement
- Leak repair
- Patching
- Soffit or fascia replacement
Plus, these services are relatively straightforward, making them simpler to estimate—or advertise in your marketing materials.
#5 Service bundles and continuing maintenance contracts
Depending on the services your roofing company offers, consider building two pricing options for potential clients:
- Service bundles that provide discounts to customers who request multiple services in one visit.
- Continuing maintenance contracts that reduce the fee for customers who commit to a long-term agreement for periodic services.
But, when you build these options (and customize them for clients’ specific needs) make sure that your reduced rates will still adequately cover your job costs and secure a profit. One of the best ways to market these options is to compare them to the price of a la carte services—give clients a frame of reference for the deal they’ll get when they bundle or sign up long-term.
#6 Location
Pricing and location go hand-in-hand. The prices of materials and labor in a small, Midwestern town are likely different than they would be in a major, coastal metropolis.
Savvy clients will seek estimates from multiple companies before they sign on the dotted line. So, your prices should be in line with local industry standards.
Do your research and try to scope out what your competitors are charging for their services. Look out for what fellow roofing companies advertise on their websites and other marketing channels. This includes:
- Pricing for individual services
- Promotional prices and seasonal sales
- Deals for bundling or signing a long-term agreement
- Service-wide price increases to account for:
- Changes in local wage laws
- Increases in materials costs
- Inflation or other economic factors
#7 Custom Roofing Project
There are some commercial or residential owners that do not want to use a conventional roofing material or design for their property. Pricing for a unique roofing project might depend on whether you're working with a new or existing roof, sourcing a unique roofing material, duration of roofing job, etc. Custom projects may require some adjustments to your normal services and are something you would need to work on with your client.
Roofing services pricing examples
Let’s examine two examples of how businesses publish pricing information to their customers online:
- South Dayton Roofing – South Dayton Roofing in Ohio doesn’t specify prices for services, but they do provide information about project specifics that could impact pricing. Custom projects typically have unique price points, so establishing the cost up front establishes trust with your potential customers.
- Restoration Roofing – Restoration Roofing in Tennessee provides informational blog posts about pricing, breaking down average square footage pricing in the area and potential costs for specific services. Having this information easily accessible on your website will inform potential customers and entice them to consider your services.
Expand your roofing business with Nextdoor
It’s hard to develop a one-size-fits-all roofing pricing schedule—numerous factors impact how much you’ll charge your customers, and it’s important to explore all of the context of a job before providing an estimate.
And, as your business grows, your pricing can change. If you’re ready to put your small business on the map, Nextdoor is the best tool for the job.
When you build your free Business Page on Nextdoor, you gain access to potential clients in your community. On Nextdoor, you can connect with potential customers one-on-one, share information about your business, run Nextdoor Ads, and spread the word about your promotions.
Whether you’re a new business or you’re proud of your company’s long history, Nextdoor can take your business to the next level.
Sources:
National Roofing Contractors Association. Technical Glossary. https://www.nrca.net/Technical/Glossary
US Government Accountability Office. Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide. https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-20-195g.pdf
Investopedia. Cost-Plus Contract. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cost-plus-contract.asp
ContractsCounsel. Continuing Services Agreement. https://www.contractscounsel.com/t/us/continuing-services-agreement
International Association of Certified Home Inspectors. Measuring Roof Slope and Pitch. https://www.nachi.org/roof-slope-pitch.htm
