Roofing is one of the most quoted-around trades in the UK. A homeowner staring at a leak or a sagging ridge will almost always get three quotes, and they are nervous: roofing horror stories are a tabloid staple, the job is high value, and most customers cannot climb up to check your work. That nervousness is your opportunity. The roofer whose quote looks professional, specific and accountable wins jobs against cheaper numbers scribbled on the back of a card.
This guide covers what a proper roofing quote needs to include, how to structure it, how to price the common jobs, and the trust signals that make a customer pick you even when you are not the cheapest.
What a roofing quote must include
A single figure by text message is not a quote, it is an invitation to a dispute. A roofing quote that protects you and reassures the customer covers:
- Scope of work, specific to the roof. Strip and re-cover or repair only? Which elevations? Battens, membrane and insulation included or existing? State what you found on inspection and exactly what you will do about it.
- Materials specification. Name the tile or slate (manufacturer and model where relevant), the underlay, the fixings, flashing material, and ridge system. "Like for like" invites arguments; a named spec ends them.
- Scaffolding as its own line. It is often the single biggest cost after labour and materials. Show it separately so the customer understands where the money goes, and state who supplies it.
- Waste and skip hire. A strip job generates tonnes of waste. Spell out that removal is included (or not).
- Weather and contingency terms. Roofing is weather dependent. Say how delays are handled and what happens if hidden rot or defective timbers are found once the covering is off, including how extra work will be priced and agreed before it is done.
- Timeline. Start window, expected duration, and what the customer needs to do (move cars, garden access).
- Payment terms. Deposit, stage payments on bigger jobs, balance on completion. Never large sums up front.
- Guarantee and insurance. Workmanship guarantee length, any manufacturer warranty on materials, and your public liability cover. For nervous roofing customers this section wins jobs on its own.
- VAT position. State clearly whether your figures include VAT at 20 per cent. If you are not VAT registered, say so.
A roofing quote template structure that works
Lay the quote out in this order. It reads like a professional document rather than a number, and it answers the customer's unspoken questions in the order they think of them.
- Your details: business name, address, contact, and insurance summary.
- Customer and property: name, address of the roof in question, date of survey.
- What we found: two or three sentences on the condition of the roof from your inspection. This proves you actually looked, which separates you from the drive-by quoters immediately.
- Scope of work: the numbered list of exactly what you will do, elevation by elevation.
- Materials: the named specification.
- Price breakdown: labour, materials, scaffolding, waste removal, then the total with VAT stated.
- Timeline and weather terms.
- Payment schedule.
- Guarantee and what it covers.
- Acceptance: a line for the customer to accept, with how long the quote remains valid (30 days is standard).
Pricing roofing work without guessing
Price from the ground up, never from "what the last bloke charged". The build-up is: your day rate multiplied by realistic days, plus materials at current merchant prices with a handling margin, plus scaffolding, plus waste, plus a contingency for the unknowns roofing always produces. Regional variation in the UK is large, so anchor your labour line to your own area and your own costs rather than a national average, and sense-check the total against what comparable jobs have actually gone for locally. If you have not worked out your own day rate properly, do that first: our average builder day rate guide and day rate calculator walk through it.
Two pricing mistakes kill roofing margins. The first is absorbing scaffold costs into a rounded total and then discovering the quote cannot take the hit. The second is pricing hidden work (rotten battens, crumbling chimney flaunching) at zero and arguing about it later. Both are solved by the quote itself: separate lines and a written variations process.
The trust signals that win roofing jobs
- Photos from the survey. Include two or three photos of the actual problems in or alongside the quote. Nothing builds trust faster with a customer who cannot get on the roof themselves.
- A written guarantee. Stated plainly, with years and coverage.
- Proof of insurance. One line with your cover level.
- A professional document. A branded PDF with your logo, consistent pricing and proper terms reads as "established firm", even for a sole trader. A number in a text message reads as "here today, gone tomorrow".
- Not demanding cash up front. Deposits are normal; big advance payments are the number one roofing scam flag and customers know it.
Deposits and stage payments on bigger roofs
For repairs and small jobs, payment on completion keeps things simple. For full re-roofs, a modest deposit on acceptance (commonly around 10 to 20 per cent, and never more than the materials you must buy), a stage payment at an agreed milestone such as completion of the strip and membrane, and the balance on completion is fair to both sides, and putting that schedule in the quote prevents every awkward conversation later.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a roofing quote stay valid?
Thirty days is standard. Material prices move, so an open-ended quote is a liability. State the validity period on the document.
Should I charge for roofing quotes?
Most roofers quote at no charge for straightforward surveys and win work on the quality of the document. For complex surveys (drone inspections, full condition reports) a charge credited against the job if you win it is increasingly accepted.
Is a text message quote legally binding?
A price offered and accepted can form a contract even by text, which is exactly why vague one-line quotes are dangerous. A written quote with a defined scope protects you far more than it protects the customer.
What about VAT on roofing work?
If you are VAT registered, show the VAT clearly on every quote at the current standard rate. Surprising a customer with 20 per cent at invoice stage loses referrals and sometimes the final payment.
Build the quote in two minutes, not an evening
Everything above takes time to type up job after job, which is why it so often does not happen after a ten-hour day on the tools. QuoteSmith does the heavy lifting: describe the roofing job in a couple of lines and it produces the full professional document, with your branding, a proper scope, terms, VAT handled, and a PDF the customer can say yes to. Create your first roofing quote in about two minutes.