What a written scope should contain

Fourteen things that belong on the page

Read a proposal against this list. Anything missing is not necessarily a problem, but it is a question, and the answer belongs in writing before you sign.

• Measured area, by planeSquares, per plane, with pitch noted. A total square figure with no breakdown means nobody measured the roof, they estimated it from the county parcel map.
• Tear off, and how far downHow many existing layers come off, and whether the scope is to the deck. A roof over an existing layer is a different job with a different life.
• Decking allowance and the per sheet priceThe one number that always moves after the roof is open. It should be stated per sheet, with the included allowance named, before work starts.
• Underlayment, by typeSynthetic or felt, and the weight or class. This is the thing between the shingle and the house for the days when the shingle is compromised.
• Ice and water membrane, and whereEaves, valleys, around penetrations, at wall intersections. Named locations, not the phrase "where required".
• Valley methodOpen metal, closed cut or woven, and the gauge and finish of the metal if it is open. Under heavy tree cover this is a live decision, not a default.
• Every flashing, itemisedStep flashing, counterflashing, apron, sidewall, chimney, skylight, drip edge. New or reused, stated per item. Reused step flashing is a real choice with real consequences.
• PenetrationsPipe boots, vents, exhaust terminations. Count them, price them, and say they are being replaced rather than re sealed.
• VentilationWhat intake exists, what exhaust is being installed, and whether the two are balanced. A ridge vent installed over blocked soffits is decoration.
• Shingle, namedManufacturer, line and colour. Keys installs Atlas and Malarkey. A scope that says only "architectural shingle" leaves the choice with whoever loads the truck.
• Gutter, if included, with the sizeFive inch or six inch, the profile, hanger type and spacing, and downspout size and count. See gutters on a large house for why the size is the whole argument.
• Protection and clean upHow the landscaping, the drive, the pool surround and the plantings are protected, where the dumpster sits, and the magnetic sweep at the end.
• The workmanship warranty, in writingWho honours it, what it covers, and what voids it, stated separately from whatever the manufacturer covers on the product itself. The two are not the same document.
• Payment schedule and change order procedureWhat is due when, and how a change in scope becomes a change in price. A change order signed before the work is done is a normal part of a good job. One presented afterwards is not.

Decking, and why it belongs in writing first

Nobody knows the condition of a roof deck until the roof is off it. That is not evasiveness, it is physics. What separates a good contractor from a bad one is not knowing in advance, it is having agreed the price in advance.

A proper scope says: this many sheets are included in the contract price, additional sheets are billed at this rate per sheet, and the homeowner is shown the bad decking before it is covered. That last clause is worth insisting on. Photographs of what came out are a normal courtesy and they cost nothing to provide.

Where this goes wrong is the roof that is opened up on a Tuesday morning and found to need a number of sheets that was never priced, with the crew standing on the deck and the sky open. That is the moment a homeowner has the least leverage they will ever have, and it is entirely avoidable with two sentences in the proposal.

How to compare two bids that look the same

Two proposals arrive within a few percent of each other. They are almost never the same job. Line them up against the fourteen items and the difference usually appears in four places.

1. Flashings. One bid replaces them, the other reuses them. This is the largest hidden difference in residential roofing and it is rarely stated out loud.
2. Ventilation. One bid addresses intake, the other installs ridge vent and leaves the soffits as they are.
3. Ice and water coverage. One bid runs membrane at every eave and valley, the other runs it at the eaves only.
4. Who is on the roof. Direct employees or a subcontracted crew, and if subcontracted, who carries the workers compensation coverage for them.

None of those four is automatically wrong. A reused flashing in sound condition on a straightforward sidewall is a defensible decision. What is not defensible is the decision being invisible.

Two clauses worth a second read

The first is any clause that assigns your rights to the contractor, or that makes the contract binding on the basis of an insurance approval rather than on your signature. Read what you are signing on a clipboard on your porch. In this trade an inspection agreement and a contract are sometimes the same piece of paper.

The second is a suit limitation clause, which shortens the window in which you could bring a claim. Worth knowing: in Missouri the limitation period for suing on a written contract is ten years under RSMo 516.110(1), and RSMo 431.030 makes a contractual provision that shortens a statutory limitation period null and void. That is a Missouri specific protection and it is genuinely useful to know it exists.

Neither of these is legal advice. Both are worth reading with your own eyes before a pen comes out.