What you receive
A written roof repair estimate built on a scope, not a number on a page. The work is set out item by item, each line with its own quantity, taken from measurements made on the roof rather than from an aerial image. Materials are named. The parts that get left out of thin documents are in it: underlayment, flashing, edge and valley metal, boots, ventilation, fastening, access and removal of the old covering. Then each line carries a price, with the basis of the pricing stated.
Where something genuinely cannot be settled from the surface, it is named as an item to be assessed once the covering comes off. Decking is the usual example. Nobody knows how much of it is soft until the roof is stripped, and a scope that invents a figure for it is inventing the most important number on the page.
What we do, and where we hand over
We inspect roofs and we write documents. The scope is evidence you can put in your own file and hand to whoever you choose. Where the claim needs somebody to act for you, we introduce you to a licensed partner in your state, a public adjuster or an attorney as the dispute requires, and the scope goes with you to them. What is covered is decided by your policy and your carrier, and nothing we write is legal, financial or insurance advice.
We do not write the document to a target. It is not calibrated against a carrier’s estimate, it is not designed to exceed one, and it may come out lower. We do not bid the repair work either, and we take no fee from whoever ends up doing it. Anything the roof cannot answer is marked as unanswered rather than filled in.
When people ask for one
Most often when two documents about the same roof are so far apart that neither can be checked against the other, and the owner needs one of them written in a form that can be read line by line. Sometimes when three contractors have quoted three different jobs and there is no way to compare the prices, because nobody has defined the work.
Sometimes it is simpler again: an owner about to spend a large sum wants to know what the roof actually needs, described by somebody who is not selling the repair.
Common questions
What is the difference between a scope and an estimate?
The scope is the list of work. The estimate is that list with prices on it.
- Almost every disagreement about a roof is really a disagreement about the scope
- Two documents can differ wildly while both are priced sensibly
- One includes underlayment, edge metal, boots and ventilation and the other does not
- A line item can be checked: is the area right, is that material on the roof
- A total cannot be checked at all
That is why the scope comes first and why it is written in line items with quantities. When you compare two documents, go item by item and mark what appears in one and not the other before you look at a figure, because a missing line is work nobody has paid for.
Will your figure be higher than the adjuster's?
We have no idea, and we will not write it as though we did. Our scope describes the work the roof needs, priced as that work would be carried out in your area.
- It is not written to beat anybody's number and is not calibrated against one
- Sometimes it comes out lower, more often than people expect
- That happens where a contractor has quoted replacement for a roof needing less
- Anyone who promises in advance to beat a carrier's number is guessing
- A document written to a target is not evidence of anything
Set the two side by side, item against item, and the differences become visible: quantities measured differently, a material specified differently, an item present in one and absent from the other. What any of it means for your settlement is decided by your policy and your carrier.
Can I use this alongside the carrier's estimate?
That is what the format is for. The scope is written in line items with quantities and named materials, in a conventional order, so two documents can be read side by side.
- Work down both on paper with two columns and a pen
- Mark every line in one and not the other, then every quantity that differs
- Look at prices last, because the first two passes show most of what matters
- Ask your carrier in writing, quoting the claim number and the line item
We do not conduct that exchange for you, and nothing we write is legal, financial or insurance advice. If you would rather somebody ran it, we introduce you to a partner who is a licensed public adjuster or an attorney in your state, and coverage is still decided by your policy and your carrier.
If you do not do the work, why write the scope?
Because that is what makes it a document rather than a bid. A scope from the contractor who wants the job is a sales proposal, however careful it is.
- Ours is written by somebody who will not be on the roof when work happens
- We do not benefit from the job getting larger
- Because it is not tied to us, you can hand it to any contractor
- Each prices the same defined work, so the quotes can actually be compared
- We take no fee from the contractor and keep no list of roofing firms
That stops the common problem of three numbers that all describe different jobs. Check any contractor yourself: verify the license with your state or local board, ask for insurance confirmation direct from the agent, and get the full scope and payment schedule in writing before work begins.
Will you put this to my insurer or prepare a supplement request?
Not ourselves. We write the document and hand it to you, and then, where you want it, we hand you to somebody licensed to use it.
- In many states a contractor may document and price work but not negotiate
- Negotiating a settlement for a policyholder requires a public adjuster license
- We introduce you to a partner who holds that license in your state
- Where the dispute has become a legal one, that partner is an attorney
- Verify the license and read the fee basis and cancellation clause first
Nothing we write is legal, financial or insurance advice, what is covered is decided by your policy and your carrier, and your dates come from your own policy and from your carrier's letter.