Hiring a roofer feels harder than it should. The work is out of sight, the vocabulary is unfamiliar, and the person quoting knows far more about it than you do. That imbalance is why people put it off, and why a small leak becomes a large repair. The way through is to stop trying to judge the roofing and start judging the paperwork. A roofer who writes down exactly what will be done, for exactly what price, on exactly what terms, has made promises you can check. One who stays vague has not.
This post covers the positive side of hiring: what to put in the brief, how to compare what comes back, what to check about the person behind the quote, how to handle payment, and what to ask for in a guarantee. This post takes the place of an older one that leaned too hard on American advice. The warning signs of a bad job have their own page, our guide on how to tell a dodgy roofer, so here we stay with the steps that help a good roofer and a careful homeowner find each other.
Know what you are asking for
Before you phone anyone, spend ten minutes working out what you actually know. Write down where the problem shows, when it appears, and what the house is like: its age, the roof covering, whether there is a loft, and whether a flat roof, a chimney or a dormer is involved. Add a photo or two from the ground. If the problem is a leak, note whether it follows heavy rain, strong wind or a thaw, because that points a surveyor to different parts of the roof.
Do you need a repair, a replacement or just a look?
You may not know, and you do not need to. Ask for a survey and say so. A good roofer treats the first visit as a diagnosis, not a sales call, and explains whether the fault is local or the covering is worn out. Where the problem is confined to a few tiles, a section of ridge or a run of flashing, a repair is a sensible answer. Where faults keep turning up over whole slopes, patching stops paying and a re-roof of that area deserves a proper price.
What should the roofer look at?
Everything that could be causing the symptom, not only the spot you point to. Water often enters one place and shows itself another. A roofer who surveys the whole roof, loft included, will find causes that a quick patch would miss.
Ask each firm whether they will share photos of your own roof afterwards. The answer tells you a lot, and it is a fair yardstick for anyone you speak to.
Put the scope in writing
The scope is the list of what the job includes. Without it, two quotes can describe two different jobs while looking identical on the page. Ask each roofer to state, in writing, which part of the roof the work covers, what will be removed, what will go on, and what is left alone.
What belongs in the scope?
The covering to be used, named properly: concrete interlocking tile, plain clay tile, natural slate, EPDM, GRP or felt. Whether the battens and underlay are being renewed or reused. The details at the edges, which means the ridge, the verges (the sloping edges of the roof at the gable ends), the hips and valleys, and any flashings at chimneys or walls. Whether gutters, fascias and soffits are included. How waste will be removed. Who arranges and pays for scaffolding or other access. If it matters to you, say so too: a conservatory roof, a roof window or a chimney stack close by may all affect how the work is done.
Why does it matter so much?
Because the scope is what you can hold anyone to. If a quote says "re-roof rear slope in concrete tiles with new battens and underlay" and the work stops short of that, the disagreement is about a sentence you can both read. If it says "roof repairs", you are arguing about memory.
A roofer who is happy to write this out is already behaving the way you want them to behave on site.
Compare written prices fairly
Citizens Advice suggests gathering a few written quotes before you decide, and its figure is three. Our page on how many roofing quotes you should get looks at when two or four makes sense. The harder part is what you do with them once they arrive.
What are you comparing?
First, whether they all describe the same job. Lay the scopes side by side. If one firm is replacing the battens and another is not, or one includes the ridge and another leaves it out, the totals cannot be compared until that is sorted out. Second, whether each includes VAT, since the standard rate is 20%, and whether each includes scaffolding. Either can move a total by a large sum, so a quote that omits one is not as inexpensive as it appears.
What do typical prices look like?
National guides publish ranges, handy for judging scale and little else. Checkatrade's roof repair guide, with its table updated in June 2026, puts a roofer's rate at £35 to £45 per hour or £280 to £360 per day. Its roof replacement guide, updated in October 2026, quotes around £12,000 for a three-bedroom semi. Those are national figures, not prices for your roof, and the only price that counts is the written quote you receive once the survey is done. Our costs page sets out more ranges with their sources and dates.
Resist treating the lowest figure as the winner. A low total can mean a thinner scope, cheaper materials or access that has been left to chance.
Check who you are dealing with
A written quote tells you what is promised. It does not tell you who is promising it. Spend a little time on the second question.
How do you check a roofer is genuine?
Citizens Advice lists a few simple checks. A trader who says they belong to an association or scheme should appear in the member list on that body's own website, so look there before you believe a sticker on a van. Request recent examples of their work and phone the customers, since a written reference is not always real. Treat a mobile number with nothing else as a warning. Make sure you and the trader both have insurance, which means asking to see the documents and what they cover.
You can also search for a company on the Companies House register to see whether it exists, when it was set up and who runs it. That does not tell you about the quality of the work, but it does tell you whether the name on the quote matches a real business.
Does it matter who does the work?
Yes. Ask who will be on your roof. Some firms use their own employees, some use subcontractors, and either can be fine, but you should know which and who is responsible for the result. Find out which people will be working on your roof each day and how to reach them. Find out whether they will set up access properly, protect your garden and take their waste away.
Ask, too, how they deal with problems found part way through. A roofer who explains in advance what happens if the timbers are worse than expected is a roofer who has thought about it. Our dodgy roofer guide covers the opposite list: what should make you step back.
Agree payment terms before you sign
Money is where most disagreements start, and the best defence is to settle it in writing before work begins. The terms should say how much is due, when, and for what.
Should you pay a deposit?
There is no single rule, and our answer on whether you should pay a roofer a deposit covers the options. What matters is that any payment before the work is explained and written down, that it relates to something real such as materials ordered, and that the rest is tied to progress or completion. Be cautious about large sums demanded up front, or demands for cash with no paperwork.
What are your cancellation rights?
A contract agreed in your own home after a survey counts as off-premises under the Consumer Contracts Regulations. For a service, the cancellation period ends 14 days after the day the contract was made. A trader who never mentioned the right to cancel can see that stretch to 12 months. Wanting work to begin sooner is possible, but the trader needs that request from you in writing that you can keep, such as an email. Visits you specifically ask for to deal with urgent repairs are treated differently. If in doubt, ask the trader to explain the notice they gave you.
Who do you call if it goes wrong?
Section 49 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 expects a service to be done with reasonable care and skill. For advice as an individual, the Citizens Advice consumer service is the place to start.
Ask what the guarantee actually says
A guarantee is only as good as its wording. Ask any roofer for it in writing, and read it before the work starts, not after.
What should a written guarantee tell you?
Who gives it, so that you know whose name is on the promise. What it covers: workmanship, materials or both. How long it lasts, with the start date. What it excludes, such as storm damage or later work by someone else. Any conditions for keeping it in force, such as an annual gutter clear or a routine inspection. And how a claim is made, to whom, and by what means. If a guarantee comes from a manufacturer, ask who deals with a claim if the installer is not available.
Is a guarantee equal to a lifespan?
No. A guarantee is a promise for a fixed period about workmanship or materials. A lifespan is how long a covering typically lasts, and published figures are only typical ranges: Marley, for example, gives around 60 years for concrete tiles and states plainly that this does not amount to a warranty. Treat any figure on a quote as a guide to the material, and the guarantee as a separate document about the work.
Do not confuse insurance with a guarantee. Insurance protects against particular events and losses. A guarantee is the roofer's promise about their own work.
Checking like this should not put you off. It is the sort of checking a good roofer expects. When you are ready, start at our Crawley roofing homepage and send a few pictures of your roof, and a survey plus one written price will follow.
Part of Roofers in Crawley: the full guide
More about hiring a roofer
What should a roofing quote include?
It should name the work, the covering, the area of roof, whether VAT and scaffolding are included, how waste is dealt with, the payment terms and any guarantee. It should be one total price on paper after a survey, with the firm's full name and contact details, so that you can compare it fairly against others.
Should you simply take the lowest quote?
Not by itself. Check first that it covers the same work, covering and area as the rest, and if VAT and scaffolding are included. A much lower total can mean a smaller scope. When one quote sits far below the others, ask what has been left out, then decide on the paperwork.
Can I cancel after signing at home?
Frequently, yes. Services agreed at home usually carry 14 days to cancel, counted from the day of the agreement, unless you specifically asked for an urgent repair visit. A trader who left out the notice may face a longer period. Read what you were given, and ask Citizens Advice if unsure.
