The phone fills up after a storm. Roofer storm damage leads can be a live hazard, limited make-safe work, an inspection, a defined repair or a job you should decline.
Treat each storm damage enquiry as a booking decision. Find the danger. Confirm who can approve the work. Check access. Then book one clear task.
Put roofer storm damage leads into one job type
Do not leave a call marked urgent with no task attached. Give it one job type, one next action, one owner in your business and one time for follow-up.
Immediate danger
Ask whether material is falling, the ceiling is sagging, water is near electrical fittings or anyone is in immediate danger. Tell the caller to keep people clear and contact emergency services where there is an immediate threat to life.
For non-life-threatening storm assistance, tell the caller to check the service offered by their state or territory emergency service. Do not promise that an emergency service will attend.
Water entering beside a ceiling light with a bulging ceiling is not an ordinary roof inspection booking. The immediate danger has to be dealt with first. Do not ask the customer to touch electrical equipment, enter a wet ceiling space or climb onto the roof.
Limited make-safe work
Use this job type when the reported problem may need temporary work to reduce water entry or control loose material. The crew must confirm the conditions, access and safe work method on arrival before starting.
A make-safe is not automatically the permanent repair. State what the crew may touch, what access they will use and who may approve extra work.
If removing loose material exposes more damage, stop at the authorised limit. Photograph the condition. Contact the work authoriser. Do not turn a limited make-safe into an open-ended repair.
Inspection only
Use this job type when the defect, access method or repair scope is still unclear. State what the roofer will inspect and what the customer will receive after the visit.
An inspection might cover observations, photographs, measurements and a written record. It does not promise that the roofer will complete repairs while on site.
Tell the customer whether the visit includes any make-safe work. If it does not, say so before booking.
Quote-ready repair
Send the enquiry to pricing only when the repair area, method, access, materials, exclusions and work authoriser are known. A photograph of a displaced tile or damaged sheet does not settle every part of the scope.
If concealed conditions still control the repair method, book an inspection or issue an estimate with clear assumptions. Do not force uncertain work into a firm quote.
Decline or defer
Record the real reason. Use separate outcomes for work outside your service area, no crew capacity, unsafe access, missing authority, work outside your licence scope, duplicate enquiries, postponed work and callers who do not respond.
These are different business outcomes. Putting all of them under lost lead hides why crews were not sent.
Use one roof repair lead checklist before offering a time
The office needs the same questions on every call. A short roof repair lead checklist stops urgency from pushing basic facts out of the booking.
Record what the caller says as a report. Write caller reports water entry above rear bedroom. Do not write storm damage confirmed before a roofer has inspected the property.
Use this copy-ready call card:
Lead reference: [Reference] Received: [Date and time] Property address: [Address and postcode] Caller: [Name and contact details] Caller role: [Owner / tenant / strata manager / policyholder / other] Property owner or owners corporation contact: [Details] Contracting or paying entity: [Legal name and details] Billing contact: [Name and contact details] Access contact: [Details] Work authoriser: [Name, role and contact details] Insurer contact: [Details, if supplied] Insurer or work-order reference: [Reference, if supplied] Written acceptance status: [Not requested / requested / received] Caller-reported event: [What the caller says happened] Affected area: [Room, elevation and roof section] Problem first noticed: [Date and time] Active water entry: [Yes / no / unknown] Immediate hazard reported: [Details] Safety instruction or emergency referral: [Action and time] Property type: [House / unit block / commercial / other] Roof covering: [Tile / metal / other / unknown] Storeys and pitch: [Reported details or unknown] Access restrictions: [Gates, structures, lines, occupants or other] Photographs supplied: [File names and locations] Job type: [Danger / possible make-safe / inspection / quote-ready / defer / decline] Booked task: [Exact scope] Excluded work: [Exclusions] Crew and access method: [Requirements] Access permission: [Person and status] Inspection approval: [Person, scope and limit] Make-safe approval: [Person, scope and limit] Permanent repair approval: [Person, scope and limit] Variation approval path: [Contact and method] Next action: [Task] Responsible person: [Name] Due time: [Time] Outcome code: [Status]
Once qualified, move the enquiry into the process shown on the roofing industry page. Do not make the crew rebuild the call from messages and loose photographs.
Ask for photographs without sending the customer onto the roof
Ask for wide photographs from ground level and safe positions inside the building. Tell the customer not to climb a ladder, walk on the roof, lean from a window or enter a wet ceiling space.
Useful photographs show:
- The full affected side of the building.
- The roofline from ground level.
- Internal staining or active water entry.
- Fallen material where it landed.
- The ceiling or room below the reported defect.
- Driveways, gates, decks and other access restrictions.
Ask where and when each image was taken. Keep the original files with the storm damage enquiry.
Photographs help you choose the next action. They cannot confirm concealed damage, establish cause or prove that roof access is safe.
Confirm who can approve each part of the job
Permission to enter the property is separate from authority to approve spending. Record both.
The owner, tenant, strata manager, policyholder, insurer contact and work authoriser may be different people. Give each role its own field rather than putting several names into the customer notes.
Record separate approval for:
- Access to the property.
- The inspection and its stated deliverables.
- Limited make-safe work.
- Permanent repairs.
- Variations outside the accepted scope.
A tenant might provide access while the owner or strata representative has not approved make-safe spending. Do not let the crew treat entry permission as financial authority.
Keep insurer communication separate as well. You can provide photographs, direct observations, the proposed scope and pricing. Do not promise coverage or tell the customer that an insurer will approve the claim.
Handle strata roof calls as a separate approval path
A strata storm call often arrives through the person standing under the leak. That does not tell you who controls the affected roof area or who can approve work.
Ask whether the caller is a tenant, lot owner, property manager, strata manager or representative of the owners corporation. Record who can provide access and who can approve the inspection.
Do not decide whether the roof is lot property or common property for the caller. Ask the strata manager or authorised representative to confirm responsibility and spending authority in writing.
Use separate limits for inspection, make-safe work and permanent repair. A strata manager may approve one stage but need another approval for the next. Write the stopping point into the booking.
Send the inspection record to the nominated recipient. Keep any insurer contact in a separate field so the roofer knows who receives technical information and who can actually engage the business.
Clear safety and licence checks before confirming the booking
A free calendar slot does not make a roof safe. Before booking, confirm the current forecast, the planned safe access method, the required crew or equipment, the person authorised to approve the visit and the exact booked task.
Ask about building height, roof pitch, wet or loose coverings, damaged edges, fragile surfaces and the area below the work. Note decks, additions, public paths, landscaping and overhead lines.
The caller's answers remain unconfirmed until the crew arrives. They still help you decide whether the visit needs different equipment, another tradie or a different time.
If a crew reaches a wet metal roof with damaged edges and no safe access setup for the named section, stop or change the visit. Do not ask the roofer to improvise around a booking error.
Check workplace roof-safety duties with your state or territory work health and safety or occupational health and safety regulator. For a NSW job, that regulator is SafeWork NSW (opens in a new tab). Ask what applies to the planned access and work method rather than relying on an old office note.
Describe the exact proposed task to the state or territory licensing regulator. Roof tiling, roof plumbing and related building work can sit under different licence classes. For NSW work, check with Building Commission NSW (opens in a new tab) about the licence class and home building contract questions for that task. If your business is not covered, decline the work or engage an appropriately licensed trade.
Write the inspection scope before sending the crew
Turn the qualified call into a short booking scope. Name the roof areas, access method, tasks and deliverables.
State whether the booking includes ground observations, accessible internal observations, roof access, photographs, measurements, limited make-safe work or some combination of them.
List the exclusions that could otherwise cause an argument. These may include destructive opening, concealed areas, lifting sound roof coverings, internal finishes, unrelated trades and permanent repair.
Tell the customer what follows the visit. That could be an inspection record, an estimate, a quote or a request for approval to investigate further.
Give the crew the same scope. The office promise and the roofer's work order must match.
Separate reported damage from observed roof conditions
Use distinct headings in the inspection record:
- Conditions reported by the caller.
- Conditions directly observed by the roofer.
- Suspected concealed damage.
- Existing deterioration or unrelated defects.
- Inaccessible or uninspected areas.
- Recommended next work.
Describe the material, location and condition. Avoid declaring every defect to be storm damage. Displaced roofing can sit beside older deterioration, and both need separate notes.
Mark concealed damage as suspected until it is exposed or tested within an approved scope. If investigation needs different equipment, destructive opening or another trade, stop and define that next task.
The same rule applies during make-safe work. If removing loose material exposes damage beyond the approved limit, record it and obtain approval before continuing.
Choose the document after the inspection
Use an estimate when the final method or scope still depends on unresolved conditions. Give the customer a range or provisional amount based on stated assumptions, then explain what must be confirmed.
Use a quote when the repair area, method, access, materials, exclusions and authoriser are defined. Build the price from labour, materials, access equipment, disposal, subcontract work and other direct job costs.
Add overhead recovery and markup deliberately. Count each cost once. Markup is what you add to cost to reach the selling price. Margin is the profit left as a share of that selling price.
Break the scope down by roof area and task. Repair storm damage is too loose. Name the removal, replacement, flashing work, make-safe work, disposal, access and finished condition that the price covers.
Use the quote-writing guide for scope, exclusions and acceptance fields when the inspected repair is ready for a firm price.
Use a written variation when approved work moves outside the accepted scope. State the added work, price, effect on timing and person approving it. Get the approval before continuing.
The standing Oak Street example is electrical, but the paperwork rule applies here. Quote Q-1847 was 1,105 and excluded chasing because the ceiling was lined. Extra cable and chasing were approved as a 160 variation, so invoice INV-1847 was 1,265. The added work was written up and approved before it continued.
Do not copy that price into a roofing job. All figures are sample currency units, not rates.
Keep the lead, inspection and costs under one reference
Carry the lead reference into the photographs, inspection record, quote, variation, invoice and cost record. The next person should be able to follow the job without searching several inboxes.
After completion, compare actual vs estimated cost. Record labour, materials, access, disposal, subcontract work and other direct costs against the accepted scope. For roofer storm damage leads that become jobs, this cost tracking shows whether job profitability matched the quote.
Use the finished-job costing process for tradies to close the work without mixing the original scope with unapproved additions.