The phone starts ringing after heavy weather. Every caller wants someone out now, but roofer storm damage enquiries are not all emergency repairs.
Treat the first call as triage. Find the hazard. Check who can approve work. Collect useful evidence. Then book the right visit without diagnosing the roof from a photograph.
Put each storm damage enquiry into the right lane
Give every enquiry a clear next step. Do not promise a permanent repair until you know the condition, access and scope.
Immediate hazard
Ask whether materials are falling, water is near electrics, a ceiling is bulging or anyone is in danger. Tell the caller to keep people away from the affected area. If there is an immediate threat to life or property, direct them to the appropriate emergency service.
Consider the caller who reports water beside a light fitting. Nobody has established whether the electricity has been isolated or whether the room is safe to occupy. That is not a routine roof inspection booking. Deal with the immediate risk before discussing tiles and flashing.
Do not tell the caller to climb into a wet roof space, touch electrical equipment or move fallen roofing materials.
Temporary weatherproofing
Use this lane when the immediate job is to reduce further water entry or secure loose material. Describe the attendance as limited temporary work. State that it is not the permanent repair unless the written scope says otherwise.
Confirm what the tradesperson may do, what access is available and who can approve extra work. A temporary covering may expose wider damage that cannot be repaired during the same visit.
Inspection
Book an inspection when the defect or access is unclear. The purpose is to observe, photograph and define the next scope. It is not a promise that the roof can be repaired during the visit.
Decide whether your business charges for this work. Tell the customer before booking. State whether the price includes a written inspection record, photographs or a repair quote.
Repair quote
Move an enquiry straight to quoting only when the scope is clear enough to price responsibly. A photograph of a slipped tile may not show damaged battens, unsafe ridge work or difficult access.
If those points remain unknown, inspect first. Guessing turns roofer storm damage enquiries into underpriced journeys and arguments on site.
Use a roof repair lead checklist for roofer storm damage enquiries
Give the office a single form. Ask the same questions in the same order, even when the queue is full.
Record:
- The property address and postcode.
- The caller's name and contact details.
- Whether the caller is the owner, tenant, landlord, managing agent or policyholder.
- The name of the person authorised to approve work.
- What happened and when the problem was first noticed.
- Whether water is still entering.
- Whether anything is loose, hanging or on the ground.
- Whether water is near lights, sockets or other electrical equipment.
- The affected room, elevation or roof section.
- The roof form and covering, if the caller knows them.
- The approximate building height and any extensions or conservatories below the work area.
- Parking, gate, scaffold and access restrictions.
- Whether another tradesperson has already attended.
Treat the caller's description as a report. Write “caller reports missing tiles above rear bedroom”, not “storm damaged roof confirmed”. The second statement claims a diagnosis that nobody has made.
Confirm authority before accepting instructions. The tenant reporting the leak may not be allowed to approve temporary work. A policyholder may still need a landlord or managing agent to authorise access and expenditure.
The same authority, access and scope checks also apply to larger building work. Use the renovation enquiry qualification process when a roofing enquiry forms part of a wider refurbishment.
Clear the safety gate before offering an inspection date
A free slot in the diary does not make roof access safe. Check the conditions before assigning the visit.
Ask:
- What will the weather and light conditions be at the planned time?
- Can the roof be reached without crossing a fragile surface or obstructed area?
- Are there wet coverings, loose materials or damaged edges?
- What height and roof pitch will the crew face?
- Is a conservatory, extension or public route below the work area?
- Will the job need extra people, access equipment or traffic control?
- Can the tradesperson complete the agreed inspection without stepping outside the safe method of work?
For work in Great Britain, review workplace roof-work risks using the Health and Safety Executive roof-work guidance (opens in a new tab). For work in Northern Ireland, use the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (opens in a new tab) as the official workplace safety route. Apply your risk assessment and safe system of work before sending anyone onto a roof.
Legal liability for a fall depends on the facts. Before dispatch, record who controls the work, whether each person is a worker or subcontractor, their competence, the risk assessment and work method, and the access equipment required. Check employer's liability cover where legally required using the GOV.UK employer's liability insurance guidance (opens in a new tab), then check the public liability terms and any subcontractor's insurance with the insurer.
If the conditions fail the safety gate, change the scope. Make ground-level observations, postpone close access or arrange the equipment needed. Record why areas were not inspected.
Collect photographs without putting the caller at risk
Ask for photographs from the ground or from a safe position inside the property. Never ask a customer to climb a ladder, walk on a roof or lean from a window.
Useful photographs may show:
- The whole affected elevation.
- The roofline from ground level.
- Fallen material where it landed.
- Internal staining or active water entry.
- The room or ceiling below the suspected area.
- Existing access points and obstructions.
Ask the caller to label each image with its location and when it was taken. Keep the original files with the enquiry record.
Photographs help you choose the visit. They do not prove the cause, reveal every concealed defect or confirm safe access. A missing covering can be visible while damaged underlay, fixings or adjacent wear remain hidden.
Define the roof inspection booking before travel
Write down what the inspection includes. The crew and customer should know what has been booked before the van leaves.
The scope might cover external observation, accessible roof-space checks, close inspection from suitable access, photographs and a written record. It might also exclude opening up, lifting sound coverings, testing unrelated systems and entering blocked areas.
List the parts the roofer may need to inspect:
- Coverings, ridges and hips.
- Valleys and abutments.
- Chimneys and flashings.
- Rooflights and surrounding junctions.
- Flat-roof edges, outlets and junctions.
- Gutters and visible rainwater fittings.
- Accessible roof-space areas beneath the reported problem.
Match the booking to the people, equipment and materials required. If the call suggests temporary weatherproofing may be authorised, carry suitable materials. Do not load permanent repair materials based only on the caller's diagnosis.
A clear booking also stops the attendance price being mistaken for a permanent repair or an insurance report. Use the roofing process page to define the hand-off from inspection notes to a repair quote.
Write down what paperwork the customer will receive. Your quote and booking terms set the documents and service you promise, but separate information and cancellation requirements may apply when a consumer agrees to work at home, online or by phone. For England, Wales and Scotland, check the official rules for online and distance selling (opens in a new tab) and doorstep selling (opens in a new tab). In Northern Ireland, start with nidirect (opens in a new tab) to find the official local route. Check before taking approval rather than making up cancellation wording on the call.
Separate visible damage from suspected and existing defects
At the property, describe what you can see. Record displaced coverings, broken components, open junctions, water paths and loose materials. Add photographs and locations.
Mark suspected defects as suspected. If an area needs coverings lifted, specialist testing or access you do not have, say so. Do not turn an assumption into a confirmed repair item.
Record adjacent wear separately. The date of a storm does not prove that every defect was caused by it. An aged flashing beside a newly displaced tile may need work, but the inspection record should not claim a cause that has not been established.
The team may arrive for a slipped-tile repair and find damaged ridge work, unsafe access and no authority from the landlord. Stop. Make the area safe only where that action is authorised and can be completed safely. Send the new findings to the person who can approve them.
Refer any defect outside the crew's competence to a suitable specialist. A roofer can report water near electrical fittings without diagnosing or repairing the electrical fault.
Handle insurance questions without deciding the claim
When a customer asks how long they have to claim, do not invent a deadline. Tell them to check their policy and contact their insurer promptly. Policies and circumstances differ.
Record the reported event date, the date the damage was noticed and the visible condition at inspection. Supply photographs, notes and a proposed repair scope where agreed. Do not promise that the insurer will accept the cause, work or price.
Ask whether the customer can approve urgent mitigation before receiving an insurer's response. Keep that approval in writing. The instruction to stop water entry is separate from any later decision about claim coverage.
Build the repair quote from the inspected scope
Choose the work before costing it. Price the labour, materials, access equipment, plant, disposal, travel and other direct job costs needed for that roof.
Add overhead recovery and markup. Markup is added to cost to produce a price. Margin is the profit left as a share of the selling price. They are not interchangeable.
State the assumptions behind the price. These may cover dry working conditions, clear access, matching materials, sound supporting components and no concealed damage. State what happens if an assumption proves wrong.
Write inclusions by roof area and task. Avoid a single line such as “repair storm damage”. A useful scope identifies the covering or junction, removal work, replacement material, temporary protection, waste and access arrangement.
State exclusions just as clearly. Possible exclusions include internal decoration, electrical work, concealed timber replacement, scaffold changes and repairs outside the inspected area. Use the quote-writing guide to turn the inspection notes into an approval document.
Worked example: exclusions control the final invoice
Oak Street is an electrical house example, but the document rule applies to roofing.
For R. Chen at 14 Oak Street, quote Q-1847 covered a bathroom exhaust fan and four LED downlights. The total was 1,105 sample currency units. The ceiling was lined, and chasing was excluded.
Extra cable and chasing were discovered and approved on site as a 160 variation. Invoice INV-1847 was 1,265. The original job cost was 850, so profit against the original quote was 255. Margin was about 23%, while markup was 30%.
The costs of the variation are not given. Do not use the 1,265 invoice with the 850 original job cost to claim a final profit figure.
The lesson for a roof quote is simple. Exclude what has not been inspected. When the roof condition changes the work, price and approve the difference before carrying on.
Write a variation when the roof does not match the quote
Stop when new work appears. Photograph the additional defect and explain why it changes the approved scope.
Write the variation with:
- The newly found condition.
- The additional labour and materials.
- Any change to access or equipment.
- The effect on the programme.
- The added price or pricing method.
- The name of the person approving it.
Get approval from the authorised person before doing the extra work. Immediate action may be needed for a safety emergency, but that does not turn every additional repair into authorised work.
Keep the customer's approval separate from insurer correspondence. An inspection record sent to an insurer is not permission to buy the repair.
Give the customer useful proof, not loose promises
Send the business name, contact details, written scope, exclusions and the insurance details you have agreed to provide. Explain which areas were inspected and which could not be reached. Give the customer details they can check, and do not pressure them to approve a permanent repair before the roof has been assessed.
State guarantee terms only when your business can put them in writing. Do not promise a product or workmanship guarantee during intake unless its scope, conditions and provider are known.
A customer checking a limited company can review its registered details through Companies House (opens in a new tab). Registration confirms recorded company details. It does not certify roofing workmanship.
Check building approval through the official route for the property's jurisdiction. In England, ask building control (opens in a new tab) whether the proposed work needs approval. In Wales, check the Welsh Government building regulations guidance (opens in a new tab). In Scotland, use the Scottish Government building standards route (opens in a new tab). In Northern Ireland, start with nidirect (opens in a new tab) and find the official building regulations route.
If you are setting up these checks for a new firm, use the roofing business start-up guide to organise intake, operating costs and the first-job process.
Review the queue after the storm rush
Group completed and rejected roofer storm damage enquiries by the lane used at intake: hazard, temporary weatherproofing, inspection or repair quote. For each rejected enquiry, record unsafe access, no authorised decision-maker, outside service area, unclear scope or declined inspection charge, then compare those reasons with approved work.
Record actual travel, labour, materials, access costs and inspection time. Compare actual vs estimated cost for completed work. Keep temporary attendances separate from permanent repairs so cost tracking does not blur two different jobs.
Check which roofer storm damage enquiries became approved work and which produced wasted journeys. Use your own figures to adjust booking rules and protect job profitability.
Update the intake form when the same problem keeps appearing. If crews repeatedly arrive without suitable access equipment, add a better access question. If customers keep assuming temporary work includes a report, split those scopes more clearly.