What paperwork should I get with a new roof??

I had my roof replaced recently, and am about to make final payment to the roofing company.

But, I haven't gotten any paperwork from them about the roof, the warranty, etc. The insurance estimator provided a quote, and the roofing company just used that to price the job, but I feel like I need a detailed invoice as to what they did, what products and brand they used, etc. At this point I don't even know for sure what BRAND of roof I have much less anything else.

What's the norm here? I know I don't need a ten-page detailed line-item invoice showing every nail and flashing used, but I feel like I'm entitled to something here. They're being a pain, sending me only a single-line invoice with the total due on it, nothing specific at all.

Please help!

 

Tell them you want an invoice detailing the work done before you make the final payment, specifically the brand of shingles used and the manufactures warranty. Generally the contractor only warrants his work for 1 yr - that should be included too.

 

I think you and I would be in the minority but I too demand a detailed invoice and a copy of the manufacturer’s warranty before I’ll make final payment. I wasn’t always this demanding but from experiences and lessons learned over the years this documentation has been helpful, and sometimes critical. Our situations probably differ in that I live in a hurricane prone area, and possible roof damage comes w/ living where I do. However, I could cite a number of instances where having a detailed invoice would have been very helpful, and those had nothing to do w/ roofing or hurricanes.

First, if you don’t have the manufacturer’s warranty and proof (i.e., invoice) of what was supposedly installed, good luck trying to convince the manufacturer if exercising a warranty claim. While not saying it’s impossible to prove by possibly finding markings on the material, or worst case, submitting samples to a lab for testing, I see no reason to subject myself to the aggravation and costs when it only takes a few minutes to list the materials used on the invoice by person preparing it. Moreover, should the roofing contractor go out of business for whatever reason, now you’ve lost that possible source who might have been able to help persuade the mfg. (even if still in business, you want that contractor aligned with your long-term interests and not ‘forgetting’ what was used if the manufacturer or insurance company starts asking questions). Differentiate between a contractor’s warranty and the manufacturer’s warranty as they are not alike. If you contractor verbally tells you he warranties his work, it’s worthless w/o having written evidence that such verbal representation was made. In re-roofing an out building recently, I had the contractor note on the invoice he was providing a 1 yr. labor and materials warranty, and then I’ll have recourse back to the manufacturer for a 25 yr. period under their materials warranty.

My roof on home was installed by the former owners who acted as the GC. At closing, they turned over a good portion of the paperwork they accumulated during the construction process, including invoices. Unfortunately, they were not demanding of details in most cases. Because of several hurricanes and significant roof damage, the FL legislature enacted laws requiring homeowner insurers to give discounts to those people who built their homes above the minimum requirements of building codes applicable at time of construction as well as to differentiate their rates for homes later built to stricter building codes that have changed over time. Proof of details such as roof type, roofing material, plywood sheathing thickness, whether waterproof underlayment was installed or not, type and length of nails, and truss ties and hurricane clips enters the equation. In speaking w/ my insurer after this law was enacted, I needed to provide invoices showing this level of detail in order to qualify for all of the various discounts being offered. Fortunately, since not having detailed invoices, my insurance agent worked w/ me to identify the detailed info she would need and identified some specialized home inspectors who had knowledge of their supporting documentation requirements. Because the inspector could not adequately verify whether a roof underlayment was installed, I lost the discount on that one. Luckily, the inspection was far less costly than I had assumed. However, it represented one more needless hassle to go through just because the invoice had insufficient detail.

I also encountered an odd problem on the metal roof on my home as screws were backing out over time . . . long story short, had the brand and size screws been easily identifiable, that info would have saved time taking samples into a roofer who had encountered this problem before, and one of his two reasons was that he felt a particular brand was partially responsible for this problem. Switched over to a different brand screw and one size larger, and no further problems thus far after replacing a few hundred.

Having two out buildings, I wanted those roofs to match the materials used on home for appearance reasons as well as narrowing down differing type materials should multiple roof damage occur as difficult to find roofing materials after hurricanes. While I already collected the detail info as a result of going through the insurance issue, I would’ve had to spend the time collecting it since not shown on invoice.

From the school of hard knocks, I’ve learned how to deal w/ the problem your encountering. While too late in this case, when the contractor submits his proposal, I write on it that a reasonably detailed invoice, acceptable to customer, will be provided upon completion of project, and have him/her initial it (or confirmed in an Email back to me). At that moment in time, they’re not going to argue over it and, having advanced knowledge, rarely does a problem arise. A few have asked me to list what I wanted on invoice which is easy to accommodate.

There may be a multiple reasons your contractor seems unwilling to cooperate. He may be nervous listing the materials if your contract specified them. This gives him the latitude to later argue that customer and he agreed to a verbal change order which makes this a he said/she said dispute. It’s difficult for an outsider auditor to track materials used if he/she can’t tie overall procurement costs of a business back to how those materials were used to complete jobs. When contractors don’t want to provide any invoice, there is a good chance they’re falsifying their tax returns . . . and it becomes obvious if asking to make out a check in a name other than the business.

Send your stubborn contractor an Email or written letter, certified receipt requested, and specifically identify what information you want shown on the invoice . . . and to show that you’re bending over backwards, tell him/her that a listing of materials used via a separate document referencing your invoice number, and on letterhead of business would also be acceptable (just in case the business has an antiquated invoice system that doesn’t allow this kind of specification). Indicate when he/she complies, full payment will be made immediately (you then need to keep your end of the bargain too). This documentation will protect you should he/she do something stupid like filing a mechanic’s lien on property.

 

We always give a invoice(with original detailed proposal) and usually refer to proposal(as per) along with our workmanship warranty(most in our area are 5 yr),We usually keep the manufacturers warranty in our files,along with original receipt.Everyone operates differently though.