What should a roofing quote include?

What a roofing quote should include, line by line

Start with the names. A quote should carry the trading name and contact details of whoever is giving it, your name and the property address, and it should itemise the work rather than give one lump figure.

Then the work itself: which tile or slate is going on, whether it is new or salvaged, the underlay, whether new battens are included, and how ridge and verge go back, dry or in mortar.

The extent, in plain words. Whole roof, one elevation, or a patch. A quote that says roof and stops there is the one that grows later.

Then the money and the dates. Whether VAT is in the figure, when the work starts, how many days it takes, how long the price stands, when payment is due, and how anything found under the covering is priced.

How do I compare two roofing quotes?

Read the work, not the totals. The cheaper quote is very often cheaper because it is doing less, and that only shows up line by line.

The coverings have to match before the totals mean anything. Concrete tile, clay tile and slate are three different prices for the same roof.

Check scaffolding sits on both quotes or neither, and waste removal and VAT the same way. Where one quote is missing a line the other has, that line is usually the price gap.

What is usually left out of a roofing quote?

Scaffolding is the usual one. MyJobQuote's roof replacement cost guide, updated 26 August 2026 and read on 31 August 2026, states that the prices it publishes do not include scaffolding hire fees. Which? advises agreeing with your roofer whether scaffolding is needed and whether it is in the overall cost.

Waste removal is the other. The same MyJobQuote guide tells homeowners to ask whether waste removal is included before agreeing a cost. Stripping a roof makes a lot of heavy rubbish and somebody pays to shift it.

Building control. The Planning Portal, whose guidance covers England, read on 31 August 2026, states that approval is not normally needed where less than 25 per cent of the total building envelope and less than 50 per cent of the roof is affected. Structural work, a change in fire performance and a heavier covering can also make a job notifiable below those limits, so the quote should say who notifies it. Our roof building regulations guide has the full test.

Red flags on a roofing quote

Pressure to sign today, a price that drops a long way the moment you hesitate, cash only, nothing in writing at all, or a guarantee promised out loud with no term and no scope.

Paper with no trading name and no number you can ring back is another, because there is then nobody to hold to it. So is a large sum demanded before anything is written down.

What we put in writing

The estimate is free and we only charge if we do the work. Some jobs we look at, some we price over the phone, and the price comes by text, WhatsApp or email. It stands for 30 days, and payment is due when the job is finished.

Repairs are guaranteed for five years. On a new roof or a reroof our leaflet says all work guaranteed and puts no term against it, so ask us to write down what is covered before you commit.

Advice is free, so ring 07477 536 273 and ask what your quote should be naming.

Where this comes from

Every rule on this page is taken from the official source named beside it. Nothing here is our interpretation of what the rules probably mean.

MyJobQuote, How Much Does a New Roof Cost? Roof Replacement Costs [2026], https://www.myjobquote.co.uk/costs/new-roof, read 2026-08-31

Which?, How much do roofers cost?, https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/finding-a-tradesperson/article/how-much-do-roofers-cost-aHH2S2r0xnGA, read 2026-08-30

Planning Portal, Building Regulations: Work to an existing roof, https://www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/common-projects/roof/building-regulations-work-to-an-existing-roof, read 2026-08-31