How to choose the best roofing contractor

How to choose the best Best roofing contractor for you?

With so many companies putting themselves forward to work on your home you may be overwhelmed with options. Not to mention the ever increasing number of marketing companies, bidding for your search results! Yes its real, just take a look at the image above. Thats a real ad on the left side… currently advertising for “colorbond repairs”? YIKES, how many issues do you see wrong in this ad? Roofers don’t need hard hats or high vis… they are on the roof not the road! If wearing gloves they wouldn’t be highly flammable. But best of all, wouldn’t he be on a colorbond roof? OMG… anyone who clicks on this ad BEWARE you are dealing with a marketing company who then on sells your lead.

WHAT HOMEWORK SHOUD YOU DO?

Ok so before you fill out the form or call, you have checked out the company google reviews and they seem to be all good? That should be it right? With the alarming amount of scams being produced daily, we suggest you do some homework. This suggested checklist will not guarantee you don’t end up with a poorly managed project, it only decreases the opportunity for it. We understand your stress and anxiety around your leaks, and unfortunately the opportunistic scammers do to. With the ever increasing weather events, has come a large increase in “MARKETING FOR YOUR BUSINESS”. What do we mean by that? Well those platforms that offer work to members or paid subscribers. Therefore these companies that have increased dollars to spend on advertising (or SPONSORED AD’S) to capture your details, and then “FARM OUT YOUR JOB” to their subscribers.

SO HOW COULD IT GO SO WRONG, WE HERE YOU SAY?

In some platforms there is a loop hole in Qualifications required. As long as you have some qualifications, you can sign up for the platform… and then once you are in, you can apply for any traded leads you like! We are home owners too, and we are all for competition in trades. But qualified trades will never compete against unskilled labour. Far too often we come across the victim who has forked out money for a “small repair”, which never worked, and was preformed by someone not qualified to do it! There are a few things we recommend you do before engaging anyone with your project. They are not always common knowledge, but they are good practice.

How to choose the best local roofing contractor for you? Start by reading the ad you click on!

When searching Google for “your local slate roofer”, don’t be fooled by ad’s. SPONSORED means they paid to turn up in your result.  They might be local, and they might not! SPONSORED are paid adverts that target searches in your area. These ad’s always appear at the top of the page, but they are not necessarily the best way to find a local slate roofer.  So if you are looking for local trades, look at the map listing for their locations. Or check the title of the result for the name of the company name before you click it. Wherever possible, avoid clicking sponsored AD’s and look for actual results that match your search. You can scroll a little further down the page to see actual results at are from your search words… Like City2surf Roofing- based on the Northern Beaches

Some reputable companies do place Ad’s, it is part of “doing business”, just make sure you know who you are clicking on! Yes City2surf Roofing do run ad’s like many roofing companies. Ad’s are not the problem, when advertising a real roofing company.

THEN THERE ARE THE LANDING PAGES! BEWARE!

WHATS THE BIG DEAL? A LANDING PAGE OR A WEBSITE?

So who cares if it is a landing page or a website, right? There is a huge difference in our opinion. Daily we are “offered” 20-30 “leads” per month from Marketing Companies who set up a landing page to “capture leads” and then sell them on to us… the qualified people to do the job! They don’t take any responsibility for your home or the work done to it… its simply a money thing to sell your details on.

So, how do you tell if you are dealing with a website from a qualified business or a landing page? It’s pretty simple when you know what you are looking for.

WHAT IS A LANDING PAGE? HOW DO I TELL?

Most landing pages look like marketing photos and actors pretending to preform the work… They don’t advertise their industry specific license because they are not specifically licensed to perform your works. They farm the work out to anyone registered in their books. The landing page is simply set up to capture your details and farm them out. On a landing page you can’t drill deeper than the page you are on. It’s not a website, with information, projects, links to social media, or even a face of the people you are dealing with. You have a choice to Call or fill in a form! It’s at that point your details are farmed out to paid subscribers, and the circus begins. Landing pages are also used by companies, just make sure it displays a license!

WHY IS A WEBSITE BETTER THAN A LANDING PAGE?

On a Website, you should see additional pages and information on the company, recent projects, social media and more! Most importantly a contractor license, normally at the bottom of the page.

But it must be displayed by law, for all to see, if you are conducting works for over the value of $5,000 in NSW. The most important thing you can do… CHECK THAT CONTRACTOR LICENSE

If the person you are talking to can’t provide a license for you to check… DON’T RISK IT!

So look for the links to socials, blogs, recent projects and licenses. Because lets face it, I don’t want an actor repairing my roof… do you?

THEN FINALLY you have worked out the roofing companies from the ad’s, then comes the roofers and the advice.

Listening to the vast array of professional advice, can leave your head spinning too! Every repair has multiple ways or solutions, and are not always simple and straight forward. More often than not, a repair can be caused by multiple factors, hence the multple solutions. And some companies may offer you very different advice. Now with your 3 companies chosen from an enormous amount of pre-selection google searches, you think you are almost there! But one company didn’t turn up on time, and one didn’t even bother to show up. So back to the drawing board you go to search up some more. Once you have your 3 roof inspections completed… then there is the 3 very differing opinions on what needs to be done! Below we have put together a checklist, to eliminate the unqualified, and limit you possibility of engaging someone who really shouldn’t be doing your job. This is only a guide, and we hope to limit your exposure to fake tradies, the rest is upto you! Remember, CHEAP FIXES ARE OFTEN EXPENSIVE TO REMOVE AND REPLACE PROPERLY.

Here is our suggested checklist, we hope it saves you money, time and stress!

CHOOSE THE RIGHT ROOFING CONTRACTOR CHECKLIST

• Is it an advertisement or is it a legitimate result to your search?
• Are you on a landing page which is or referring you to another business?
• Does the website have an ABN, ACN and a LICENSE visible to you?
• If you search the ABN, ACN or license do you get the same company name?
• How are the google reviews? Are they all very recent or does the google review history span the life of the website?
• When they turn up, do they have a company name on their shirt which matches?
• Legally to preform works over $5,000 all advertising must display a business name and license number on it, does it? (HOT TIP) Take the time to look at their car, it is advertising, where is the name and contractor license number !

DOES YOUR QUOTE CONTAIN THE BELOW INFORMATION?

• • It must have a date
  • The Company name which should be a match to the company you spoke with initially and on inspection day
  • Their ABN or ACN
  • Their License Number, if they don’t have a license you are taking a risk
  • Check the license matches the business on the quotation
  • A clear description of the works to be preformed, and materials
  • A value including GST & make sure you search if they are registered for GST
  • Any disclaimers or conditions in relation to re-occurring issues from your works
  • If you are engaging in works for over $20,000 have they registered you for HBCF ? (formally HOME OWNER WARRANTY INSURANCE)
  • This is our short list and in no way should be the end of yours. Make sure you have all your questions covered and ask for some local completed jobs