Ask Each Roofer Who Initials Each Changed Page of Your Contract

A roof contract usually runs more than one page, and the pages change. A roofer revises the scope after the walk, swaps a shingle line, adds a ridge vent or moves a start week, and each revision lands in your hands as a new page or a text message. The question this page answers is simple: when a page changes, who initials it, and does that person still work for the company after you sign?

The initials matter because a page with no initials is a page nobody has to stand behind. Your contract may name the company, but the person who makes the next call on the roof is often a foreman, an estimator or a salesperson who has already moved on. Asking who initials each changed page gets you a name, a role and a phone path before the crew is on your lot.

Roofer comparison

Ask each roofer the same three questions in the same order. First, which person initials a changed page before it goes into your folder? Second, is that person the one who will answer the phone after the crew starts? Third, what happens to a page initialed by someone who no longer works there? Write the answers in your own words beside the roofer's name, not in the roofer's words, so you can read them back later.

The comparison gets clearer when you look for gaps. One roofer may say the owner initials everything. Another may say the estimator initials the scope and the office manager initials the payment schedule. A third may say pages are emailed and nobody initials them at all. Those three answers are not equal. The first gives you one name to hold. The second gives you two names and a split you need to watch. The third gives you a stack of unsigned paper, and an unsigned change is the kind that gets argued about on the final walk.

Check the page numbers as well. A contract with eleven pages and a revised page four should say so on page four. If the revision carries the same page number as the original, you cannot tell which copy governs. Ask each roofer how they mark a revised page, whether with a date, a revision letter or a version line at the foot. Compare those answers the same way you would compare two bid totals.

Keep one copy of every version in the same folder, filed by the day you received it. A folder that holds the signed original, the first revision and the second revision shows the path the job took. If a roofer cannot give you an earlier version, ask why, and write down the answer with the date you asked.

What it costs

Initials do not carry a price tag, but a page without them can cost you money. If a changed page moves a line item and nobody initials it, the number you paid against may not be the number you agreed to. The gap usually shows up at the final invoice, when the total is higher than the sheet you remember and the roofer points to a page you never saw in its final form.

Ask each roofer what a changed page adds to the total, and whether that addition appears as a separate line or is folded into a larger one. A changed page with a clear dollar figure and an initial beside it is a page you can check. A changed page that only says the scope is updated is a page you cannot price. Ask for the prior version and the new version side by side, then compare the line totals yourself with a pencil.

Missouri does not license roofers, and the state does not set a form for changed contract pages, so the paper is only as good as the agreement between you and the company. A written change with initials from both sides is what holds up if the job goes sideways. A text message saying the crew will add a second course of ice and water shield is not a change order, however clearly it is written. Keep those texts too, but do not treat them as the contract.

If you want to ask Keys Roofing who initials its changed pages before you decide, call (314) 220-2333. Put the same question to every company on your list, and write down the names each one gives you.

What to ask

Use these questions when you sit with each roofer's paperwork. Ask each one to answer in writing, and keep the answers in the same folder as the contract.

• Which person initials a changed page, and what is that person's job title on the crew or in the office?
• How is a revised page marked, with a date, a revision letter or a version line?
• Where does the initialed page go after you sign, and how many days until you have a copy?
• If the person who initialed a page leaves the company before the job ends, who answers for that page?
• Does each change carry a separate price line, and can you see the prior line beside it?
• Does a text or email count as a change, or only a page with initials?

Read the answers back to each roofer before you move on. A roofer who says the page is fine but cannot name who initials it has told you something. So has a roofer who calls the question unusual and does not answer it. Either way, you are comparing how each company handles its own paper, and that comparison matters most once the crew is on the roof.

When every roofer has answered, sort the answers into three piles: named and written, named but vague, and not named. Take the first pile seriously. Be careful with the third, even if its figure is the lowest on your sheet. A price on a page nobody initials is still a price nobody stands behind.