Compare Roofers by the Person Who Can Say Yes

When two St. Louis roofers both say yes to your job, the comparison often stalls on a question neither bid answers: who on their side is allowed to say yes to the next thing that changes. A bid is a number on a page. The person who can move that number, change a start date or approve a substitute shingle is a separate fact, and it decides how much the page is worth after you sign.

This page walks through how to find that person for each roofer, what each answer costs you in time, and what to ask so the answer comes back on paper. It does not rank anyone. It gives you a way to line up the answers you already have.

Roofer comparison

Start with the chain of approval. Ask each roofer who writes the estimate, who signs the contract, who schedules the crew and who decides when a change order is needed. Some companies have one person doing all four jobs. Others split them among a salesperson, an office manager and a field foreman. Neither setup is wrong, but the split means a change request passes through more hands, and each hand adds a day.

Compare the names. If the person who sold you the job is not the person who will approve a change, write down the approver's name and title on your comparison sheet. Then check whether that same name appears on the contract and the invoice. A name that shows up in one place and not the others is a gap to close before the crew is booked.

Next compare the authority limit. Ask each roofer how much a field foreman can approve on site without a call back to the office. A foreman who can approve a half-day of extra labor on a rotted rafter is in a different position from one who must phone the office before touching a single board. Ask for the dollar figure or the number of hours, not a general word like flexible, and write the figure down.

Last, compare the response pattern. Send each roofer the same small question, such as whether a dormer cheek is included, and note who answers, how long it takes and whether the answer is in writing. A quick phone answer from someone who cannot approve anything is useful for scheduling, but it does not bind the company. Keep the written answers in one folder so you can see which roofer's commitments hold up when the week gets busy.

What it costs

The cost of an unclear approval chain shows up later, usually in the middle of a roof day. A crew discovers that the deck under the old shingles is softer than the bid assumed, and the foreman cannot authorize the replacement sheets. The crew waits, the open roof sits over a weekend, and you get a call asking what to do. Every hour of that wait is paid for somewhere, either in a standby line or in a later change order.

In St. Louis the timing matters more than most people expect. A roof that stays open through a freeze-thaw week can take on water through an unfinished valley or a loose drip edge, and rain that starts while an approval is pending can turn a repair into a larger job. Ask each roofer how long the crew will hold an open section while an approval is routed, and whether that hold is written into the bid.

Permits add their own clock. Some St. Louis County permit desks want a revised plan or a new inspection when the scope changes, and that work cannot start until the paperwork moves. A foreman who can change the scope on the spot but cannot file the revision leaves you with a roof that differs from the one the permit describes. Ask each roofer who files the revision and how many days they expect the desk to take before anyone writes a change order.

A note on insurance: Missouri law (RSMo 407.725) bars a roofing contractor from representing or negotiating a homeowner's insurance claim, and that bar holds no matter how the approval chain is set up. A roofer can document damage, put a written scope with photos and measurements in your hands, and attend as the contractor while you deal with your own insurer. A roofer may not handle the claim for you, so questions about claim payments belong with your insurer or with an attorney you choose.

What to ask

Bring these questions to each roofer in the same order, and write each answer beside its question rather than in a separate notebook.

1. Who on your team can approve a change to the scope, and what dollar amount or number of hours can that person approve without a call to the office?
2. Who signs the contract for your company, and whose name appears on the invoice I will pay?
3. If the deck is soft once the old shingles come off, who approves the replacement, and how long before the crew can resume work?
4. Who files a revised permit when the scope changes, and how many days does your team expect the county desk to take?
5. Will you hold an open section overnight while an approval is pending, and is that hold written into the bid?
6. Which shingles do you install, and who can approve a substitute if the named product is not on the truck?

Ask each roofer to answer in writing and keep the reply with the bid. A verbal answer from the salesperson is useful, but it is not the approval chain. If a roofer will not put the approver's name in an email or on the bid, count that as an answer too, and note it in your comparison.

When you have the answers, compare them in the same columns. Put the approver's name in one column, the approval limit in the next and the permit contact in the third. A blank cell is information. So is a column where every item names the same single person, which usually means one person is carrying the whole job and will be hard to reach during a busy week.

You can also test the chain with a small, harmless question sent to each roofer on the same day. Ask whether a gutter run is included, or whether the drip edge is aluminum. Note who answers, how long it takes and whether the reply matches what the bid says. A roofer whose answer changes between the phone call and the email has told you something about how approvals move inside the company.

Keys Roofing, the contractor behind this site, installs Atlas and Malarkey shingles only, so the substitute question has a short answer on a Keys bid. The other roofers on your list may answer it differently, and that difference belongs in your comparison. To ask how approvals work on a Keys job, call the office at (314) 220-2333 and ask for the name of the person who approves changes on your roof.