Olivette and Richmond Heights: Two Questions That Split Your Roof Bids

If your house sits in Olivette or Richmond Heights, your roof falls under one of two St. Louis County municipalities that each run their own building department. A roofer who works mostly in another municipality may not know the local routine as well as one who pulls permits in these two places every month. That difference is worth testing before you pick a bid, because a permit that runs two weeks late moves the crew, the dumpster and the shingle delivery along with it.

Each city keeps its own permit forms, its own inspection calendar and its own office hours. The same roof can need different paperwork depending on which municipality holds the address, so the first job is to confirm which office your address falls under. Check the city's own pages and the county's public records rather than relying on the roofer's description of the process. Then compare each bid against what the city says, not against what the other bids say.

Roofer comparison

Put the permit question at the top of your comparison sheet, above the price. Ask each roofer to name the municipality, the desk or office that issues the permit, the form or online portal they will use, and the date they expect to submit the application. A roofer who answers with a general phrase like 'we handle the city' has not told you which desk will hold the file. Write the answer exactly as it was given, with the date you heard it.

The start-week question is where the permit answer does its work. Ask each roofer for the earliest start date that depends on permit approval, and ask whether that date assumes the inspection happens before tear-off or after the deck is open. Those two assumptions produce different calendars. One puts the crew on the roof sooner, while the other leaves the house open until a second visit clears the work. Neither is wrong by itself, but you cannot compare them unless both are written down.

Timing matters more in some months than others. Spring and early summer bring hail season, and a desk that is busy in April can push a roofer's May calendar back. Winter brings the freeze and thaw cycles that open up edges and flashing, and a start pushed deep into the cold season can change the inspection sequence and the sealing work. Ask each roofer whether their permit timing assumes a particular season, and note the answer beside the start date.

Keep these answers in the same folder as the bid, not in a text thread that someone can delete. If a roofer says the desk takes applications only in person, the number of trips and the person who makes them belong on the same sheet as the price. A permit answer that lives in a phone conversation is not a comparison point, because you cannot line it up against the others.

What it costs

The permit line is where many bids differ without anyone pointing it out. Some roofers show the permit fee as a separate line. Others fold it into a general overhead figure, and some leave it out entirely and bill it later. Ask which method applies to your bid. A fee that moves from the quote to the final invoice is a change in what you pay, even when the shingles and the labor have stayed the same.

Ask also whether the bid includes a re-inspection. A roof that fails a first inspection, most often over nailing pattern, chimney flashing or drip edge detail, needs a second trip from the inspector and a second trip from the crew. A written bid should say whether that second visit is included, what it costs if it is not, and who calls the desk to book it. This is a cost question, and it belongs in the bid the same way the shingle line does.

Waiting has a cost too. If a permit slips from late October into a hard freeze, tear-off can land in weather when sealant strips will not bond well and the crew has to stop early. Ask each roofer what happens to the bid price if the start moves into that window. A bid that holds its price across a moved start is a different number from one that reprices once the cold arrives. Get that answer in writing before you sign, because it will not be easy to reconstruct later.

What to ask

Send the same questions to every roofer, in the same order, and write each answer down with the date you received it. The list below covers the permit and calendar points that separate these two municipalities from the rest of the county.

1. Which municipality and which permit desk will issue the permit for this address?
2. Who is named as the applicant on the permit, and who requests each inspection?
3. What is the earliest start date that depends on permit approval, and does that date assume a pre-tear-off inspection?
4. Is the permit fee a separate line on the bid, and where will it appear on the final invoice?
5. If the first inspection fails, who books the re-inspection, and is that visit priced in the bid?

A roofer who cannot name the desk is giving you an answer, and that answer belongs in the comparison too. Mark it as unclear rather than leaving the cell blank. If one roofer names a desk and another names a different one for the same address, stop and check the address on the bid against the parcel record before you go further.

If you want to test a roofer's answer by phone, the Keys Roofing office number is (314) 220-2333. Ask the same five questions there and compare the reply with the written bid. The two should match. If they do not, ask the roofer which answer they will stand behind, and ask for that answer in writing before the permit application is filed.