What should be included in a written roofing quote?

What will be done, where, and to what extent. Which elevation, which junction, how many square metres, whether battens and underlay are included, and whether the covering will be reused or renewed.

This is the part that determines whether two quotations are actually for the same job. Without it, the cheaper price often turns out to be the smaller job.

Materials should be named, including whether existing coverings will be reused, and should be compatible with the existing roof. On older or listed buildings, like-for-like matters.

Access should be stated too. Scaffolding is a real cost, and a quotation that excludes it while a competitor includes it is not the bargain it appears to be.

Roof work uncovers things. Battens may be worse than expected once the covering is off. A good quotation says what is excluded and how additional work will be priced and authorised, so you are not presented with an unexplained increase.

Agreeing that mechanism in advance is what keeps a surprise from becoming a dispute.

Payment stages should be proportionate to work completed. A modest deposit for materials is normal; payment in full before work is not. The guarantee should state what it covers, for how long, and who honours it.

Insist that all of it is in the document rather than in conversation. A written scope protects both sides equally.

Set the totals aside and compare the scopes first. Once you can see that one includes underlay renewal and access while another does not, the price difference usually explains itself — and the decision becomes about value rather than about who is cheapest.

A quotation that references specific findings — this valley, this batten, this section of underlay — is verifiable against the survey that produced it, and any photographs taken during inspection. A quotation with no such reference is harder to check, because there is nothing to compare it against if the scope is later disputed.

Ask that the quotation cross-references the inspection report or photographs directly, so that anyone reading it later, including a second contractor giving an opinion, can see exactly what evidence the proposed scope is responding to.