Choosing a roofer, one step at a time
Write down what's actually wrong
Note the roof type (longrun, decramastic, concrete tile, butynol), roughly how old it is, and what you've noticed. Take photos from the ground or through a window. Roofers can quote more accurately, and you'll be comparing like with like later.
Work out whether it needs an LBP
If the job needs a building consent, such as swapping a light iron roof for heavy concrete tiles, it's restricted building work. That has to be done or supervised by a Licensed Building Practitioner (LBP). Roof painting, moss treatment and small repairs usually don't need one. Our guide to checking an LBP shows how to look someone up.
Ask for detailed quotes, not estimates
The official checklist for residential building work says to get detailed quotes rather than estimates, and to compare them for the same scope and materials. Consumer Protection suggests written quotes from at least three businesses if you can.
Check the insurance and paperwork
Ask what insurance they carry for the job and what warranties come with the materials and the workmanship. For work of $30,000 or more, including GST, they must give you a disclosure statement and checklist before you sign. You can ask for them on smaller jobs too.
Look at their real work
Ask for photos of similar roofs they've done nearby, and read their Google reviews. Google's rules ban paid or incentivised reviews, so a long run of detailed, specific reviews tells you more than the star average.
Agree the money before work starts
There's no legal requirement to pay a deposit. If one is asked for, Consumer Protection advises paying no more than 10% of the total, then paying as work is done and materials arrive.
Does the roofer suit your kind of roof?
Roofing isn't one trade. The LBP Roofing licence has seven areas of practice: concrete or clay tile, profiled metal roof and wall cladding, metal tile, roof membrane, torch-on membrane, liquid membrane, and shingle or slate.
An LBP can legally work across their whole licence class, but they're meant to take on only what they're competent to do. So ask what they do most weeks. Someone who mostly lays longrun may not be the right person for a leaking butynol deck, and the other way round.
Two other groups can legally do restricted roofing work. Registered plumbers are treated by law as if they hold a Roofing licence, and a Carpentry LBP can install lightweight profiled metal roofing.
Door-knockers and storm chasers
Someone turning up after a storm with a quote in hand isn't automatically a cowboy. But when the sale is over $100 and it's negotiated at your door or by phone without you inviting them, the law treats it as an uninvited direct sale.
That gives you real protection. The agreement must be written and dated, show the trader's name, street address, phone and email, and state the price or how it's worked out. You can cancel within 5 working days of getting your copy, and any money you've paid has to be refunded straight away.
If you do go ahead, Consumer Protection suggests paying by credit card so you can ask your bank for a chargeback if it goes wrong. A clearly visible sign on your gate counts as telling door-to-door sellers not to come in.
What to ask before you say yes
- Does this job need a building consent, and who applies for it?
- Is it restricted building work? If so, what's your LBP number and licence class?
- Is this a fixed quote or an estimate?
- What insurance do you hold for this job, and can I see a copy?
- What warranties come with the materials and the workmanship, and do they pass to a new owner?
- Who will actually be on my roof: your own team or subcontractors?
- How will you stop falls on this job: scaffolding, edge protection or something else?
- Could anything on my roof be asbestos, and how would you check before starting?
Signs to walk away
- They say they're licensed but can't give you an LBP number, or the register doesn't show them. Claiming a licence you don't hold is an offence.
- A big deposit, or the whole price up front.
- A price that's only good if you sign today.
- Cash only, no written quote, no business name on anything.
- No written contract on a job of $30,000 or more. The law requires one.
- A plan to water-blast an old cement roof before anyone has checked it for asbestos.
- No plan for scaffolding or edge protection on a job that will run for several days.
Old roof? Ask about asbestos first
WorkSafe says a home built before 1 January 2000 may contain asbestos, and lists cement roof sheets, ridge capping, spouting (gutters) and downpipes among the places it turns up. Nobody should drill, cut, water-blast or walk on it until it's been tested. Removing more than 10 square metres needs a licensed asbestos removalist, so the roofer you choose may need to bring one in. Our guide on whether your roof is asbestos explains how to find out.
What you can check, and what the roofer hands over
You can
- Search the public LBP register and screenshot the result
- Read their Google reviews and ask for photos of similar roofs
- Ask for the disclosure statement, even on a small job
- Call your house insurer before work starts, because cover can change during renovations
- Tell the council the names of any LBPs doing consented work before it starts
Leave to a roofer
- Anything on the roof itself, including the measure-up
- Scaffolding and edge protection
- Applying for the building consent, if the contract says they will
- A Record of Work for any restricted building work, to you and the council
- Copies of their insurance, warranties and the maintenance the roof needs, once the job's done
Where Find My Roofer fits
We're a referral service, not a roofing company. Tell us what's going on and where you are, and we'll pass your job to one checked local roofer who covers your area. They quote, and you decide.
If you'd like to compare, get one or two more quotes yourself and line them up against the same scope. How we check roofers explains what we look at before anyone joins.
If it were our roof
We'd shortlist roofers who work on our kind of roof every week, check the LBP register if the job needs consent, and insist on a detailed written quote with the insurance and warranties spelled out. Then we'd pay a small deposit at most, and the rest as the work gets done. The lowest price only wins if the scope matches.
Want a roofer to take a look?
Tell us the job and your postcode. We match it with a Find My Roofer certified roofer who specialises in that kind of work, and they call you to quote. Your number goes to them alone.