When selecting a roofing partner for your next project, it’s beneficial to be selective about which partner you choose to work with. That’s why comparing commercial roofing bids is so important. But when every bid looks, sounds, and feels different, how do you know which bid is best for your project?

Here are 7 tips you can use to help you better compare your project bids:

1. Seek bids from multiple potential roofing partners

Receiving bids from multiple roofing partners is beneficial because this provides you with options. Typically, you want to get three to four bids. If you have less than three bids, you might not have enough options to be selective when choosing your roofing partner. Then, with too many bids, you may have too much information to make a selection. It’s all about finding the right balance when seeking bids for your next commercial roofing project.

2. Provide a detailed scope of work ahead of time

Providing a detailed scope of the work you are seeking in your RFP (request for proposal) can help contractors better understand your property. If you’re unsure about what your scope of work is, you can always consult with an experienced industry professional. To provide potential partners with more details, you can also allow them to ask you questions about your roof or perform on-site evaluations.

3. Qualify your bidding partners and examine previous projects

Qualifying your bidding partners can help you avoid making assumptions about them and the work they produce. By researching contractors for your project, you can gain additional insights to help you make your selection. You can even ask potential partners to share the work they’ve done on other similar projects with you. Doing this will allow you to see the quality of work and better understand what types of processes they might use on your project.

If you’re not sure what you should look for in potential partners or the specific needs of your building, you can always consult with someone. This can help you gain more insights into what you should look for in potential roofing partners, to ensure you select an expert to work on your project.

4. Consider everything that each partner offers, including warranties

Considering what each offers is critical to ensure you understand their similarities and differences. This might entail examining the differences in the services they plan to offer for your roof, or the cost they’re quoting you. It’s also crucial to look at the type of warranty each roofing partner offers in case something doesn’t go as planned. The three warranties you’ll typically see are:

• Material Only Warranty
• Labor and Material Warranty
• Labor, Material, and Workmanship Warranty

Each of them offers a different level of coverage, which may affect the long-term cost of your roof. So, it’s also important to make sure you know what type of warranty you’re getting.

5. Ask questions and get clarification

Once you’ve submitted all of your bids and begun reviewing them, you can create a list of questions you have for each roofing partner. You can then schedule a time to meet with each of them. During this time, you can ask your questions and get any additional insights you need. This can help you can glean all the information and clarification you need to make your final selection.

6. Remember your budget

In the final stages of your comparison process, it’s important to think about where each bid falls in your pre-determined budget. Doing this can help you make sure your company is not going way over budget with an upcoming project. This also provides an opportunity to reallocate money if necessary. Without taking your budget into consideration, you may end up running into problems later on during your project.

7. Select your commercial roofing partner

When making your final selection, it’s important to examine the information each partner has provided. If there are questions you still have, get those answered before choosing your winning bid. Making sure you can easily compare pros and cons is critical because the last thing you want is to have your project retouched after completion. Doing this may require some patience, but in the end, you’ll get the expected results you want.

Interested in working with White Hat for your next project?

Our team of commercial roofing professionals is always happy to help you evaluate the needs of your roof or assist you with your next project.

If you’d like to connect with a member of our team, send us a message on our contact form or call us at 937.909.9030. We’re always happy to help you with your commercial roofing needs!