WHAT IS A ROOF CERTIFICATION?
Before most lenders will write a loan for an existing home, whether it is a re-finance or new purchase, FHA, and HUD require that the entire roof surface be certified to "find that the roof is in good condition for it's age, does not leak and has an estimated remaining useful life of over 2 years." Usually, the roof "certifier" is also required to guarantee this by providing a 2-year, no leak guarantee. If the roof leaks in this two year period, the certifier is required to fix any leak at no charge provided the leak is not the result of physical damage to the roof from whatever source.
WHO DOES A ROOF CERTIFICATION?
While Appraisers and Home Inspectors often make notes about the condition of a roof when they are filling out their reports, a roof certification must be done by someone who will stand behind the certification. If the roof leaks during the period it is certified for, the person or company that made the certification is obligated to fix the leak or... HAVE the leak fixed at their expense, as stated above. Therefore, most roof certifications are done by roofing contractors as they are equipped to make any repairs. Also, a professional roofing contractor has the necessary expertise and skills needed to make sure the roof will last the required 2-years.
ROOFING CONTRACTORS THIS CAN BE A GREAT BUSINESS TO GET INTO!
There are many roofing contractors who do nothing but Roof Certifications and the work related to these. Typically, the price for a basic roof certification, with no remedial repairs, ranges from $150 to $350 and that is for only an hour or two's work! If repairs or even a re-roof are needed, usually the roofing contractor certifying the roof, does the work. So you can see this can be a VERY lucrative direction any roofing contractor might want to take their business.
WHAT DO ROOFING CONTRACTORS NEED TO DO ROOF CERTIFICATIONS?
Roof Certification, just like any home inspection services, can benefit greatly by using a software program designed to assist in this process.
Of course you will need the right roof certification form and having this in a software program is critical. Also, those doing roof certifications will need a way to easily and inexpensively, include photos of the roof and any problem areas with their certification. Particularly helpful is a way to transmit the roof certification form, the photos, and other documents to the property owner, realtor, and/or financial institution, electronically.
A roofing contractors form software program that can easily "drag and drop" photos to a form designed for photos, and that includes the necessary, approved, roofing certification form(s) and other documents, with the capabilities of converting all these documents to a secure PDF file for easy transmittal by email, is important to the success of any roofing contractor going into the roof certification business.
Nothing will say "amateur" like a roof certification filled in by hand with Polaroid pictures attached, and of course, these must be faxed, hand delivered or mailed to the client. With a PDF, you do not even have to go to the expense of PRINTING out the certification documents and photos! Any hard copies will be printed out by the recipient of the emailed PDF files!
Do you have questions about roof certification forms and how they are used? Thinking about a roofing contractors form software program for handling your job photos, your paperwork- both insurance and day-to-day, and "sending" these by email? Please post questions and comments below!