The Russo Report: Selling Owners On Roof Maintenance – Part III

In Part III of our blog, we will briefly discuss the process of actually selling the roof maintenance program to the property owner or manager.

This procedure can be tricky, for a variety of reasons. Some owners will wonder why they should shell out more money after just buying a new roof or having an expensive retrofit performed. Others will wonder why they need to pay for a maintenance program when a guarantee may already be in place to protect their investment.

At this point, roofing contractors need to gently remind their customers about a couple of things. First, that maintenance is a responsibility of ownership—just like when changing the oil on a new car per the manufacturer’s requirements.

Second, maintenance is required in most roofing manufacturer’ guarantees. Third, No Dollar Limit (NDL) warranties don’t cover problems related to a lack of maintenance. If water backs up in a leaf-clogged roof drain, the service call can cost as much as $300.

It’s also important to remind the property owner that a maintenance contract can actually reduce his or her company’s long-term expenses. Typically, the cost of a couple of service calls and maintenance repairs can equal the yearly cost of a maintenance contract.

This would also be a good time for the roofing contractor to ensure that the property owner fully understands the manufacturer’s guarantee (if there is one) and how maintenance exclusions are addressed.

In addition, some roof system manufacturers offer extended guarantee coverage of the roof in question if regular maintenance inspections and repairs are performed.

Contractors can also quote Peter Kalinger, the long-time executive director of the Canadian Roofing Contractors Association. He says: “As long as the cost of maintenance is less than 1.6 percent of the initial cost of the project, the cost of the maintained roof—on an annual basis—will be less than the non-maintained roof.”

Next time, we’ll take a look at the nitty-gritty details of a comprehensive roof maintenance package based on what successful contractors have put into their own programs.