What Major Risks Do Homeowners Face When Making a Roofing or Chimney Decision?

According to the February 2010 Certified Contractors Network (CCN) newsletter, “homeowners have a lot of fear when they are faced with making a home improvement decision. They worry about whether or not they are making the right choice when it comes contractors. Will they be able to deliver on their promises? Are they financially strong or could they be out of business soon? To secure the sale are they stretching the truth with the unique benefits being offered? And many more …”

The standard checking of license, insurance and manufacturer’s certification are critical pieces of information to verify, but do not assure a good job unless supported by internal systems and processes that guarantee consistency. Homeowners need to collect more information.

Industry Statistics

‘Home Improvement and Construction’ is the #2 industry in North America for customer complaints behind the auto industry. In fact, a recent Qualified Remodeler magazine survey found that only 52% of respondents across North America would hire their contractor again. According to the the latest statistics available (2007 & 2008) from the Better Business Bureau of Canada,  "Roofing Contractors" are listed as  #1 for the number of inquiries and in the top 3 for number of complaints. This is out of approximately 2000 industries listed. This equates to homeowners spending thousands of dollars for sub-standard and ineffective home improvement work, plus all of the unnecessary headaches, wasted time and additional interior repairs that are associated with these bad jobs.

Why Do So Many Homeowners End Up Dissatisfied?

The Toronto roofing industry is essentially unregulated. This means training, installation and monitoring are the responsibility of the company, and there are no mandatory apprenticeships or testing programs. A building renovator’s license is essential, but this requires only the most basic test, often lasting less than ten minutes. Manufacturer’s certification should be current, but it does not eliminate the homeowner’s risk of the contractor having poor workmanship or completely skipping large components of the job. Companies promote certification as a marketing tool, but actual customer proposals and installations are not inspected by the manufacturer to ensure their standards are met.

The Certified Contractors Network (CCN), an independent organization committed to improving the professionalism in the industry and educating homeowners, says “Studies clearly show that most dissatisfaction involves the low-bid contractor”. Unprofessional contractors can pass the licensing and certification prerequisite noted above, but still hide things or lie by omission to put a low bid on the table. Here are some of the ways how:

• not educating the homeowner about the proper job and potential extra costs
• low quality materials
• important parts of the job are partially or completely omitted on the proposal
• not installing what is listed on the proposal
• misrepresentation of manufacturer's material warranty
• unrealistic contractor workmanship warranty
• inadequately trained and underinsured Installers (confirm sub-contractors liability and WSIB coverage in writing)
• poor property protection and job site clean-up
• inadequate job site safety and supervision
• inadequate review process in place to ensure consistent quality
• doing cash jobs; no records = no workmanship warranty and no material warranty

Other Things Homeowners Should Know 

• The internet is a good source of information, but homeowners have to be wary of posted reviews. Some 'independent' sites allow contractors to write their own reviews. Look at more than one site.
• Different Estimators from the same company may quote completely different specifications and prices for similar projects. There may be a large gap in the workmanship, supervision and end results from the same company due to lack of systems and training.
• Some companies put their signs everywhere to make themselves look like they work in the neighbourhood, without actually doing work at those locations.
• Roofing is a very high employee turnover industry, so ask about the company’s installation and safety training process.
• When companies get busy they can sub-contract the work to crews with little experience.
• If things go wrong, the homeowner has essentially no recourse. The homeowner may win in court, but the company likely has no assets.

The majority of our business is prematurely replacing or repairing other contractors' poor quality installations. To see visual proof of what happens when corners are cut, visit our photo gallery for Roofing Jobs Gone Bad, and Chimney Jobs Gone Bad.

What Should a Homeowner Do to Reduce the Risk?

Buying a roof or chimney is an intangible service that results in a finished product. The only way to guarantee a good contractor experience and the right job are proven systems and processes applied on every project. Go beyond the normal research and ask the contractor what processes they have in place to ensure consistent:

• scheduling of appointments
• estimator training for quoting procedures, job specifications and pricing
• quality brand name materials
• installer training for workmanship and installation methods
• insurance coverage
• job site safety, supervision and clean up
• work in progress monitoring and finished job review process
• warranty coverage
• maintenance service

Professional contractors will have all of these components to ensure a consistent outcome on every job.

For an independent, step by step decision making process, contact us to receive a complimentary copy of CCN’s brochure “How to Make a Successful Construction Investment”.

Homeowners never regret getting the job done right. To see the specifics of how Peter & Greg Walker Contracting keep homeowners educated and informed throughout the process click here.