Read the Exclusions Before You Compare the Totals

Two roofing bids can carry totals a few hundred dollars apart and still describe two different roofs. The total tells you what the contractor wants. The exclusions paragraph tells you what that number leaves out, and on a Chesterfield house the left-out work is often the part that returns as a change order once the old shingles are off and somebody can see the deck.

Roofer comparison

Many homeowners read the scope first, compare the totals second, and skim the rest. Reverse that order for one pass. Take each bid and find every sentence that tells you what is not included. Some bids put this under a heading such as exclusions or not included. Others bury it in a paragraph near the signature block, or in the terms on the back page. A bid that shows its exclusions in one place is easier to compare, but a bid that scatters them is not automatically worse, so read every page until you are sure you have found them all.

Once you have the list from each bid, set the two lists beside each other. Look for items that appear on one list and not the other. If bid A excludes decking replacement and bid B includes it at a unit rate per sheet, the two totals are not measuring the same thing. The lower number may simply be the one that has not priced the likely surprise.

Three kinds of exclusion

Not every exclusion means the same thing, and sorting them helps. The first kind is plain scope: work that sits outside the roof itself, such as interior ceiling repair, rewiring a satellite mount, moving a generator, or repainting a fascia board. These are usually clear when you read them, and they are easy to price separately if you need them.

The second kind is conditional. The bid says the roofer will replace rotted decking or damaged framing if it is found, but it does not say at what price, or it gives a rate that is labeled as an estimate. A conditional exclusion is not an exclusion in the strict sense, but it works like one when the price is blank. Ask what the rate is and whether it is written into the contract.

The third kind is liability language: sentences saying the contractor is not responsible for pre-existing conditions, for water entering through openings that were not part of the work, or for damage to landscaping and property that was not identified before work began. These sentences are common, and they are often correct as far as they go. What matters is whether the bid also says how the property will be identified and protected before work begins, because a warning with no pre-work walk leaves you carrying the risk alone.

What it costs

An exclusion has no line item, so it has no number, and that is the problem. A roof bid with a clean looking total can still hide a range of costs that appear later. Some are small, like a few extra hours for a chimney cap or a second dumpster placement. Some are large, like replacing a section of deck that turns out to have soft spots once the old shingles come up and the plywood is exposed.

The reasonable way to think about exclusions is to ask what each one would cost if it turned out to be needed, and whether the bid gives you any way to know that in advance. A fair bid states a unit price for decking, a rate for extra labor, or an allowance with a clear limit and a rule for how overruns are handled. A bid with no unit price and no limit is asking you to accept an open number. That is not always unfair, but it means the total you are comparing is incomplete.

Keep the arithmetic simple. Take each bid total and add a realistic figure for every exclusion that could plausibly come up on your roof. Do not add the worst case for everything. The point is to see whether the gap between the two bids is still there once both have been brought to a comparable scope. Often it closes, and sometimes it reverses.

Missouri roof work also has rules that shape how exclusions play out. Under RSMo 407.725, a roofing contractor may not represent or negotiate a homeowner's insurance claim, and may not say anything about paying, waiving or covering a deductible, which is why the roofer cannot take over a damage question that belongs to your insurer. Keys documents damage, puts a written scope with photos and measurements in your hands, and attends as the contractor while you deal with your own insurer. When you read an exclusion for damage you have already noticed, treat it as a question to settle in writing with the roofer and with your own insurer, not as a price the roofer will quietly absorb.

What to ask

Bring these questions to each estimator before you sign. Write the answers down next to the exclusion they belong to.

1. Which exclusions in this bid would be priced at a unit rate if they turn out to be needed, and what is that rate?
2. Is the decking allowance a fixed number of sheets, and what happens if the deck needs more?
3. Which items in the exclusions paragraph are covered by the other bid, and which are not?
4. Who is responsible for the satellite dish, the electrical mast, the gutters and the chimney cap if they are disturbed during the tear-off?
5. Is the exclusion of interior damage tied to a pre-work walk that we do together, and when will that walk happen?
6. If an exclusion turns into extra work on the day, how will I be told in writing before the crew starts it?

Ask the estimator to point to the words in the contract that answer each question. If the answer exists only in conversation, it is not yet part of the bid. Have it written into the scope, initial the page, and keep a copy.

Before you decide between two bids, check the exclusions against the work you actually expect on your roof. If a line in your bid does not match what you read here, call the office at (314) 220-2333 and ask the estimator to show you the exact sentence in the document.