How to Price a Roofing Job: Step-by-Step Pricing Guide

Pricing a roofing job is where good estimators make money and bad ones lose it. The difference between a profitable job and one that costs you money is not usually the big numbers - it is the small things you forget to include. The skip you did not price. The extra day of labour because it rained. The flashing that turned out to be longer than you thought.

This guide walks through a complete roofing pricing process with an illustrative worked example. Replace every example rate with current supplier quotes and your own business costs.

The five things every roofing price must include

1. Materials (with waste)

Every physical item that goes on the roof: tiles, underlay, battens, fixings, ridge tiles, hip tiles, valley linings, flashings, dry-ridge systems, vent terminals, and anything else the job requires.

Calculate quantities from the actual roof surface area, then add a documented allowance based on the product, geometry, cuts, pack sizes, and supplier terms.

If you have not calculated your material quantities yet, see How Much Roofing Material Do You Need? (Material Calculator Guide) before you go any further.

2. Labour

Build labour from:

• Number of days for the crew size you will use
• Daily rate per person (or hourly rate x hours)
• Complexity factor - steep roofs, difficult access, fragile materials all add time

Example: a 92 sqm re-roof with a 2-person crew at £200/day each, estimated 4 days: 2 x £200 x 4 = £1,600 labour cost.

Include the labour and programme risk you can justify for the specific job, including access, weather exposure, complexity, and dependencies. Record the assumption rather than applying the same buffer to every quote.

3. Scaffolding and access

Scaffold is a significant job-specific cost. Price it from the scaffolder's current quote, including height, access, lifts, chimney work, hire duration, and any alterations.

Other access costs:

• Cherry picker or scissor lift for short-duration repairs
• Roof edge protection (if not using full scaffold)
• Skip hire, road permits, and collection charges

4. Disposal

Strip-out waste has to go somewhere. Estimate the waste type and volume, then use a current licensed waste-carrier quote. Include permits, restricted materials, excess weight, and additional collections where they apply.

5. Overhead and profit margin

Your overhead covers things like insurance, vehicle costs, phone, software, and the time you spend quoting and doing admin that is not billed directly. Calculate an overhead rate from your own accounts and allocate it consistently.

Margin and markup are not the same. If total job cost including allocated overhead is C and the target gross margin is M, the selling price is C / (1 - M). Choose the target using your own financial plan, risk, market, and capacity.

Worked example: pricing a residential re-roof

This is a hypothetical example designed to show the method, not a current market price:

• Semi-detached house, 2-storey
• 92 sqm roof surface area (at 30 degrees pitch)
• Strip existing concrete tiles, felt, and battens
• Install new underlay, battens, and concrete interlocking tiles
• New dry-ridge system
• Replace existing hip tiles
• Lead flashings to chimney (approx 8m)
• Scaffold front and rear
• 2 skips for strip-out waste

Materials

Labour

• 2-person crew x 4 days x £200/day = £1,600
• 0.5 day weather buffer = £200
• Labour total: £1,800

Scaffold, skip, and disposal

• Scaffold (front + rear, 2-storey) = £1,100
• 2 x skips + permit = £550
• Access and disposal total: £1,650

Subtotal

£2,662 (materials) + £1,800 (labour) + £1,650 (access/disposal) = £6,112

Overhead and target gross margin

• Illustrative overhead allocation of 20% = £1,222
• Total cost including overhead = £7,334
• Illustrative target gross margin of 20%: £7,334 / 0.80 = £9,167.50

Final price to customer

Illustrative selling price before VAT: £9,167.50

This figure demonstrates the calculation only. Replace the quantities, rates, overhead allocation, and target margin with verified inputs for the actual job.

Common pricing mistakes that eat your profit

Using plan area instead of actual surface area

If you price this example from 80 sqm of plan area instead of 92.4 sqm of actual surface area, 12.4 sqm is missing from the material calculation. See How to Calculate Roof Pitch for why the pitch factor matters so much.

Forgetting the waste allowance

In a worked estimate, a 10% allowance on £2,400 of materials is £240. The lesson is not to use 10% universally; it is to include the allowance you selected and documented for the job.

Underestimating labour time

Build labour from the actual scope and programme, then record the risks and assumptions that could change it. Do not hide an unexplained contingency inside the daily rate.

Not pricing scaffold separately

Some contractors bundle scaffold into a general "overhead" percentage. That works until you get a job where scaffold is unusually expensive (narrow access, 3-storey, chimney wraps). Price scaffold as a separate line item based on the actual quote from your scaffolder.

Using win rate without context

Track win rate by job type, lead source, customer fit, value, and reason won or lost. There is no universal healthy percentage. Use the pattern to improve qualification, scope clarity, pricing, and follow-up instead of changing prices from one headline benchmark.

How to present your price professionally

A clear quote helps the customer understand scope, exclusions, price, timing, and payment terms without having to interpret notes or a spreadsheet.

A professional roofing quote should include:

• Your business name, logo, and contact details
• Customer name and address
• Clear scope of work (what is included)
• What is NOT included (so there are no surprises)
• Itemised breakdown (materials, labour, scaffold, disposal)
• Total price with VAT if applicable
• A clear expiry date for the quoted price
• Estimated start date and duration
• Payment terms

The free Quote Generator produces a professional, printable quote with these fields. Enter your line items and rates, add your logo, and print to PDF. No signup needed.

For more free tools that speed up quoting and measurement, see Best Free Tools for Roofers (2026 Guide). And if you need to calculate pitch for your quote,How to Calculate Roof Pitch covers the maths and common mistakes.

Should you itemise or give a single price?

There are two schools of thought:

Itemised: shows the customer exactly what they are paying for. Builds trust. But also makes it easy for them to question individual line items ("can you do it without the dry-ridge system?").

Single price: cleaner, less to argue about. But some customers want to see the breakdown to trust the number.

Choose the level of detail that makes the scope and price unambiguous. A category-level breakdown can be useful, but it should match your contract, customer, and sales process.

Free tools to help you price faster

• Free Quote Generator - turn your measurements and rates into a professional, printable quote
• Roof Takeoff Builder - calculates material quantities AND prices them with labour, all from plan dimensions and pitch
• Roof Replacement Cost Calculator - quick estimate of replacement costs based on roof size and type
• Roofing Quote Calculator - combines measurement and pricing in one tool

From manual quotes to a connected workflow

If measurements, product rates, labour, and quote documents live in separate files, each handoff creates another place to re-enter or miss information.

QuoteCore+ connects measurements, pitch calculations, saved pricing rules, labour, quotes, material orders, and invoices in one workflow. The estimator remains responsible for checking every measurement, rate, allowance, and output.

If you are weighing up whether to switch from spreadsheets, see Roofing Quoting Software vs Spreadsheets: What Actually Saves Time? for an honest comparison.

FAQ

How much does a new roof cost in the UK in 2026?

There is no reliable single rate without the roof size, covering, access, condition, location, scaffold, disposal, and specification. Homebuilding & Renovating publishes consumer cost examples, but a contractor should price the measured scope using current quotes and business costs.

What profit margin should a roofing business aim for?

There is no universal target. Set it from the business's overhead, tax, risk, capacity, cash-flow requirements, and financial plan. Keep markup and gross margin calculations separate so the quote produces the result you intended.

How do I price a roof repair vs a full re-roof?

Price both from scope. A repair may include investigation, access, minimum labour, materials, and a return visit; a re-roof usually has a larger measured schedule. Choose day rates, measured rates, or a fixed price only after checking which method captures the actual cost and risk.

Should I include VAT in my quote?

Follow the current HMRC VAT rules. A VAT-registered business must account for VAT correctly; a business that is not VAT-registered must not charge VAT. Make the customer total and tax treatment clear.

How long should a roofing quote be valid for?

Choose a validity period that matches supplier price validity, lead times, workload, and contract terms. Put the exact expiry date on the quote and explain what must be repriced after it.

Ready to quote faster? Start your free QuoteCore+ trial today. No card needed. From complex plan to quote in under 3 minutes for less than a dollar.