As a business owner, you dream of growing your life’s work from a fledgling solopreneurship to a mid-size business and beyond. Whether increasing production, launching new products or services, expanding your territory or taking the leap from residential to commercial clients, growth is a natural progression. All of these milestones take planning, pivoting and purposeful consideration to make them happen, particularly taking the leap from residential to commercial. If you think you’re ready to take that step, you first need to understand the differences between the two arenas.
To state the obvious, residential construction includes building homes and commercial construction includes building commercial properties such as shopping centers, office buildings or schools. The not-so-obvious differences are the complexity of contracts and the bidding process, the different materials and tools necessary for working with those materials, the training required to work with the materials, and the added financial and legal obligations.
Specs and Submittals
Commercial projects frequently begin with a property owner contacting an architect to help design a facility. The architect creates the contract documents. This package includes the specifications and drawings.
Mike Vazquez, Regional Commercial Sales Manager for Gulf Coast Supply, simplifies this complex topic this way: “Roofing specifications define the level of quality the roofer will use in constructing the building by laying out what products to use and how to use them. The drawings (blueprints) tell the roofer where the products go.”
Roofing contractors use these specs and drawings to prepare bids for the job. If they are awarded the bid, they enter the submittal phase of the paperwork journey.
The submittal package is provided to the general contractor proposing the products to be used on the job as outlined in the specs. The general contractor then sends the submittal to the architect for approval. When the architect approves the submittal, the roofing contractor may begin the project. After the roofing is complete, the roofer may complete the process to obtain any warranty specified.
Types of Warranties and How They’re Secured
According to Vazquez, two types of warranties apply to metal roofing—the material warranty and the labor and material warranty.
The material warranty is the guarantee from the manufacturer that its product will perform as defined in the warranty by protecting the owner from defects in the material. It covers only the material.
The labor and material warranty guarantees that the product will perform as intended in the manner in which it was installed. One portion of the warranty covers only the materials, as previously described. Another portion of the warranty covers the workmanship. Therefore, to secure a labor and material warranty from the manufacturer, roofing contractors must be trained and authorized by the company to install the product according to the manufacturer’s specifications.
Roofers authorized to install the product proposed for the project need to secure the labor and material warranty. To do so, they submit the specs and all accompanying paperwork for the job to the manufacturer for review. The manufacturing company then
decides if it will award the desired warranty.
If the warranty application is accepted, the manufacturer and roofing contractor set up a series of job-site meetings to make sure the installation is completed properly. The first meeting takes place before any work is done to verify that what was submitted is
actually possible and to solve any problems the contractor may encounter before they ever happen.
The second meeting is held mid-term. At this time, the manufacturer’s technician checks to see that the job is going as scheduled and according to specifications. This meeting can also be used to discuss any job conditions that may have changed since the pre-construction meeting.
Finally, there is an inspection to approve the work. “When the job is complete and the product paid for,” says Vazquez, “then the manufacturer issues the desired warranty.”
Commercial Roofs are Designed Differently
Most residential roofs are pitched. Commercial roofs come in all shapes and sizes depending on the size of the building and what the owner wants the building to look like. These design differences command different types of materials, sometimes on the same building. The frequency and manner of maintenance and required installation skills differ as well.
Commercial roofers must install around roof stacks, air ventilation systems or other external piping. This extra detailing requires greater investment of time and labor, which adds to the cost of the project.
Most home builders apply asphalt shingle, tile or metal roofs. Commercial buildings, however, are topped with a variety of materials including sprayed polyurethane foam, BUR (built-up roofing), EPDM (ethylene propylene diene monomer), TPO (thermoplastic polyolefin), PVC (polyvinyl chloride) or metal. Shingles, tile and metal are also used on commercial buildings, but switching from residential to commercial may require expertise with other products.
“While a small minority of roofers specialize in one type of material, such as metal,” says Vazquez, “most offer different options to stay competitive in the marketplace.” Developing a broad knowledge base is essential for recommending and installing different kinds of materials.
The Difference Between Insurance and Bonding
Because commercial roofing jobs are bigger and more costly than residential, you may need to upgrade your liability insurance and to secure bonding. Technically a form of insurance, bonds differ from insurance policies in a few ways.
Bonds involve three parties—the contractor, the customer and the bonding agency. To bid on a commercial job, contractors secure a bond that guarantees their bid. Securing a bond requires the contractor to pay a premium and provide collateral. In essence, that requirement makes bonding similar to financing. If a loss is incurred, the bonding agency covers the loss, but contractors must reimburse the agency for all funds paid on their behalf.
The enormity of a commercial roofing job dictates that commercial clients adhere to a different pay schedule than residential clients. The cash flow will be different. You, as the contractor, will need more capital to start a commercial job.
While a residential roof may be installed in one or two days, a commercial roofing job can take months. To get it done faster, meet deadline and keep your general contractor happy, you’ll want to hire more crew members. According to Vazquez, the average commercial roofing crew has approximately eight team members. Larger projects require larger crews. Supporting the added team members is an additional financial obligation you wouldn’t have without taking the leap from residential to commercial roofing.
The broad range of products used in commercial roofing will require you to work with more vendors or material providers. Upgrading your records management system will help you keep track of all their information.
In addition to growing product knowledge, you’ll need to learn new zoning laws and building codes specific to commercial construction. Check with your local building inspector to see if you need to take any courses or upgrade your license for your area.
Roofers tend to choose a path for a reason—either residential or commercial—and stay in it. But if you’re still dreaming the dream, by all means, start jumping through some of these hoops and move your roofing business into the fast lane.
Carol J. Alexander writes website copy, blog posts and feature articles on home remodeling and construction topics from her home in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. In addition to Florida Roofing magazine, notable clients include Shed Builder, This Old House
and Family Handyman.
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