Budgeting For Roof Expenses in 2015

Building owners and managers, commonly include the cost for roof replacement, and roof retrofit (re-cover major repair/restoration) as capital expenditures. While yearly preventive maintenance and minor repairs are typically expensed during the course of the business year.

Planning for large expenditures are critical elements of the long-term, successful management and operation of most large businesses. Accurately identifying required large expenditures in advance allows top management to factor them into the overall business plan during the planning period.

Budgeting for the next business year is paramount. It is also crucial to identify the expenditure amount with a high level of accuracy. Moderately over-budgeting the cost of a project is generally accepted (even sometimes valued) by top management, if the project comes in under budget.

  

Alternatively, with the high cost of roofing materials, under-budgeting project costs especially after approval can result in serious repercussions upon the project initiator. When talking to building owners/ mangers about projects that have come in over budget, it is usually the result of an ill-equipped contractor. They either ignore building codes, neglect insurance requirements, poorly evaluated the existing conditions and/or implemented inadequate design.

During our decades of roofing experience, the most common mistakes made in identifying roof
replacement costs include:

Misidentifying the existing roof system/building components and the condition/function of each.

• What is the existing roof assembly make-up? How are the components attached to themselves and the deck?
• What is the condition of and thermal resistance (R-Value) of the insulation components? 
• Can this roof be effectively recovered with another roof system? What type of roof deck exists and what is its condition?
• Does the deck provide structural slope or is slope/drainage presently provided/enhanced by tapered insulation?

Not accounting for non-related roof work.

• Are there obsolete roof fixtures/equipment that would best be removed and deck openings closed?
• Is there roof equipment that need to be raised or remounted on new supports  to allow effective flashing height and/or methods to meet Florida’s new code requirements?
• Are there older pieces of roof-mounted equipment that needs replacement?

Contractors who do not comply with various building codes.

• Building codes are “the law of the land” and an owner risks incurring penalties for non-compliance.
• Many building insurance policies have specific rigid requirements owners must follow to avoid cancellation or at a minimum, higher premiums.