What Is A Commercial Roof Consultant?
A consultant is defined as someone who gets paid to give expert advice or training in a particular field. Using this definition, a commercial roof consultant is someone who gets paid to provide expert advice to a property manager or owner about a building’s roof. In most cases, a commercial roof consultant is someone with years, or decades, of roofing experience. While it is not required, many roof consultants are also Professional Engineers. Most importantly, a commercial roof consultant operates as an independent professional.
What Do Commercial Roof Consultants Do?
Acting as independent experts, commercial roof consultants are paid to assist property managers with all things roofing. While a commercial roofing consultant’s duties will vary greatly on a case by case basis, here some of the most common ways they work with property managers:
Annual Roof Inspections
Roof consultants typically start new client engagements with an initial roof inspection and report. These inspections and reports are repeated on an annual or semi-annual basis. In Florida, a commercial roof consultant might do an inspection before and after the hurricane season. These inspections are the foundation for other aspects of a roof consultant’s duties. Additionally, they can be extremely important during the commercial insurance claim process.
Create Roof RFP’s
Many times an annual inspection identifies necessary repairs or that a roof has reached its useful life. When this happens, the consultant helps the property manager prepare an RFP to replace or repair the roof that gets put out to bid. This is one of the most important aspects of a commercial roof consultants job. Property managers trust their expertise to create an accurate scope of work that will address any roof related issues.
Bid Evaluation and Comparison
A roof consultant’s duties usually extend beyond creating the initial RFP. In most cases, they will evaluate and compare bids alongside the property manager. Their expertise ensures competing bids are accurate to the scope of work. They can also identify discrepancies or issues with particular bids a property managers might miss. While roof consultants do not make the final decision when it comes to hiring a roofing contractor, their opinion and input is greatly valued.
Roofing Project Oversight
Once the property manager selects a commercial roofing contractor, the roof consultant can work with them throughout the project. An optional service, the extent of project oversight varies based on the agreement between the property manager and the roof consultant. For major roof replacements, commercial roof consultants can function like construction project managers, handling everything from scheduling to material ordering. During less involved projects, they might perform milestone inspections to make sure the project is hitting timelines.
Quality Control
Once a major roof repair or replacement is completed, roof consultants often perform quality control measures. This means another thorough inspection to make sure the project was completed to the agreed upon scope and specifications in the RFP. Quality control is extremely important because it ensures the new commercial roofing system was installed correctly.
Develop Roof Maintenance Plans
In addition to helping with reroof projects, consultants develop long term roof maintenance plans. A commercial roof consultant can develop a maintenance plan for a roof of any age. Most commercial roof maintenance plans include a projection of the current roof’s useful lifespan. This information is incredibly helpful to property managers when it comes to budgeting for roof related capital expenditure projects.
Provide Expert Testimony
If necessary, a commercial roof consultant provides expert testimony during any litigation or legal proceedings that might arise from a roofing project. While this is not an outcome anyone wants, it does unfortunately happen. In these instances, having a long term relationship with a qualified roofing consultant can be very important.
How Do Roof Consultants Help Property Managers?
In addition to these services, commercial roof consultants benefit property managers in a number of ways. In most cases, hiring a commercial roof consultant results in cost savings beyond their fees. Rather than paying a commercial roofing contractor $500,000 to replace a roof, a property manager could hire a consultant for $25,000. Relying on their industry expertise, the roof consultant efficiently navigates the project for $450,000. While this saves the property manager $25,000, the actual savings are much greater.
This is because the commercial roof consultant saves the property manager time. Property managers do not have to spend countless hours collecting bids, comparing estimates, overseeing the project and ultimately worrying if everything is being done correctly. Instead, property managers spend their time focused on other tasks, making them more efficient.
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