When you’re a member of an HOA board, there is a lot of responsibility involved in making decisions regarding the care and keeping of your community’s homes. Perhaps one of the most important decisions you can make is selecting a regular contractor for roof repairs, maintenance, and installations. Roofs are obviously integral to the integrity of a home overall, and if a roof is suffering from severe damage, the rest of the house will quickly suffer in turn. Therefore, it’s important that an HOA board selects a roofing company that is not only experienced but is also able to provide urgent care roof services if need be.

But understandably, the ability to provide HOA roofing services is coveted among contractors. HOAs are able to give contractors continuous work on multiple houses over time. Let’s explore some tips on how to compare contractor bids so that you can provide the best possible services for your community.

1. Build An Analysis Sheet

When comparing bids offered by different contractors for HOA roofing services, you need to have an organized comparison method in place. Through an analysis sheet, ideally a spreadsheet, you can compare each bidder side by side. Their costs should be placed side by side, with the left column listing all materials and labor given. Across the top, one column should be designated for each contractor. This way, you can compare each data point uniformly, rather than subjecting yourself to unnecessary confusion.

2. Create A Bid Form

When you have a bid form, it’s much easier for you to get every bit of information that you need from each provider of HOA roofing services competing for your business. Every contractor should receive an identical bid form to the one given to their competition. Ask every question that you think needs to be answered. Make sure that their costs are carefully broken down. If any part of the form is left unanswered, you should follow up with the contractor to ask why.

3. Examine Inconsistencies (And Consistencies)

Remember that if you’re on an HOA board, you’re essentially responsible for handling the money of everyone in the community. You need to make sure that you’re examining every contractor carefully. When comparing bids, highlight different anomalies, and ask questions if necessary to understand why those anomalies exist. If one contractor lists a material as costing significantly less than the number quoted by every other contractor, you need to know why. Additionally, a significantly lower number may not account for all of the necessary labor. Conversely, a strangely high number could reflect more work than is actually necessary. But remember that higher quality roofers will ultimately save you money: a well-ventilated roof can last 20 years or more, preventing you from needing to replace your roof early.

4. Build Questions

You need to think long and hard about the questions that you ask contractors. As much as comparing and contrasting the data given is important, you also need to have in-depth conversations with these contractors in order to get a sense of the services that they offer and for that matter how much you can trust them. Roofing for HOAs is again remarkably valued among contractors, and if you aren’t able to get your questions answered in a timely manner, you should second guess working with the contractor in question. Make sure that the contractors understand what you’re asking for, and that the full scope of the project is understood. You do not want to leave anything to chance.

5. Ask for Recommendations

It’s unlikely that you’ll be considering providers of HOA roofing services that haven’t been tested by others first. You need to work with experienced contractors, and you can best determine this by not only reading reviews but asking for recommendations from other local HOA board members. Word of mouth is perhaps one of the strongest recommenders for contractors. While online reviews are also typically reliable, you can get more specific recommendations through word of mouth.

Choosing a roofing contractor for your community can be intimidating. But if you approach the bids systematically, you will be better able to select the right contractor for your purposes.