Inspection insights for your commercial business

By Dani Sheehan. 

Understand how to use inspections not only to build business but to mitigate risk for your commercial roofing installations and waterproofing applications. 

While not the most exciting part of the job, inspections can act as an extremely valuable source of information on a roof. In a recent CoatingsTalk, Karen Edwards met with Eugene Zukowski from Jobba, John Kenney from Cotney Consulting Group and Joe Sorrentino from The Sherwin Williams Company to discuss inspections and share insights for using them to mitigate risk and gain business. 

John Kenney begins the discussion with a small history lesson, telling us, “Barrett Roofing Systems, which was your coal tar king back in the 1800s and early 1900s, they were the first ones to formalize roof inspections around 1910. A great thing about it was, then, they partnered with the roofing contractor and owner, where they were on your roof daily.” In their inception, inspections were meant to help monitor the life of your roof, rather than act as an obligation when a roof is already in disrepair. 

Bringing inspections back to modern roofing practices as preventive rather than reactive measures can benefit both the customer and the contractor but can also improve warranty compliance with manufacturers. Euguene says documentation is equally important when it comes to inspections. “The paperwork, the date filed, the stipulations, having all that information in a single place when you need it is key to doing an inspection. Warranty documentation, for example, will tell you how often an inspection is required on the roof after it’s installed.” Many customers aren’t aware that their warranties stipulate inspections over time. 

Joe echoes the importance of inspections in capturing necessary documentation. But he also feels they play a valuable role in building trust with the building owner. He shares, “As a contractor, as an ally with the building owner to protect their assets inside their facility with a roof of any type, inspections allow you to be very responsive, rather than reactive when a major roof issue comes up. The more disciplined inspections are done prior to installation to prepare a crew, as well as the owner as to the expectations that go on, are critical to the success of the project.” 

From ensuring customers don’t void their warranties to establishing trust with your customers, inspections allow contractors to be proactive installers while eliminating or minimizing punch list items and callbacks.  

Read the transcript, Listen to the podcast or Watch the webinar to hear more about how inspections can help you build your business.