Quote kits for roofers: price common repairs in minutes

Most roofing quotes are the same dozen jobs with different measurements: re-bedding a ridge, lead flashing round a chimney, replacing slipped slates, a small GRP flat roof. Building each one from the merchant's price list and your day rates takes about 40 minutes, so 12 quotes a month is 8 hours, usually in the evening. And an item forgotten in a rush, such as a skip or tower hire, comes straight off your margin.

Tradify's Plus plan adds kit bundles: parts and labor saved together, so a ridge re-bed or a chimney flashing kit drops into a quote with its materials and labor already priced. SmartWrite, also on Plus, uses AI to write the job description from the quote's line items and tidy the wording. When the customer accepts, Plus can generate a purchase order from the quote and send it to your merchant. You keep the prices current and check every quantity before a quote goes.

A roofer in Exeter with one employee sends about 12 quotes a month, mostly ridge, chimney and slate repairs plus the odd flat roof. The owner does all the quoting and is the only user on Tradify Plus ($59£44€52A$84C$83 a month), and sets up kits for their 10 most common jobs.

About $233£175€208A$336C$329 a month of the owner's time saved, against $59£44€52A$84C$83 for one Tradify Plus user. That is 5 hours a month (25 minutes saved on each of 12 quotes) at an assumed $47£35€42A$67C$66 an hour. Time saved ordering materials from purchase orders comes on top and isn't counted.

1. 1List the 10 jobs you quote most, such as ridge re-bed per meter, chimney flashing, slipped slates and a small GRP flat roof, with the materials and labor each usually takes.
2. 2Import your merchant's price list into Tradify, or enter the materials you buy most, and set your markups.
3. 3Build each job as a kit bundle on the Plus plan, including the costs that get forgotten, such as skip, tower hire and waste disposal.
4. 4On site, take measurements and photos, then build the quote from kits and adjust the quantities to what you measured.
5. 5Use SmartWrite to draft the description from the line items, then read it and delete anything you won't actually do.
6. 6When a quote is accepted, generate the purchase order from it and check the quantities before it goes to the merchant.

• Kit bundles, SmartWrite and purchase orders are on Plus only ($59£44€52A$84C$83 per user a month); Pro at $49£37€44A$71C$70 doesn't have them. The page doesn't say whether VAT is included, and a second user doubles the cost.
• A kit is only as current as the prices in it. When lead or slate prices rise, an old kit quietly undercuts you; update kits whenever your merchant's prices change.
• No two roofs are the same. A kit is a starting point; awkward access, rotten battens or a hidden valley still need pricing on the day.
• AI descriptions can sound sure about work you haven't included, such as a guarantee or making good inside. Check every line before you send.