Roofer: What is the cost of hiring?

Why recruit a roofer

Whether you are a roofing company or construction company, recruiting a roofer can help you to complete roofing projects for residential and commercial properties. Roofers often work as subcontractors to companies or individuals, and will provide a bespoke service at a reasonable rate and to a reliable standard. A good quality roofer does not cut corners, and is honest about their process. 

Qualities of a great roofer:

• offering reasonably priced services.
• creating or restores roofs that are durable and long-lasting.
• being honest and able to evaluate what work needs to be done, including completion time and any potential difficulties that they might come up against in completing the job.

Deciding between a full-time vs freelance roofer

Roofers often provide their services on a subcontractor or freelance basis. This is because you may only require them per job, rather than over the course of several years. One roofing job may take several months, and so you will likely recruit them on a long-term contract. However, if you are a construction company, you may employ a roofer on a permanent, full-time basis. This may be to fulfil a contract where you need a team of roofers to help you complete a large scale housing development.

Energy companies may need full-time roofers to help them safely install solar panels. Construction companies might also recruit full-time roofers with other skills like plumbing, tiling and joinery. You may save time and money recruiting one tradesperson for several different jobs onsite.

What are the different types of roofer?

Roofers can have different specialisations, or can be multi-skilled tradespeople available to complete several jobs for you. Therefore, you should select a roofer depending on the kind of roofing work that needs completing. If you are looking to construct roofs for residential properties, then you should ideally look for a residential roofer with this experience. Some older houses may need a roofer who has experience with restoring thatching. Commercial roofers will be able to provide industrial strength roofing and corrugated roofing to buildings like factories or warehouses.

• Commercial roofer: commercial roofers repair and install slate tiling, corrugated roofing and skylights on a range of buildings such as warehouses and factories.
• Residential roofer: can repair and create roofing for housing, choosing materials and styles that suit the age of the property.
• Trainee/apprentice roofer: gains experience alongside a trained roofer as part of an apprenticeship qualification.
• General tradesperson with roofing skills: a generalist tradesperson may have roofing skills alongside joinery, carpentry and bricklaying.
• Solar PV installer: a solar PV installer will be able to install solar panels effectively on roofing.

Where to find a roofer

To find the right roofer for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

• Advertising via a construction recruitment agency: a recruitment agency specialising in construction will be able to link you with reputable construction companies and freelancers in your local area.
• Advertising on notice boards or in your local jobcentre: you can attract local tradespeople to your role by advertising contracts and individual roofing jobs on notice boards.
• Networking with vocational colleges in the area: find trainee and apprentice roofers by networking with young adults at local vocational colleges.
• Professional referrals from construction colleagues: other tradespeople in your area may know of reputable roofers with available time slots.

Post your job online: try posting your job for a roofer on Indeed to find and attract quality roofer candidates.

Skills to look for in a great roofer

A great candidate for a roofer’s role will have the following skills and attributes as well as work experience that reflects:

• having both on-the-job experience and vocational training
• being good at listening to and following step-by-step instructions
• having ability and confidence to use specialised tools
• implementing risk management
• acting safely around your other workers

Writing a roofer job description

A thoughtful description is important for finding qualified roofer candidates. A roofer job description includes a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities and the required and preferred skills for the position.

When writing your  job description for a roofer, consider including some or all of the following keywords to strengthen the visibility of your job posting. These are the most popular search terms resulting in clicks on jobs for roofers according to Indeed data:

• roofer
• roofing
• labourer
• construction
• trainee
• flat roofing
• roofers
• apprenticeship

Interviewing roofer candidates

Strong candidates for roofer positions will be confident answering questions regarding:

• safety measures and risk management
• delegation of tasks to junior or apprentice workers on the team
• how they might deal with rotting rafters or broken tiling
• previous roofer experience
• any other trade experience such as in carpentry or joinery.

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of roofer interview questions for examples (with sample answers).