Sources & methodology

These articles explain how roofs are scoped, hired, and bid. They are general guidance for any U.S. address. A quote, a permit, and an insurance decision still belong to the people responsible for that building.

What you can use this guide for

Read a proposal for the layers it names, not only for the total at the bottom. Compare two bids by tear-off, deck, underlayment, flashing, and ventilation. Use the homeowner hub for hiring and insurance questions, and the contractor hub for takeoff and bid structure.

Pictures on the homeowner hub show the outside of a shingle roof. They do not reveal underlayment, deck, or fasteners, and they are not photographs of a customer’s house. Install from the product’s current instructions and from the code the local office has adopted. Model codes are published by the International Code Council. The adopted edition, and any local amendment, is what the permit office enforces.

Who decides what this guide cannot

• A qualified roofer, after looking at the roof they are willing to contract, decides the repair or replacement scope.
• The authority having jurisdiction decides whether the work needs a permit and which code edition applies.
• Your insurer, reading your policy, decides what a claim pays. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners explains property insurance in general. Your state insurance department regulates your policy.
• Employers owe workers fall protection under OSHA 29 CFR 1926.501. OSHA’s roofing page is written for that duty. It is not a homeowner access guide.

Sources used in the hubs

• Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association — asphalt roofing described as a system.
• NRCA technical library — trade details for steep-slope and low-slope roofs.
• Metal Roofing Alliance — metal roofing as its own system.
• Tile Roofing Industry Alliance — tile and slate resources, including weight and structure.
• IBHS roofing research and RICOWI guidance — wind, impact, and storm investigation context.
• OSHA roofing and 29 CFR 1926.501 — fall protection for employees.
• EPA Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Program — work that disturbs paint in pre-1978 housing.
• NAIC — consumer orientation to insurance. Not a decision on a claim.
• NFPA — where fire-test standards used in product listings are developed.
• International Code Council — model codes. Local adoption controls.

If one of those pages and a sentence here disagree, use the agency or association page. Their page is updated when the rule changes. This article is not.

What not to send

Do not send policy numbers, claim numbers, or photos of your house to an address that is not printed on an official page of this site. Questions about your policy go to the insurer on your declarations page. Questions about a permit go to the building department for that address.