A quote is a description of the work, not a price. What a good reroof quote contains, and what New Zealand law entitles you to on jobs over $30,000.
Short answer: the property details, the scope of works, your wind and corrosion zone, the materials and their warranty terms, and exactly what is and isn't included. For residential work of $30,000 or more, you're also legally entitled to a written contract, a Disclosure Statement and MBIE's Prescribed Checklist before you sign anything.
Most people compare quotes by scrolling to the bottom and reading the number.
It's an understandable habit and a poor one, because a quote isn't a price. It's a description of what somebody has agreed to do to your house, and the gap between a good one and a poor one sits mostly in what it describes.
The property details. The address, the existing material, and what's proposed to replace it.
Your wind zone and corrosion zone. These are site-specific and they drive the specification — which coating is appropriate, which fixings, which profile. A quote that doesn't state them hasn't been built around your property.
The scope of works. A sequence you can follow: site setup, strip out and disposal, substrate inspection, underlay and purlins, the roofing, flashings, penetrations, spouting, clean down and handover. You should be able to see the order things happen in and roughly how the job will run.
The materials, in enough detail to be checked. Profile, gauge of steel, coating, fixings, underlay, spouting. "Colorsteel" on its own isn't a specification.
The warranty terms. Both of them — the supplier or manufacturer warranty on the materials, and the workmanship warranty on the installation. They're different things covering different failures, and a quote should state both.
What's clearly included, and what isn't. In the same place and the same size type. The most common cause of a blown budget is an exclusion nobody read.
Any contingencies you need to be aware of. What happens if something is found once work starts, and what the roofer will do in each situation. A quote that never mentions the possibility hasn't removed it.
Any recommendations for the building itself. Substrate work, ventilation, spouting, insulation. These sit outside the roof line but they affect how the whole building performs, and a roofer who has been on your property should have a view on them. Whether you act on it is your call — but you should have been told.
Photographs of your roof. A quote for your property should show your property. Photos taken during the assessment tell you the roofer actually got up there and looked, and they give you something to refer back to when comparing quotes weeks later.
A reference to the standards being worked to. This is the one most quotes fail. "We install to the highest standard" is not a reference point — anyone can write it and nobody can check it. What you want to see named: the New Zealand Building Code clauses that apply, the relevant Acceptable Solution, the NZ Metal Roofing Manufacturers Code of Practice, and the manufacturer's own installation specification. Those are documents that exist and can be looked up. Why that question matters so much is covered in most reroofs don't need a building consent, so who checks the work?
The terms and conditions. Have you been given them, or do they only appear once you've accepted? Can you read them without a legal background? Are they reasonable, or do they push every risk onto you? Terms are where the actual agreement lives, and a roofer who hands them over early — rather than attaching them to the acceptance page — is telling you something about how they operate.
Residential building work of $30,000 or more including GST triggers additional legal requirements, and they matter because most full reroofs sit above that figure.
A written contract is required. That's the Building Act 2004, not a preference. MBIE explains why contracts are valuable and what they should contain.
You must be given a Disclosure Statement and MBIE's Prescribed Checklist before you sign anything. The Disclosure Statement sets out who the contractor is, their qualifications and their insurance. The Prescribed Checklist explains your rights.
You can ask for both documents at any time, whatever the value of the work — but above $30,000 they have to be provided without you asking.
Worth knowing that a written contract is also sensible on commercial work. It isn't legally required there, but the same protections are worth having in writing.
If a quote for a $40,000 reroof arrives with no mention of a contract, no Disclosure Statement and no Prescribed Checklist, that isn't a paperwork oversight. It tells you something about how the rest of the job will be run.
Implied warranties that can't be contracted out of. Section 362I of the Building Act sets out warranties covering all residential building work. No contract wording removes them.
A 12-month defect repair period. Under section 362Q, for the first 12 months after completion the onus sits with the contractor rather than you to show that faulty work isn't theirs to fix. Most homeowners never hear about it.
Your Consumer Guarantees Act rights, which sit alongside all of the above. MBIE's consumer protection guidance covers how these fit together.
This is the single most useful thing in any reroof quote.
At what dollar figure does the roofer proceed without asking? At what figure do they ring you? At what figure does everything stop until you've approved it in writing? And if the work needs a builder, who contracts them?
The condition of the timber under your roof can't be known until the old roof is off, so no quote can price it. What a quote can do is tell you exactly what happens when it's found. We go through that in what happens if they find rot when your roof comes off.
Progress payments should attach to identifiable stages — acceptance, materials ordered, scaffold up, practical completion — rather than arbitrary dates.
Invoices and progress claims on residential building work are payment claims under the Construction Contracts Act 2002, which carries its own rights and timeframes for both sides.
Be cautious about a large deposit with no stage payments behind it.
Manufacturer warranty certificates registered in your name. A workmanship warranty in writing. A maintenance log, since maintenance is a condition of most material warranties. A practical completion and handover certificate. And a Record of Work where the work was restricted.
If a roofer can't list what you'll receive, that's your answer.
Material prices move. A quote should say how long it stands, and what happens if a supplier raises prices after you've accepted — whether that increase is passed on at cost, whether a margin is added to it, and whether you can walk away if it goes beyond a certain point.
If the totals differ wildly between quotes, there are usually good reasons for it — and they're worth understanding before you choose.
Do I need a written contract for roofing work in New Zealand?
Yes, for residential building work of $30,000 or more including GST. You're also entitled to a Disclosure Statement and MBIE's Prescribed Checklist before signing.
What is a Disclosure Statement?
A document setting out who the contractor is, their qualifications, insurance and relevant history. It must be provided before you sign a contract for work of $30,000 or more, and you can request it at any time.
How long do I have if something goes wrong with a new roof?
Section 362Q of the Building Act provides a 12-month defect repair period during which the onus is on the contractor to show that faulty work isn't theirs to fix. Implied warranties under section 362I run longer and can't be contracted out of.
What should a roofing quote include?
Property details, wind and corrosion zone, an itemised scope, a checkable specification, both warranty types, clearly presented exclusions, contingencies, photographs, and a reference to the standards being worked to.
