What line items belong in a roofing quote?

Tear-off and disposal, decking inspection with per-sheet repair pricing, underlayment, ice barrier where your jurisdiction requires it, drip edge, starter strip, field shingles by brand, ridge cap, flashing, ventilation, pipe boots, permit fees, and both warranties. Anything not written down should be treated as excluded.

What is ice-and-water shield and do I need it?

It is a self-sealing membrane laid at the eaves to stop leaks from ice dams. Under IRC R905.1.2 it runs from the lowest edge of the roof to at least 24 inches inside the exterior wall line, and it is only required where your building department has designated a history of ice damming in Table R301.2(1). So the answer depends on your permit office, not on how cold it feels. The same membrane in the valleys is manufacturer guidance and good practice, not a code requirement.

What is the difference between architectural shingles and impact resistant shingles?

They answer two different questions. Architectural describes the shingle itself, a thicker laminated profile instead of a flat three-tab. Impact resistant is a rating a shingle earned by passing a test, and plenty of architectural shingles have never taken it. Two standards issue that rating: UL 2218, which fires steel balls at the shingle, and FM Approvals 4473, which does it with ice balls. Both run Class 1 through Class 4, so an FM-rated shingle on your quote is legitimate. Understand what the test measures, though. It looks for the shingle tearing or cracking through the back, and by the standard, lost granules and dents visible only on the top face are not failures. A Class 4 roof can be beaten up and still be passing. If you are buying up to Class 4 for an insurance discount, get that discount confirmed by your carrier in writing first, because the shingle costs you more whether the credit shows up or not.

What is the difference between a manufacturer and a workmanship warranty?

The manufacturer warranty covers the shingles and comes from the shingle company. Architectural shingles now carry a "Limited Lifetime" term, which means for as long as the original owner owns the home, with full coverage typically only in the first ten years and no labor paid after that. The workmanship warranty covers the roofer’s installation, and no standards body sets it. Two to ten years is what we usually see. Get both in writing, separately.

What Should a Roofing Quote Include?

Published by TradeIQ · Updated July 12, 2026

Two roofing quotes can name the same price and describe completely different jobs. The difference hides in the line items, and a vague quote is where homeowners get burned later with change orders. Here is what a complete roofing quote should include, spelled out, so you can read one like a roofer and spot what is missing before you sign.

A roofing contractor showing a homeowner an itemized roofing quote on a clipboard in the driveway, with a crew working on the roof behind them.

Key takeaways

A complete quote itemizes tear-off, decking, underlayment, ice barrier, flashing, ventilation, and warranty.
IRC R905.1.2 puts the ice barrier at the eaves, and your local building department decides whether it applies. Valleys are not in the code at all.
New roofs fail at the metal joints, not in the shingle field, so a reused-flashing line is an omission and not a saving.
Impact-rated shingles come from two standards, UL 2218 and FM 4473, and both are legitimate.
"Limited Lifetime" lasts while you own the house, and the labor coverage typically stops after year 10.
If a line is not written down, treat it as not included.

The line items a complete quote spells out

A real quote, sometimes called an estimate, breaks the job into parts you can see and price. Look for each of these:

Tear-off and disposal: how many old layers come off, and the dumpster to haul them
Decking inspection, with a per-sheet price written down for any rotted plywood
Underlayment: synthetic or felt
Ice barrier membrane at the eaves, if your building department requires one where you live
Drip edge and starter strip
Field shingles by brand and line, plus ridge cap
Flashing: step, counter, chimney, and valley
Ventilation: ridge and soffit
Pipe boots, permit fees, and a final magnetic nail sweep

Why each line matters

A quote that just says "install new roof" hides all of this. Take flashing. A shingle field is not usually where a fresh roof fails. The failure comes at the joints, where the roof meets a chimney, a wall, a vent stack, or another roof plane, and those joints are made of metal, not shingle. Metal that was bent to fit a roof that no longer exists does not fit the new one. So "reused flashing" is not a line a roofer saved you money on, it is the line that decides whether you are back up there in three years. Skipping the permit can leave you holding an uninspected roof, and the decking number is the one that turns into an argument at 10 a.m. on tear-off day when the crew finds soft plywood. Our breakdown of what a roof replacement costs shows what a sheet of OSB actually costs against what a roofer bills for it.

What the ice barrier line actually says, and what it does not

This is the line contractors misdescribe the most, so read it slowly. The rule sits in section R905.1.2 of the International Residential Code. It kicks in "in areas where there has been a history of ice forming along the eaves causing a backup of water as designated in Table R301.2(1)." That table is not a weather map. It is a form your own building department fills in. So the honest answer to "is this required here" is: whoever issues your permit decides, and the states amend this chapter as they please. Ask the building department, not the salesman.

Where it does apply, the code wants the membrane run "from the lowest edge of all roof surfaces" to a point at least 24 inches inside the exterior wall line. On a roof of 8 in 12 or steeper, the code adds a second minimum: the membrane also has to reach at least 36 inches measured up the slope from the eave edge. A detached shed or garage with no conditioned floor area is written out of the rule entirely.

Now the part almost every roofing page on the internet gets wrong. R905.1.2 says nothing about valleys. Not one word. Membrane in the valleys is a good idea, and most shingle manufacturers tell you to do it in their own installation instructions, which is a different thing from code. So if a roofer tells you valley membrane is "code," he is either repeating something he heard or leaning on you. Put it on the quote anyway. Just know what you are buying it for.

The things vague quotes leave out

Code-upgrade costs to bring an older roof current
A decking contingency, so rotted wood becomes a surprise mid-job
Disposal and dumpster
Manufacturer warranty registration

The rule of thumb: if a line is not written down, assume it is not included.

Shingle details a real quote names

A good quote names the shingle brand and line, not just "architectural." In hail country it should name the impact class. There are two standards, and only one of them ever gets mentioned.

UL 2218, "Impact Resistance of Prepared Roof Covering Materials," is the famous one. It fires steel balls at the shingle, 1.25 inches for Class 1 up to 2 inches for Class 4. FM Approvals 4473 does the same job with ice balls and also runs Class 1 through Class 4. Both are real. If your quote names an FM 4473 Class 4 shingle, that is a legitimate rating, and turning it down because you only ever heard of UL would be a mistake.

Know what the rating is measuring, though. The test looks for tearing and cracking through the back of the shingle. By the standard, crushed or dislodged granules, dents, and marks visible only on the top face are not failures. Which is exactly what an adjuster and a roofer will be arguing about after the next hailstorm. A Class 4 roof can be pounded, ugly, and still passing its own test. If you are buying up to Class 4 for an insurance break, get the discount confirmed by your carrier in writing before you pay for it.

The warranty section, read the way a roofer reads it

A quote should separate the manufacturer’s material warranty from the roofer’s workmanship warranty. They are two different promises from two different companies, and one of them may not exist in five years.

Start with the shingle warranty, because the number on the brochure is not a number of years. Every major architectural shingle now sells as "Limited Lifetime," and lifetime is a condition, not a clock. CertainTeed spells it out in its own document: "Lifetime means for as long as the original individual property owner owns the property." Sell the house and CertainTeed says coverage is "limited to 50 years and the SureStart period is 10 years."

That SureStart window is the part that matters, because it is the only stretch that pays for anything but shingles. Owens Corning writes its version the same shape: full coverage in "years 1-10: 100%," then "prorated years 11-40: 80% reduced by 2% every year," and then the sentence people never read, that "no labor or other costs will be covered during the prorated period." TAMKO gives its Heritage line a Limited Lifetime term with a "10-year non-prorated period" it calls Full Start.

So a 30-year-old lifetime roof is not covered for 30 more years. In year 15 you are looking at a discount on replacement shingles, and you are paying every dollar of the labor to strip and reinstall them. CertainTeed puts the exclusion in writing: "Labor costs, roof tear-off, metal work, flashing and disposal expenses" are not covered. One more thing worth knowing if a cheap bid shows up with a 25-year shingle on it: TAMKO still sells a three-tab that carries a flat "300 Months (25 Year)" term. So a 25-year warranty printed on a bid is worth a question: am I being quoted three-tab here, and not the architectural shingle I asked for?

Whatever brand is on your quote, pull that manufacturer’s own warranty document and read the prorate table. They are not written the same, and the brochure is not the warranty.

The workmanship warranty has no standard at all

Nobody governs this one. There is no body that sets it, no minimum, no definition. Two to ten years is what we typically see written on a residential roofing contract, and that is our experience talking, not a rule you can hold anybody to.

Which means the length is the least useful thing about it. Ask what it actually covers. Does the roofer eat the labor when a manufacturer defect makes him pull shingles? Does it survive if you sell? Is it a line in the contract or a sentence a guy said in your driveway? A five-year workmanship warranty in writing beats a lifetime one that was never printed.

Reading a quote and not sure what is missing?

Send the quote, and send the shingle brand and line printed on it. A TradeIQ roofer will check it against the list above, then pull that manufacturer’s own warranty document and tell you what year the labor coverage stops.

The brochure is not the warranty. Get the document read.

Count the people who have ever explained your shingle warranty to you. There are two: the company that wrote it, and the man who wants to nail it down. Send the quote and the brand to a third one. A TradeIQ roofer will open the actual warranty document, read you the prorate table and the exclusion list, and tell you the exact year "Limited Lifetime" stops paying for labor.

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Frequently asked questions

What line items belong in a roofing quote?: Tear-off and disposal, decking inspection with per-sheet repair pricing, underlayment, ice barrier where your jurisdiction requires it, drip edge, starter strip, field shingles by brand, ridge cap, flashing, ventilation, pipe boots, permit fees, and both warranties. Anything not written down should be treated as excluded.
What is ice-and-water shield and do I need it?: It is a self-sealing membrane laid at the eaves to stop leaks from ice dams. Under IRC R905.1.2 it runs from the lowest edge of the roof to at least 24 inches inside the exterior wall line, and it is only required where your building department has designated a history of ice damming in Table R301.2(1). So the answer depends on your permit office, not on how cold it feels. The same membrane in the valleys is manufacturer guidance and good practice, not a code requirement.
What is the difference between architectural shingles and impact resistant shingles?: They answer two different questions. Architectural describes the shingle itself, a thicker laminated profile instead of a flat three-tab. Impact resistant is a rating a shingle earned by passing a test, and plenty of architectural shingles have never taken it. Two standards issue that rating: UL 2218, which fires steel balls at the shingle, and FM Approvals 4473, which does it with ice balls. Both run Class 1 through Class 4, so an FM-rated shingle on your quote is legitimate. Understand what the test measures, though. It looks for the shingle tearing or cracking through the back, and by the standard, lost granules and dents visible only on the top face are not failures. A Class 4 roof can be beaten up and still be passing. If you are buying up to Class 4 for an insurance discount, get that discount confirmed by your carrier in writing first, because the shingle costs you more whether the credit shows up or not.
What is the difference between a manufacturer and a workmanship warranty?: The manufacturer warranty covers the shingles and comes from the shingle company. Architectural shingles now carry a "Limited Lifetime" term, which means for as long as the original owner owns the home, with full coverage typically only in the first ten years and no labor paid after that. The workmanship warranty covers the roofer’s installation, and no standards body sets it. Two to ten years is what we usually see. Get both in writing, separately.

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