A custom residential build in Florida involves a general contractor coordinating six to twelve major trades, plus specialty trades, plus the architect, plus the owner. The roofer is one of those trades. The right relationship between the GC and the roofer makes the difference between a smooth schedule and a chronically backed-up project.
Here is how we work with general contractors and what we ask in return.
What we provide
Schedule alignment
We commit to a specific date range for our work and hold it. If our trade slot shifts (because the GC's earlier-stage trades run long), we accommodate within reason; but we do not move other clients' projects to backfill missed schedules.
Material logistics
We coordinate material delivery directly. The GC does not need to manage tile pallets, slate crates, or copper coils. We schedule delivery to align with the install date, with on-site storage handled by our own team.
Inspection coordination
The roof inspections (dry-in, in-progress, final) are scheduled by us directly with the municipality. The GC is copied on the inspection schedule and the results; we do not require the GC to chase inspectors.
Documented progress
Our daily reports go to the GC simultaneously with the owner. The GC has full visibility into our work without needing to ask.
Single point of contact
One project lead from our team is the GC's contact for the entire project. Same person from first conversation through closeout. No call-center hand-offs.
What we ask of the GC
Clear schedule
We need to know our start date with at least 4 weeks of notice for standard-material projects, 12 weeks for custom-material projects (slate, custom-color clay). Our scheduling is largely determined by material lead times; we cannot compress these post-order.
Dried-in deck before our arrival
When we arrive on site, the deck should be installed and ready for us to inspect and prepare. If the GC's framers run late and the deck is not ready, our trade gets pushed; pushing typically costs the GC more than the delay would have if anticipated.
Coordination on adjacent trades
The exterior trades that interface with our work — stucco, exterior trim, gutters (if separate), solar (if applicable) — need to coordinate sequencing with us. We typically prefer to install before stucco at the wall transitions; after exterior trim at the eaves; before any solar mounting.
The sequencing conversations should happen at the construction-meeting level, not at the field level.
Payment terms
Our standard terms are 30% on contract, 30% at material delivery, 30% at substantial completion, 10% on final inspection. Most GCs accommodate this; some prefer a different breakdown. We negotiate at contract; we do not chase payment.
Honest communication on schedule changes
If the project schedule moves, we want to hear it from the GC directly and as early as possible. A two-month delay revealed three weeks before our scheduled start is workable; the same delay revealed three days before is not.
What goes well
The GCs we work with repeatedly do four things that make our relationship work:
Treat us as the primary trade on a high-end build. The roof is the largest single architectural element; the schedule should reflect that.
Trust our specifications. If we have written a specification, it has been vetted against the architect's drawings, the manufacturer's product approval, and the code. Field substitutions should be coordinated with us, not made unilaterally.
Coordinate punch list with the architect. Roof punch list is rarely a GC-side scope; it should go to the architect and then to us.
Pay on the schedule we agreed. Reliable payment is what allows us to maintain crews, hold material orders, and not pad our pricing against payment risk.
What goes wrong
Three patterns we have seen on projects that did not go smoothly:
GC accepts a roofing bid significantly below ours, then field-discovers the bid does not include items in the architect's spec (proper underlayment, copper detailing, etc.). The owner pays change orders that eat the savings.
GC starts another trade in the roof's scheduled window when we cannot start. We restart 6-8 weeks later; the project loses 2 months.
GC field-substitutes a material we specified. The substitute lacks current product approval, fails inspection, and the work is redone.
Each of these is avoidable with clear early coordination.
A note on bid comparison
When a GC is bidding a custom build and comparing roofing bids, the line items should be comparable, not just the totals. Our bid will be itemized to the component level. If a competing bid is a single round number with no detail, the two are not comparable — and the discrepancy is almost always in items the lower bidder is going to address as change orders.
We are happy to walk through bid comparisons with GCs. The detail makes the conversation faster.
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