Three roofing quotes almost never describe the same job, which is why owners find them impossible to compare and end up choosing on price or on who seemed nicest. The fix is to write the specification yourself, in one paragraph, and hand the same paragraph to everybody. What comes back is then comparable, and the differences that remain are informative.
The paragraph to send all three
Name the covering you want quoted and say you will consider alternatives priced separately. Say the underlay is to be a breathable membrane. Ask for dry ridge and dry verge to be priced rather than assumed. Ask for the scaffold and the waste to be shown as separate lines. Ask each contractor to state a provisional sum for replacing defective timber, and to say what their day rate is if more is found. Ask for the guarantee terms in writing with the quote.
The exclusions are the useful part
What a quote leaves out is what predicts the final invoice. Common exclusions worth asking about are the scaffold, the removal of the old covering, replacement of rotten battens or rafters, leadwork to chimneys, replacement gutters and fascias, and making good inside where the ceiling has been damaged. None of them is dishonest to exclude. All of them are expensive to discover later, and a contractor who lists them clearly is telling you they have done this before.
What differences between quotes mean
A large gap in price on the same specification usually means somebody has read the roof differently: one has priced a full strip and another a recover, or one has allowed for the timber and another has not. Ask the outlier to explain, and the answer is often the most informative thing you will hear during the process. A quote that arrives without a site visit is not a quote, whatever the paperwork says.
Questions people ask about new roof quote
Should a roofer visit before quoting?
For a re-roof, yes, and ideally into the loft as well as around the outside. A price produced from a satellite image and a phone call is an estimate that will change.
How long should a roofing quote be valid?
Material prices move, so thirty days is common and reasonable. A quote with no validity period is one that can be revised at any point.
Is a cheaper quote always worse?
No, but it should be explicable. Ask what specification it is for. Where the answer is the same specification and a lower rate, that is a legitimate difference in overhead; where it is a different specification, it is a different roof.