“One wet week and my whole diary falls apart. Then I'm up till midnight rebooking everyone.”
Roofing software that copes with the rain days. And the paperwork after dark.
Rained-off jobs rebooked, quotes built from your roof photos and CIS kept straight, so your evenings stop belonging to the business.
My name's Daniel Andrews. I lead a law firm in East Sussex, and I've always pulled systems apart to make them work better. If you roof around Eastbourne, Bexhill or Hastings, alone or with a small crew, I'll help you get the admin running without you.
A typical evening, after a day on the roof
- 7pmRebook three rained-off jobsRing round, reshuffle the week, hope the scaffold is still free.
- 8pmPrice from today's roof photosZooming in on slipped tiles and a tired valley to count materials.
- 9pmMatch the CIS statementsTwo builders paid you net. One statement is missing again.
- 10pmDig out a warranty from years agoAn old customer has a leak. Where's the paperwork?
- 11pmBed, checking tomorrow's wind speedStart the Seaford job or not? Four customers are waiting to hear.
Ladders all day, laptop all night
The weather, the builders and HMRC all want a piece of your evening.
“I spend more time rebooking after rain than I do on some of the roofs.”
“My daughter's match is Saturday morning. That's when I catch up on quotes.”
“Two of the builders I sub for pay late, and I only notice when the van needs diesel.”
“HMRC wanted my CIS statements and I had to ring round builders for copies.”
A roofing firm that only runs when you're on the roof
You went out on your own for good reasons: your own jobs, your own standards, finishing when the light goes. What often follows is a second shift of quotes, rebooking and paperwork once the first one ends.
If nothing moves unless you move it, you've built a job, not a business, even with your name on the van. Roofing makes it harder, because every change in the forecast drops a fresh round of admin on your phone.
Let's turn it into a business you own: see where the time goes, put the repeat work on systems, and spend the hours you win back on the business. For a roofer, the repeat work is enquiries, quotes, rebooking, warranties and CIS. Your method for each type of roof gets written down too, so a second pair of hands could step in while you're away. My overview for all the trades I work with has the bigger picture.
What should roofing software do for a small roofing business?
It should let you price from photos and measurements taken on the roof, rebook weather-hit jobs in a few taps, and keep every job's materials, photos and warranty together. If you sub for builders, it should also track CIS deductions and statements, so your tax return adds up.
| Job | How it often works now | Set up properly |
|---|---|---|
| Enquiries | Missed up a ladder, returned at teatime. | An instant text asks for the address and a photo, and offers a survey slot. |
| Quotes | Typed at night from blurry photos and memory. | Photos and measurements from the roof fill a quote template with your rates. |
| Weather and rebooking | A wet forecast means an evening of phone calls. | Affected customers get a text with new dates, and the diary updates as they pick. |
| Work at height records | Method statements copied from the last job. | A checklist for access, edge protection and fragile surfaces, started at booking. |
| CIS statements | Paper statements from builders, lost by April. | Each statement logged against the payment, ready for your Self Assessment. |
| Invoices and chasing | Sent days after the scaffold comes down. | Sent on completion with photos, then followed up automatically. |
| Warranties and reviews | Warranty terms on a sheet of paper somewhere. | Terms stored with the job, a review request at completion, a check-up offer later. |
What records does a roofer need for CIS and working at height?
Two sets, mainly. When you sub for a builder, they take 20% off the labour element of your pay if you're CIS registered, or 30% if not, and you'll need their monthly statements for your tax return. On the roof, the Work at Height Regulations 2005 require work to be planned, supervised and done by competent people.
HMRC's guide for CIS subcontractors covers the Construction Industry Scheme from your side. Builders must give you a statement within 14 days of each tax month ending. As a sole trader, you put your gross pay and the deductions on your Self Assessment, and HMRC sets them against your bill. If you also pay subbies yourself, my page for builders covers the contractor side.
If you're VAT registered, the VAT domestic reverse charge applies to most work reported under CIS. Homeowners aren't in CIS, so you need both kinds of invoice.
Height, weather and the diary
HSE says almost one in five deaths in construction involve roof work. The Work at Height Regulations 2005 say work at height should only go ahead when the weather doesn't endanger the people doing it, and they cover self-employed people in construction. Calling off a job in high wind is part of roofing, so your diary should expect it.
Replacing roof coverings is work you can sign off yourself as a member of a competent person scheme, and GOV.UK names CompetentRoofer and NAPIT as the schemes for pitched and flat roofs. Surveying by drone? The CAA requires a Flyer ID for drones of 100g or more, plus an Operator ID if it has a camera.
Then there's your workmanship warranty. Section 50 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 treats what you say or write about your service as a contract term, where the customer took it into account. So keep the exact wording and start date with each job.
- Rained-off jobs rebooked by text, with customers choosing from your next free dates.
- Each builder's CIS statement logged when it arrives, with a nudge when one is missing.
- A work at height checklist and photos attached to the job before anyone goes up.
- Warranty wording, start date and roof photos stored against the address.
Please note: this is general information from HMRC, HSE, the CAA and legislation.gov.uk. It isn't legal or tax advice, so check your own position with an accountant, your scheme provider or a solicitor.
Lost another week to the weather? Let's make the rebooking run itself.
Book a free 30-minute callWhat I'd set up first for a roofer
The four jobs that wreck the most evenings, starting with the weather.
Rain-day rebooking
Mark a day as weathered off, and every affected customer gets a text with new dates to pick from.
Quotes from the roof
A photo and measuring routine on site that fills your quote template before you drive off.
One home for CIS statements
Statements sent to one inbox, matched to each builder's payments, and flagged if a month is missing.
Warranty records that find themselves
Every finished job saved with photos and warranty terms under the address, ready when the phone rings years later.
How do I choose roofing software?
Pick software that works on a phone up a ladder with patchy signal, builds quotes from photos, and makes rebooking quick. Check it copes with CIS if you sub for builders, links to your accounts and lets you take your data with you. Test it on last week's jobs first.
- Offline photos, notes and forms when there's no signal on the roof.
- Quick rebooking, with customers told automatically.
- Separate handling for CIS jobs and homeowner jobs, including reverse charge invoices.
- Ready for Making Tax Digital, live since 6 April 2026 for sole traders with qualifying income over £50,000.
- A clean export of customers and job history, so you're never locked in.
Examples, not recommendations: Joblogic, Fergus and Powered Now each have pages for UK roofers. They don't pay me, and I'm not on commission.
Why a law firm Managing Partner?
Because I've worked the second shift too. For years I put in 60 to 70 hours a week, often until 2am. Systems changed that, not more hours, and my firm is now four to five times the size it was when I started.
A law firm lives on its records, as a roofer's warranty does. I'm Managing Partner of a two-office firm with around 30 staff. I built the dashboard that shows our figures live, and the route that sends work to a colleague for one-click sign-off.
My consultancy is new, so there are no roofing clients to show yet. As a dad of two and a football coach, I know what it costs when the weekends disappear. There's more on my About page.
Other trades I help
PlumbingPlumbers
Call-outs answered, quotes built from your price list, parts matched to jobs and notifications tracked, so the van isn't your evening office.
For plumbers
ElectricalElectricians
Certificates written up on site, EICR recalls sent to landlords, remedials quoted and invoices chased, so testing days don't become writing-up nights.
For electricians
BuildingBuilders
Quotes, variations, subbies and the monthly CIS return, set up so the office side of a building firm stops eating your evenings.
For builders
Gas and heatingGas and heating engineers
Every landlord check and boiler service on one due-date list, records sent from site, and boiler quotes followed up, so winter weekends stay yours.
For gas and heating engineers
LocksmithingLocksmiths
Lockouts caught while you're mid-job, key and job records kept straight, and the invoice sent before you've left the doorstep.
For locksmiths
GardeningLandscape gardeners
For gardeners and landscapers juggling a maintenance round, bigger landscaping quotes and green waste records through a long summer of late nights.
For landscape gardenersQuestions from roofers
How do I get my CIS deductions back?
As a sole trader, you record your total pay and the CIS deductions on your Self Assessment return. HMRC takes the deductions off what you owe and repays any overpayment. Keep every monthly statement, because HMRC can ask for evidence.
Should I apply for gross payment status?
It depends. HMRC checks your tax record and your turnover, which for a sole trader must be at least £30,000 a year, ignoring VAT and materials, and reviews it yearly. Ask your accountant whether it suits you.
Do I need to register to take old tiles away?
GOV.UK says a business that transports waste must register with the Environment Agency as a waste carrier, and each load needs a waste transfer note kept for 2 years. Check the registration page for your case.
Can I quote without going up on the roof?
Sometimes. Photos from the customer, a drone or a camera pole can speed up a price, though you'll usually want a proper look before you commit.
Come down the ladder and call it a day
Book a free 30-minute call. Tell me how a wet week plays out for you now, and I'll show you what I'd automate first. No jargon and no hard sell.