A roof inspection report should name the client, the address, the inspector and the date, then mark every part of the roof as inspected, not inspected, not present or deficient. Each deficient line gets a comment and a photo, and the header records where you viewed the roof from. The template below does that for a sloped roof, and you can paste it into a doc or your CRM.
This template covers every part FEMA lists on a sloped roof
FEMA counts a roof as sloped from a pitch of 3:12 up, so keep a separate form for flat and low-slope roofs. FEMA also says wind uplift and wind-driven rain damage roof edges more often than the rest of the roof, so check each edge part on its own line.
Mark each line I (inspected), NI (not inspected), NP (not present) or D (deficient). Give every D a photo number and a comment, and every NI a reason.
Header
- Client name and phone
- Property address
- Date of inspection
- Inspector, and license number if your state issues one
- Company name and phone
- Reason for the visit: leak, storm, sale, maintenance or other
- Viewed from: roof surface, ladder at the eaves, ground, drone or attic
Roof covering
- Type of covering
- Number of layers
- Approximate age, if the homeowner knows it
- Fasteners and adhesion
- Hail damage
- Wind damage
- Estimated remaining life
- Comments
Edges and overhangs
- Eaves
- Soffits
- Fascia
- Rake edges
- Eave flashing
- Drip edge
Flashing and penetrations
- Flashing
- Chimney
- Skylights
- Other roof penetrations
Vents
- Ridge vents
- Soffit vents
- Gable-end and gable rake vents
- Off-ridge vents
- Turbines and standpipes
Drainage
- Gutters
- Downspouts
Rooftop equipment
- Fans
- Antennas and satellite dishes
- Solar panels
- Lightning rods
Structure and attic
- Dips or sagging in the roof surface
- Decking
- Framing and connectors
- Attic ventilation
- Insulation, approximate depth
- Signs of an active leak
Summary
- Deficient items, most urgent first
- Recommended repair or replacement
- Number of photos attached
- Recommended next inspection
- Limits of this report
- Inspector’s signature and date
For the next-inspection line, FEMA, writing for public buildings in hurricane-prone areas, recommends an inspection at least twice a year, generally in spring and fall, and again after high wind events. You can offer homeowners the same schedule on a maintenance plan, and Roof Maintenance Agreements: Building a Service Division covers how to set one up. The estimate and contract that follow an inspection are in Free Roofing Business Templates: Estimate, Contract, Invoice, Warranty and Work Order.
Mark every line one of four ways, as Texas real estate inspectors must
The four marks come from the Property Inspection Report Form (REI 7-6), which the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) requires its licensed inspectors to use, with each finding explained in the matching section of the report. Texas doesn’t license roofers through TREC and roofers don’t have to use the form, so treat it as a model written by a state regulator.
Give every NI a reason, so anyone who reads the report later knows what you didn’t check and why. Texas’s rule for these inspectors, 22 TAC 535.228, allows two reasons you can borrow:
- The roof was unsafe to walk, or walking it could damage it.
- The attic opening was smaller than 22 by 30 inches, or the headroom was under 30 inches.
The form’s roof covering section also asks where the roof was viewed from, so fill in that header line even on a report you did from the ground.
Home inspectors don’t have to say how long the roof has left
InterNACHI, a home inspectors’ trade association, sets a minimum standard for its members. The inspector looks at the covering, gutters, downspouts, vents, flashing, skylights, chimney and other penetrations, describes the covering type, and reports signs of an active leak as needing correction. The standard doesn’t require walking the roof, predicting its service life, confirming the covering is properly fastened or warranting the roof.
The Texas rule has its inspectors mark D for deficient fasteners, adhesion, covering, flashing, skylights and other penetrations. In the structure and attic they mark D for ventilation that isn’t performing, dips in the roof surface from the framing or decking, and missing insulation. The same rule doesn’t make them judge remaining life, count layers or identify latent hail damage.
A roofer’s report can fill those gaps, so complete the template’s lines for layers, hail damage and remaining life on every report.
Borrow the Texas form’s statement of what a report covers
The TREC form says the report covers what the named inspector saw on the inspection date. It says the inspection doesn’t verify building-code compliance or imply that the roof can be insured or warranted, and that repairs after that date may make the report obsolete or invalid.
A buyer or realtor reading your report wasn’t on the roof. Put a short version of those statements on the template’s limits line, above your signature, and have your own lawyer approve the wording.
One roofer charges only when someone will use the report as leverage
A contractor on r/Roofing inspects for free when work may follow and charges when someone will use his report as leverage, mainly buyers, sellers and realtors. In his words: “The only time I charge for an inspection is if someone is gaining leverage with my inspection report.”
Fill in the reason for the visit when the appointment is booked, so you know before you climb whether a sale is behind it.
One sales poster says a branded report helps justify a higher price
A poster on r/RoofingSales sends inspection photos and voice notes from his phone and gets back “branded inspection report .pdfs” before he leaves the house. He says it “helps justify and validate why our company is more expensive.”
Build the template into the form you already fill in on site, so the homeowner has the finished report before you leave. If the homeowner still goes quiet, Why Homeowners Ghost After the Roof Inspection, and How to Keep the Job picks up from there.
Check these before the report leaves your hands
- Every line has a mark, and every NI has a reason.
- Every D has a photo number and a comment.
- The header says why you were there and where you viewed the roof from.
- Layers, hail damage and remaining life are filled in.
- The limits sit above your signature and the date.
A report only gets written after a homeowner finds you and books the inspection. To see where you show up, pick your Google profile and a search in the free Google Maps heatmap, and in a few minutes you’ll see your rank at 49 points around your office.