How to Build a Roofing Storm Season Business Plan

Before storm calls rise, decide when your response plan starts, how much work your crew can take, who handles each inquiry, what an inspection records, and what you check before accepting a job. Fill in the plan at the end with your office and crew. Keep it where both can find it.

1. Set the trigger and contacts

Choose the service area this plan covers and the event that activates it. Name the person who makes that call.

Keep a current list of employees, suppliers, and insurance representatives. RoofersCoffeeShop recommends an up-to-date contact list; write down where your team can find yours.

2. Set crew limits before scheduling

List available crews and work already promised. Then set separate limits for inspections and new jobs. Name any backup crew members or partners you have approved to use.

Write a wait rule, too: when either limit is reached, the intake owner records the inquiry and gives the customer a next contact time your team can meet. For decisions after the calendar fills, use the busy-season capacity guide.

3. Give every lead an owner

Name a primary and backup intake owner. Record each customer’s name, contact details, property address, concern, and the date and time the inquiry arrived. Add the next action, its owner, and when the customer will hear from you again.

Choose that next contact time from your actual capacity. Do not leave an inquiry without an owner or a next step.

4. Use one inspection record

Give each inspection a record with the address, date, inspector, customer concern, observations, photo location, follow-up owner, and next customer update. Decide where the team stores the record and photos before calls increase.

Record what the inspector observed. Keep the next step separate from the observations so another team member can pick up the job.

5. Decide when customers get updates

Set an update point after intake, after inspection, when work is scheduled, and when work must wait. Name who sends each update. Each message should give the customer a next action or a next contact time your team can support.

6. Check the job before accepting it

Estimate labor hours and cost, materials, travel, and any subcontractor cost. Check whether the job would displace work already promised. Name who makes the acceptance decision.

For example, if the proposed job needs a crew already booked elsewhere, record the conflict. Decide whether to schedule the new work later, use approved backup capacity, or decline it. For ongoing business financial review, see the trades financial health checklist.

Prepare and practice

For work in storm-damaged areas, RoofersCoffeeShop describes crew members as trained in hazard response and equipped with protective gear. Note where your crew’s training records and gear are kept.

Run one practice call: record a reported leak, check inspection capacity, complete a sample inspection record, send the planned update, and make a job acceptance decision. Fix any missing owner or handoff before the next surge.

Fill in your storm season plan

• Service area and activation trigger: ____________________
• Person who activates the plan: ____________________
• Employee, supplier, and insurance contact list location: ____________________
• Available crews and existing commitments: ____________________
• Approved backup coverage: ____________________
• Inspection limit and new-job limit: ____________________
• Rule when either limit is reached: ____________________
• Intake owner, backup, and lead record location: ____________________
• Lead fields: contact, address, concern, time received, next action, owner, next contact time
• Inspection record location: ____________________
• Inspection fields: address, date, inspector, concern, observations, photos, follow-up owner, next update
• Customer update points and sender: ____________________
• Job decision owner: ____________________
• Job checks: labor, materials, travel, subcontractors, existing commitments
• Training record and protective gear locations: ____________________
• Date of practice call and changes to make: ____________________