- If you are experiencing roof issues
caused by improper installation
and you are not sure what to do next,
then this video is for you.
Today we're going over three steps
that you can take to get recourse
and also make sure that your roof problems are fixed.
Now, these three steps are listed in order of severity,
meaning you're gonna do the first one first
and the third one is gonna be your last resort.
I'm Brandon Hafeli with Bill Reagan Roofing Company
and thank you so much for watching the Roofing Channel.
Let's get started.
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Use the workmanship warranty.
The first option you should always explore
is checking your workmanship warranty.
Check over the contract that you signed
when your roof was installed
and if you're having roof issues
caused by improper installation,
and you're still in your workmanship warranty period,
then the contractor is obligated to fix it for free.
As a tip, most reputable contractors don't have
workmanship warranties that are suspiciously short,
like only up to five years or way too specific,
like something like seven or eight years.
We've personally seen customers that have
a seven year warranty that the roof expires
right after that workmanship warranty expires.
A reputable contractor should have at least
a 20 year warranty, or even beyond that,
or the lifetime of the materials.
Filing a complaint.
If you're in a position where you're under
that workmanship warranty, but the roofer is denying it,
either because they just simply won't return your calls,
or they're denying that it's a workmanship issue,
then there is recourse that you can take.
If you're in a state where a contractor has to be licensed
in order to do business, then you can file a complaint
with the State Licensing Board.
Once you file that complaint,
that contractor's surety bond will kick in.
The surety bond makes sure that that contractor
has to honor anything that's on their contract.
The bond company will then make sure
that your roof problem is taken care of
and then after that, they're gonna have a word or two to say
with the contractor that breached their own contract.
Your second option to file a complaint
is through the Better Business Bureau.
Now you can file a complaint on the BBB's website,
even if the contractor in question is not registered
on the BBB's website.
These complaints are usually resolved
within 30 days of filing.
When you submit a complaint,
it takes about two business days
for the Better Business Bureau to process it
and forward it to the roofing contractor.
They'll give them about 14 calendar days to respond
to your complaint.
Once they give you a response, they'll forward it to you,
the homeowner, and they'll ask you to respond
and if they don't respond to the complaint,
then you'll be notified of that as well.
The goal of this complaint process is to use the BBB
as a mediator between yourself and the roofing contractor.
The goal of the BBB is to find a good solution for you,
the homeowner.
Now they don't actually have any legal power
to force the contractors' hand
into fulfilling their side of the bargain.
However, they are a trusted source
for many different homeowners,
so having a negative strike on the BBB's website
can hurt that roofing contractor's revenue.
Civil litigation.
This is the last resort
and roofing disputes will rarely lead up to this.
If your roofing contractor does not have a bond,
they're not responding to the complaints,
and they're not caving under the pressure,
then legal recourse might be required.
Now we're a roofing channel, not a legal channel,
so we can't give you the nitty gritty details
and advice like that.
However, we can say with 100% certainty to make sure
that a workmanship warranty is being violated
and the contractor is breaching a contract.
If not, then you may find yourself drowned in legal fees.
Now this sounds like a pretty drastic step to take
and it is, however roofing disputes are not unheard of.
Roofers kind of have a bad reputation
in the law in general because of roofing disputes.
All we ask is that you make sure to do plenty
and plenty of research before even attempting
something like this.
Now you know the three steps that you can take for recourse
if you ever experience issues within improper installation.
Once your dispute is settled, then the best way
to avoid it ever happening again is to hire a contractor
with a high roofing success rate
and one that always honors their workmanship warranties.
For advice on how to do that, click on the link below
or at the end of this video to watch our video
on the eight questions that you can ask
a local roofing contractor
I'm Brandon Hafeli with Bill Reagan Roofing Company
and thank you again for watching the Roofing Channel.
Leave a like and subscribe, it helps a small channel
like us grow and we'll see you next time.