Photos the customer can’t take
You say: Show me the photos of the Davies ridge.
Before, during and after: the cracked tiles, the rotten batten, the new flashing, filed on the job as you take them. Pull them up on your phone to show the customer.
The AI for roofersRain on Thursday? Move the week in one message.
Tell it what’s changed and the booking moves, with a word if anything clashes. Your before-and-after photos stay on the job, the quote and the invoice come from it, and the morning brief tells you where you stand.
Coming soon on the App StoreHow it compares
iPhone. First month free, no card.
Tools Down: Moved to Monday, same hours. Nothing clashes.
Diary
Monday
- Davies re-roof08:00–16:00, 12 Elm Road
- ThursdayMoved to Monday
Heard on the forums
It would have been good if you had taken pics of the roof before you took off the sheeting then there would have been no doubt that it had been put back correctly.
What matters on your jobs
What it does in a roofer’s week
The week moved when the rain comes
You say: Rain Thursday, move the Davies re-roof to Monday.
The booking moves, keeps its length, and you’re told if it clashes. The morning brief and evening wrap keep the week straight when it’s changed twice.And when the Met Office has rain on tomorrow’s job, you hear that evening, with a dry day to move it to.
A deposit for the scaffold and materials
You say: Ask Mrs Davies for £1,800 for scaffold and tiles.
A quote page she accepts in one tap, and the deposit invoice from the same job. The final invoice takes the deposit off.
The while-you’re-up-there extras
You say: Add repointing the chimney, £280, to the Davies job.
Said on the scaffold, by voice. It’s on the job at that price, and on the invoice at the end.
Price and the free plan
Made for one. Priced for one.
£29.99 a month including VAT, or £24.99 if you reclaim VAT. One person, no minimum, no setup fee, no training.
- Your first month is free, with no card.
- After that you’re on the Free plan: 50 messages a month to Tools Down, and every screen keeps working.
- Tools Down Pro is paid monthly through Apple. It lifts the message limit.
- Fair use applies on every plan, with limits set far above what one person books or asks for in a month.
Tools Down for iPhone
Coming soon on the App StoreFirst month free, no card.
Straight answers
Questions roofers ask
Do I need building regulations approval to re-roof?
Replacing roof coverings on pitched and flat roofs may need approval in England and Wales; gutters and downpipes don’t (GOV.UK: building regulations approval). Members of CompetentRoofer or NAPIT can self-certify (GOV.UK: competent person schemes).
Does replacing a flat roof membrane count as renovation?
Approved Document L lists replacing the waterproof membrane on a flat roof as renovating a thermal element; above 50% of the element, insulation should be upgraded where feasible (Approved Document L, volume 1, paras 11.2 to 11.3).
How do I show the customer what I found up there?
Take photos as you go. Tools Down files them on the job, and you can pull them up on your phone to show them, by asking.
Can I take a deposit for scaffold and materials?
Yes. Ask for a deposit as an amount or a percentage, and the final invoice takes it off.
Can a customer cancel an emergency repair?
Urgent repairs they asked you to come and do are outside the 14-day cancellation right (Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, reg 28(1)(e)); a planned re-roof agreed at their home is within it.
I sub for builders. Does it do CIS?
Yes, on your invoices, by customer: a contractor’s invoice carries the CIS deduction on the labour, extras included unless they’re materials, and, if you’re both VAT registered, the reverse-charge wording.
Paperwork and rules
The rules around roof work
Information, not advice. Open a rule to read it, with its source; check the source for your own job.
Re-roofing is building workEngland and Wales
Replacing roof coverings on pitched and flat roofs may need approval; gutters and downpipes don’t, and most repairs are exempt.
Self-certifying a re-roofEngland
Replacement of roof coverings can be self-certified by members of NAPIT or CompetentRoofer.
Insulation when you renovate a roofEngland
Replacing the waterproof membrane on a flat roof counts as renovating a thermal element; above 50% of the element, the whole element should be improved where feasible (paras 11.2 to 11.3).
Work at heightGreat Britain
All roof work must be organised and planned so it’s carried out safely. Sloping roofs need scaffolding and edge protection, with short-duration exceptions.
Scaffolding checksEngland and Wales
Scaffolding is checked before first use, every 7 days while it’s up, and after alterations, damage or extreme weather.
Emergency repairs and the right to cancelUK
A visit the customer asked for to carry out urgent repairs is outside the 14-day right to cancel; a re-roof agreed at their house isn’t.
CIS when subbingUK
Roofing for a contractor is construction work under CIS: 20% deducted if registered, 30% if not, none with gross payment status.
Your work
The jobs you quote
- Slipped and broken tiles and slates
- Leaks and storm damage
- Flat roofs: felt, EPDM and GRP
- Re-roofs: strip, membrane, battens and re-tile
- Leadwork, flashings and valleys
- Chimney repairs and repointing
- Fascias, soffits and guttering
- Roof windows
- Subbing for builders under CIS
How the money comes in
- Scaffold and materials are paid out before you earn anything, so bigger jobs carry a deposit.
- Small repairs paid on the day.
- Insurance work paid on the insurer’s timetable, usually through the homeowner.
- CIS deducted when you sub for a builder.
Keep looking
More on what it does for you
- Job memoryNotes and photos saved on the job as you go, and found again by asking.
- InvoicesDeposits and stages taken off the final, with CIS, the reverse charge and VAT set by customer.
- DiaryBooked in and moved by saying so, with any clash pointed out, and reminders the same way.
- Morning briefWhat’s on and what’s overdue each morning. Each evening, what’s not invoiced, which quotes are waiting, and any rain due on tomorrow’s outdoor jobs.
Free guides and templates
- How to organise job photosBefore, during and after, filed by job with a word about each, and backed up off your phone.
- How to quote a job professionallyPractical and UK-specific: VAT shown properly, how long the price stands, what’s excluded, deposits and stage payments.
- How to chase an unpaid invoice without falling out with the customerFriendly messages for day 3, 7 and 14, when to ring instead, and what the law says when a business customer pays late.
Other trades, and how it compares
- BuildersCIS and the reverse charge set by customer, a build invoiced in stages, variations written down.
- ElectriciansRemedials quoted from the hallway, reminders when the agent pays late, photos of every board.
- PlumbersThe invoice ready before you’ve left the doorstep, with the ten-minute extras on it.
- Apps for tradespeople, comparedTools Down beside Tradify, Fergus, ServiceM8, Jobber and more, with sources.
- All tradesEvery trade page in one place.