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 at the door.
Quote and invoice app for roofersRain on Thursday? Move the week in one message.
Tell Tools Down what’s changed and it moves the booking, keeps your photos on the job, and turns the job into a quote and an invoice. The morning brief tells you where you stand.
Coming soon to iPhone. First month free, no card.
Tools Down: Moved to Monday, same hours. Nothing clashes.
DiaryMoved
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.
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. Every invoice is chased at 3, 7 and 14 days if it isn’t paid.
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.
A re-roof, start to finish
- Survey: photos of the old roof, filed on the job.
- The quote, accepted in one tap.
- The deposit invoice for scaffold and materials.
- Rain: the week moves in one message.
- The chimney repoint, said on the scaffold.
- Done: the invoice, and reminders if it isn’t paid.
The honest fit
What it doesn’t do
- No roof measuring from satellite or drone images, and no material calculators.
- No weather: the Diary doesn’t know the forecast. You tell it.
- No insurance-claim handling, and it doesn’t notify building control or CompetentRoofer.
- No card payments, Android or team accounts yet.
Price and the free plan
Made for roofers working on their own.
Free to start. One price if you need more.
- Your first month is free, with no card.
- After that, 50 messages a month to Tools Down stay free for good.
- Every screen works on the free plan: quotes, invoices, chasing, reminders, the customer’s pay page, gas safety records and export.
- Tools Down Pro is £29.99 a month including VAT, through Apple. It lifts the message limit and nothing else, and the price you join at is the price you keep.
- Tools Down’s ceiling is 2,000 jobs a month on every plan, so there’s no allowance to watch. A weekly fair-use limit on messages applies on every plan.
Coming soon to iPhone.
Be first to hear when Tools Down is ready for your iPhone.
We’ll only email you about early access. No spam.
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 at the door by asking.
Can I take a deposit for scaffold and materials?
Yes. Ask for a deposit by chat, as an amount or a percentage, and every invoice is chased at 3, 7 and 14 days if it isn’t paid.
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 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