In roofing, it seems there’s a contradiction at every corner. This becomes clear when deciding whether to hire a roofing company that uses employee installers versus one employing subcontractors. Whether or not you’ve put much thought into this, your roofing company has made it one of its utmost strategic decisions – and you should too!
In this article we will walk through the benefits and pitfalls of using employee labour over third party contractors for steel roofing in Ontario. We will also discuss why we prefer working with our Hy-Grade Trained Sub-contractors. Let’s take a look!
Our Relationship with Our Hy-Grade Trained Sub-Contractors
We believe our hybrid approach with subcontractors and employees helped us successfully install over 18,000 quality steel roofs in Ontario since 1987. Unlike most roofing companies, we make it no secret that we use subcontractors to install our steel roofing system. We do so out of consideration for quality control, speed, and added liability protection for all parties involved.
When you get a Hy-Grade Steel Roof we have a whole process that weaves between our employees and subcontractors to ensure consistent quality. Our crews which we contract have worked with us for years. Some have been installing our system for decades, with the longest running crew working with us for over 30 years. All have been trained in-house at the Hy-Grade headquarters in Guelph, Ontario.
Here’s a look at the standard relationship between Hy-Grade Steel Roofing and our Contractor Partners plays out for each job:
The Benefits of a Hybrid – Subcontractor Employee Approach
Now that you know our process and internal strategy, let us tell you why we chose to work with subcontractors for our installation process.
#1 Subcontractors Increase the Speed of a Steel Roof install
Let’s talk speed. Employed roofing professionals can sound like the safer option but in the real world the results vary.
While a company using payrolled labour sounds nice, you as the customers can get a lower service level by doing so. Being paid by the hour disincentivizes employed installers to complete a job quickly. In fact, it can often have the opposite effect. Your roofing project could be stretched – whether in the form of unexpected ‘add-ons’ or a drawn-out winter install to extract more hourly wages from the buyer during off seasons.
Think of it like taking your car into the garage for an oil change and you’re told to purchase new brakes, wiper blades, and timing belt.
On the other-hand, roofing subcontractors are incentivised in the opposite way. The more jobs completed means more money in their pocket. Speed is their friend while it’s not a factor for the employed roofer. At Hy-Grade we prefer working with our independent contractor crews due the speed which keeps roofs going up and customers satisfied.
#2 You’re Double-Covered with Liability Insurance Through Subcontractors
An overlooked benefit of using independent roofing contractors is how customers get a safer experience. At Hy-Grade we make sure all our subcontracting teams are covered with valid liability insurance of at least $2 million. Furthermore, Hy-Grade Steel Roofing itself has liability insurance coverage as well – leaving our customers with less worry at night if something went wrong.
Alternatively, employed professionals in the roofing business cannot say the same. They are covered under only one policy – the company policy, leaving room for insurance claims to surpass the limit and leave the homeowner out of pocket in the event of an incident.
Another important caveat regarding insurance: Not all subcontractors are equally covered. If you’re not going with Hy-Grade, you must vet your subcontractor’s insurance policies before they perform work on your property. Often fly-by-night roofing contractors or smaller roofing operations offer cheaper services as they completely disregard Ontario’s insurance or safety laws.
#3. Roofing Contractors Have More Skin in the Game
Business owners know that if you’re name is behind the service, you’ll stand behind your work. That’s a key reason we choose local sub-contractors. Not only do they have to pass Hy-Grade’s quality control standards, but as independent businesses, their name is on the line too, giving them and the customer skin in the game to perform at a higher standard.
Furthermore, our sub-contractors are financially fixing their mistakes. The potential of returning to the jobsite and dissatisfied customer, keeps Hy-Grade install quality consistently high. On the other hand, if you experienced an issue with an employee-based roofing team you’d quickly find a revolving door of new roofers trying to fix the same mistake with diminishing results – all while getting paid regardless of the work quality.
#4. We’ve Built Lengthy Relationships with Our Installation Contractors
From over 37 years in business, we’ve made deep local connections with Southern Ontario’s best third-party installers that often solely work with the Hy-Grade Steel Roofing System. We find these local crews offer a quality install, higher customer service, are more fiscally responsible. Not to forget, our customers love them.
Often, we receive mentions in our Google and Facebook reviews talking about their professionalism and work standard during their installation process. Which you can see here.
This dual incentive helps increase quality of subcontractors greatly. It also enforces good workmanship and customer satisfaction.
On the flipside, for the employee installer if anything where to go wrong, the blame shifts toward the company’s name rather than a single person. Therefore, it becomes easier to cut corners as an employee, as they don’t have the same repercussions.
#5 Using Contractors Helps Us Keep Skilled Specialists in Their Lane
Hy-Grade works much like a home-building company where each trade is delegated to the an experienced specialist. For example, home builders will outsource the HVAC, Plumbing, Electrical work to complete the building on schedule.
We’ve taken a page out of this playbook, where Hy-Grade acts as the ‘homebuilder’ putting our specialists to work on what they do best. Our internal engineering team approves a roof’s feasibility for the Hy-Grade system, our manufacturing team creates the custom parts, and our Service Team ensures everything is working smoothly after our subcontractors work their magic installing it.
When the roof is complete, Hy-Grade’s Quality Control Inspection team analyzes the work of the contractors to ensure its up to par. We keep these two teams separate to avoid any conflict of interests. In the event there is a mistake, the Quality Control team will flag it, and they will send the same crew back to remedy it. We’ve found this tight control process keeps projects in line, on schedule, and avoids errors.
Understanding The Role of Contractors in Your Roofing Company is Essential
Regardless of which company you choose for your next roofing project, it’s essential to know who their using and how their internal process works. If it’s a heavily guarded secret, it’s likely a red flag.
Although the stigma around using sub contracted installation teams persists, we believe using factory trained and monitored sub contracted professionals is the best way to keep clients happy and roofs installed to the highest “Hy-est” standards.
When you’re in the quoting process, be sure to investigate your roofing options thoroughly.
Many times, we see the age-old deception tactic of telling customers they pay their employees ‘livable hourly rates’ when the whole time they’re subcontracting crews with the lowest bid.
At Hy-Grade we openly tell our customers our whole process. We explain that our install crews are third party contractors who are trained on the Hy-Grade Steel Roof System. They operate all over Ontario and we have working relationships with them spanning over decades. We also use our own employees to perform detailed quality control inspections to ensure our installers have done the work properly.
Now, if you’re in the market for a steel roofing system that can last a lifetime, please feel free to get a free, no obligation quote today:
