Why is roofing workers' compensation burden so high?

Roofing carries one of the highest injury and fall risk classifications in the construction trades. Workers' comp insurance rates commonly range between 25% and 45% of gross payroll, pushing a $30/hr base roofer to over $41.40/hr in actual loaded company cost.

How should dumpster and tear-off fees be billed?

Dumpster rental ($450-$650) and municipal shingle disposal tipping fees must be added as direct job overhead before margin calculations. Taking dumpster costs out of your net profit destroys job profitability.

Roofing Trade Tool

Roofing Quote Calculator & Margin Lock

Protect tear-off and reroof margins with 38% steep-slope workers' comp burden and dumpster disposal overhead.

Interactive Roofing Job Estimate

Shingles & Underlayment Cost ($)

Coil Nails, Drip Edge & Flashing (%)

Roofer Base Wage ($/hr)

Steep-Slope Burden (Comp + Ins %)

Total Crew Labor Hours

Dumpster & Tear-off Disposal Overhead ($)

Target Gross Profit Margin (%)

Loaded Roofer Cost (38% Burden): $41.40/hr

Total Breakeven Cost (Materials + Labor + Dumpster): $8,930.40

Flawed 25% Markup Bid: $11,163.00

True 25% Margin Bid: $11,907.20

Profit Preserved vs Flawed Markup: +$744.20

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Why 20% Markup Destroys Roofing Profits

Roofing projects involve high material ticket sizes, heavy freight, and massive workers' compensation liabilities. If a full tear-off costs $8,930 in total direct costs and you mark it up 25%, you quote $11,163. In that quote, your actual margin is only 20.0%, meaning you give away $744 in hard cash right from the start.

True Margin Formula: Bid = Total Burdened Cost / (1 - Target Margin %)

Example: $8,930.40 / (1 - 0.25) = $11,907.20

Job Profit Kit calculates the reciprocal divisor formula deterministically so you never sacrifice company profit on volatile material quotes.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does steep-slope labor burden affect roofing quotes?

Because roofers face severe fall hazards, workers' compensation rates in roofing are 3x to 5x higher than general carpentry. Factoring in 38% loaded burden prevents contractors from paying crew liabilities out of their own pockets.

Can I run this on a residential roof without Wi-Fi?

Yes. Job Profit Kit is fully cached in your browser as an offline PWA. It requires zero cloud connectivity or recurring subscription fees.