When your healthcare facility needs a roof replacement, the lowest bid can look like the fiscally responsible choice. It most likely fits nicely within your budget, and it satisfies the pressure to control costs on a large roofing project. But delivering on a cheaper bid often requires using lower quality materials and cutting corners during the installation process. In most instances, choosing the cheapest bid will cost a lot more money over the lifetime of your roof than you’ll spend if you choose a bid that comes with higher quality materials and proper installation.
In addition, patient safety, regulatory compliance and continuity of care can all be negatively impacted when you opt for a lower quality roof with a cheaper installation cost. These issues can potentially damage your facility’s reputation, making it more challenging to attract patients in the future.
The Consequences Associated with a Lower Priced Roof Installation
While you don’t necessarily need to choose the most expensive bid, opting for the lowest bid often results in a lower quality roof that performs poorly over its lifespan. This can lead to serious consequences that will impact your healthcare facility for years to come.
Leaks Can Damage Your Entire Facility
The points on a roof most likely to fail are the flashings, drains, seams, curbs and penetrations. These details take more time and skill to execute correctly, so a lower bid often reduces the labor and materials spent on them. When one of these details fails, it increases your risk of a roof leak. Water from a leak moves into the building and can damage ceilings, insulation, wall cavities and electrical systems.
If water reaches patient rooms, it can damage diagnostic equipment or sensitive clinical spaces. Repairing that damage is often very costly and challenging to coordinate. In addition to roof repairs, you may need to hire professionals such as electricians and interior finish contractors to address the interior damage at your facility. These repair costs will often exceed the extra money spent on initial project that is required to ensure these items are installed correctly.
Mold Growth Creates Patient-Safety Issues
Moisture from roof leaks can accumulate inside ceilings, walls or insulation, creating ideal conditions for mold growth. This is especially problematic in healthcare settings, since immunocompromised patients face much greater health risks from mold exposure than the general population.
Addressing mold in a clinical space requires specialized remediation protocols that go beyond what is required in other commercial buildings, making this process very expensive. In addition to the costs associated with professional mold remediation, an unsanitary environment can cause reputational damage that negatively impacts your healthcare facility for years to come.
Emergency Work Increases Repair Costs and Disrupts Patient Care
A roof installation that isn’t performed correctly creates weak points that can fail without warning. When one of these weak points fails, your facility needs a roofing professional on site quickly, often outside normal business hours, to stop water from reaching occupied spaces. That response typically includes a temporary patch to stop the leak, followed by a separate visit to complete the permanent repair once materials are available.
Emergency service calls, after-hours labor rates and expedited material shipping all cost more than the same repair performed during a scheduled maintenance visit. In addition, an emergency call disrupts the patient care services being performed in the space below. This may require relocating patients, covering equipment or closing off part of a unit until the leak is resolved.
A Lower Quality Roof Requires Earlier Repairs and Replacement
A lower bid can substitute lower quality materials across the entire roof assembly. This includes:
- A cheaper membrane
- Thinner or lower-grade insulation
- Lower quality fasteners and adhesives
- Cheaper flashing materials
- Lower quality cover boards
A cheaper membrane degrades faster under weather exposure, UV exposure and thermal cycling than a higher grade membrane would, reducing the roof’s service life. In addition, using lower quality materials for the other roofing components can result in insulation issues and more frequent roof damage.
To deliver a lower price, a roofing company may also cut corners on installation, causing drainage problems or inadequate sealing around rooftop units such as HVAC equipment. These issues typically pass a walk-through inspection right after installation. However, as the roof ages, you may experience a variety of problems that wouldn’t occur with a more thorough installation process:
- Gradual damage across multiple components can threaten the structural integrity of the roofing system and result in more frequent repairs
- Standing water from inadequate drainage breaks down the membrane years before it should fail, reducing the roof’s service life
- A curb installed without proper detailing becomes another entry point for water over time, increasing your risk of leaks
This gradual breakdown costs your facility in two ways. You’ll likely face more frequent repairs in the years before the roof reaches what should have been its expected end of life. You’ll also face full roof replacement years earlier than your facility’s roofing budget accounted for.
Compliance with Infection Control Protocol May Be Ignored
Roofing work performed above or near patient-care areas often requires an infection control risk assessment, along with containment, dust control and coordination with facility staff. CDC guidance recommends a multidisciplinary approach to this kind of construction, as well as worker infection-control training.
A lower bid can reduce or skip these controls to save time and labor, since they add coordination steps that don’t affect the finished roof. When that happens, you may face an increased risk of an infection control issue developing at your healthcare facility.
Energy and HVAC Costs May Rise
Healthcare facilities rank among the most energy-intensive buildings in the country, largely because of the ventilation and temperature requirements clinical spaces demand. A roofing bid that skips insulation upgrades, air-sealing or an appropriately reflective membrane can force your HVAC system to work harder to maintain those requirements. That strain adds a recurring cost to your utility bill each month. It also shortens the working life of your HVAC.
The Warranty May Not Protect Your Investment
A warranty’s real value depends on what it covers and whether the installer meets the manufacturer’s certification standards. A low price often includes only a limited material warranty, covering defects in the roofing material itself for a set number of years. A longer, manufacturer-backed system warranty extends that coverage to workmanship and the other components of the roof assembly, and requires the installer to meet the manufacturer’s certification standards. If the roof was not installed to that standard, even a listed warranty may provide little practical protection when a problem occurs.
What to Look for in a Roofing Bid Beyond the Price
These consequences make it critical to work with a reputable roofing company that will deliver the high quality workmanship your healthcare facility roof requires. Asking the right questions before you sign a contract can help you spot gaps in the quality of materials being used or the installation process, allowing you to avoid increased costs over the roof’s lifespan.
When comparing roofing bids for your facility, ask each contractor to address the following:
- Specific Materials Used – Ask for the exact membrane grade, insulation type and flashing materials included in the bid.
- Warranty Type and Certification – Ask whether the bid includes a full manufacturer-backed system warranty or only a limited material warranty, and confirm the installer is certified by that manufacturer to perform the installation.
- Infection Control Plan – Ask how the roofing company plans to handle infection control requirements for any work performed above or near patient care areas.
- Energy Performance Improvements – Ask whether the bid includes insulation and air-sealing improvements suited to your facility’s energy needs.
- Expected Service Life – Ask for the roof’s expected service life based on the specified materials and installation method, so you can evaluate the total cost of the bid over that lifespan rather than the upfront price alone.
Haselden Commercial Roofing Can Help
At Haselden Commercial Roofing, we provide comprehensive roofing services for healthcare facilities. We understand the unique challenges associated with installing a roof in a healthcare environment, and our team adheres to industry best practices regarding infection control protocol during all healthcare roof installations. We’ll work closely with your facilities team to ensure all work is scheduled in a way that reduces noise, limits debris and minimizes disruptions to patient care.
As your dedicated roofing partner, we work hard to build a long-term relationship with your healthcare facility. This allows us to better understand your specific needs and recommend the right roofing solutions for your facility. You’ll have peace of mind knowing that all inspections, maintenance work, repairs and roof replacements are being performed by experts who have intimate knowledge of your facility and your operations.
We’re a subsidiary of Haselden Construction, a family-owned company serving Denver and the Rocky Mountain region for over 50 years. Haselden is the only construction company of its size with a dedicated roofing team, and our affiliation with them ensures all work is completed according to their lofty quality standards. Leveraging Haselden’s vast resources also allows us to keep all work in-house, so you benefit from a more streamlined process, faster turnaround times and highly competitive pricing.
Contact us today to schedule a roof assessment. Haselden Commercial Roofing serves healthcare facilities in Denver and throughout the Rocky Mountain region.
Healthcare Facility Roofing Bid FAQs
How does a roofing bid’s price relate to its long-term cost?
A lower roofing bid often comes from using lower quality materials or cutting corners during installation. Over time, this typically leads to more frequent repairs, a shorter roof lifespan and higher repair costs than a bid that uses proper materials and installation methods from the start. In many cases, the long-term costs of a cheaper bid become much higher once repair and early replacement costs are factored in.
What should a healthcare facility roof replacement bid include?
A roof replacement bid for a healthcare facility should specify the exact materials being used, including the membrane grade, insulation type and flashing materials. It should also include a manufacturer-backed system warranty rather than a limited material warranty, a plan for infection control during construction near patient care areas, and insulation or air-sealing improvements suited to the facility’s energy needs.
Can a low roofing bid affect patient safety?
Yes. The lower quality materials and installation methods associated with a low roofing bid can lead to roof leaks. These leaks can allow moisture to accumulate inside ceilings, walls or insulation, creating conditions for mold growth. Mold poses a greater risk to immunocompromised patients than to the general population. A low bid can also skip infection control measures required during construction near patient care areas, increasing the risk of an infection control issue at the facility.
What is the difference between a material warranty and a system warranty on a roof?
A material warranty covers defects in the roofing material itself for a set number of years. A system warranty is backed by the manufacturer and extends coverage to workmanship and the other components of the roof assembly. A system warranty also requires the installer to meet the manufacturer’s certification standards, which a material warranty does not require.
