TradeLinkers
Rained off again? Move the job and tell the customer in a few taps
TradeLinkers helps roofers quote repairs and re-roofs as estimates, book the work across several days and move it when the weather turns: the reschedule sheet shifts the job to new days and can email the customer. Attach photos, guarantees and building control paperwork to the job, and invoice from the accepted estimate.
14 days free, no card. Then £9.99 a month. iPhone users can use the web app.
Typical roofer jobs, all in one list
Any job works. These are the ones a roofer books in most weeks.
What changes when a roofer runs the paperwork on TradeLinkers
The weather sets the diary
Rained off? Open the job, use the reschedule sheet or the quick +1 day button, and choose to email the customer the new date. No ringing round from the van.
Multi-day re-roofs
Book a strip and re-roof across separate days, each with its own start time, so scaffold days and roofing days sit where they belong. Move one day or all of them when the forecast changes.
Estimates with an expiry date
Material prices move, so every estimate has a valid-until date, 30 days unless you change it. The customer accepts online, and a deposit request goes out by email before you order tiles or lead.
Photos of what you found up there
Customers can't see their own roof. Attach the photos from your phone's gallery to the job, and the customer gets an email and sees them in their portal before you send the estimate.
Storm call-outs from your booking link
After a storm, enquiries arrive through your booking link marked Emergency, This week or Flexible. Each becomes a New Enquiry job with the address, and your phone gets a push notification.
The crew sees the new date too
Invite your crew by email and assign them jobs. Everyone works from the team calendar, so when a day gets rained off and moved, they see the new date without a phone round.
What a roofer's invoice looks like
Ridge work priced per metre, repairs and leadwork as fixed items, and access on its own line so the customer sees what the tower cost. Typed once on the estimate, carried onto the invoice.
Example figures to show the layout, not a price guide. Your own prices, business details, bank details and VAT setting go on the real thing.
| Description | Qty | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Re-bed and repoint ridge tiles (per metre) | 8 | £360.00 |
| Replace slipped and broken roof tiles | 1 | £140.00 |
| New code 4 lead flashing to chimney | 1 | £420.00 |
| Access tower hire and erection | 1 | £190.00 |
Straight answers
Do roofers have to charge VAT?
Only if you're VAT registered, which is compulsory once taxable turnover goes over £90,000 in a rolling 12 months. Registered roofers charge 20% on most work to existing homes. One exception worth knowing: installing insulation in a home counts as energy-saving materials and is zero-rated until 31 March 2027, then 5% from 1 April 2027.
In TradeLinkers, VAT only appears once you mark the business VAT registered and add your number. See VAT for tradespeople.
Does re-roofing need building regulations approval?
In England, usually yes. Planning Portal guidance says re-covering a roof will need Building Regulations approval in most situations, should include improving the roof's insulation, and may need structural work if the new covering is much heavier or lighter. Roofers registered with a competent person scheme for roof coverings can self-certify instead of applying to building control. Rules differ outside England, and if you're unsure whether a job counts, ask building control before you price it.
Attach the compliance certificate to the job so the customer has it when they sell.
How do I tell customers a job's been rained off?
As early as you can, with the new date in the same message. Open the job in TradeLinkers, use the reschedule sheet or the quick +1 day button, and choose to email the customer the new date. For a same-day change, the Running late or custom message email does the job.
Customers without an email address won't get these, as there's no SMS. Use the Call or WhatsApp button on the job instead.
Do I need to register for CIS as a roofer?
If you work for builders or other contractors, it pays to. You don't have to register as a subcontractor, but if you don't, contractors deduct 30% from your payments instead of 20%. You can also apply for gross payment status so no deductions are taken in advance. Work you do directly for homeowners isn't covered by CIS.
TradeLinkers has no CIS feature, so record deductions with your bookkeeping or accountant.
What TradeLinkers does not do yet
- No CIS deductions if you subcontract to builders.
- Roofing isn't its own job category. It's filed under Other, and the booking form shows the same choices.
- No weather forecasts. You decide when to move a job; the reschedule sheet makes moving it quick.
- No App Store app. iPhone users run the web app from Safari (how).
Tell us what would help: get in touch. The person who reads it builds the app.
Tools and guides
Free quote template
A clean quote or estimate PDF in two minutes.
VAT calculator
Add or take off VAT at 20%, 5% or 0%.
Do tradespeople have to charge VAT?
When UK trades must register for VAT: the £90,000 threshold, voluntary registration, the 20%, 5% and 0% rates, and the construction reverse charge.
Should you take a deposit, and how much?
When to take a deposit, how much to ask for, the 14-day cancellation rules for work agreed in a customer's home, and what to put on the quote.
Run your roofer paperwork from the van.
14 days free, no card needed. After that it's £9.99 a month for everything, and you can cancel any time.
Android app on Google Play. On an iPhone or a computer, use the web app with the same account.