Ask most building owners how many times a particular roof has been repaired in the last five years and you'll get a guess. The invoices exist somewhere, but they rarely say exactly where on the roof the work was done or what caused the problem. That makes it hard to spot a roof that's quietly failing, and hard to prove to a manufacturer that problems were fixed promptly.
The minimum record for every repair
After every service call, you want a short record that answers these questions:
- When: the date of the visit, and the date the problem was first reported.
- Where: which building, which roof section and roughly where on it. A marked-up roof plan or a photo with the location circled is ideal.
- What was found: the actual defect, such as a split seam, failed flashing at a curb, a blocked drain or a puncture.
- Likely cause: foot traffic, storm damage, age, poor original detailing, or work by another trade.
- What was done: the repair method and materials.
- Who did it: the company and the technician.
- Cost: labour and materials, ideally on the same record.
- Photos: before and after, dated.
That's it. It takes a few minutes on site, and it turns a pile of invoices into a history you can use.
What a repair history tells you
One repair tells you very little. A dozen, recorded consistently, tell you a lot:
- Repeat locations. If the same curb or drain has been patched three times, the fix isn't working and a proper repair or redesign is due.
- Rising frequency. A roof that needed one call a year and now needs four is telling you it's nearing the end of its life.
- Cost trend. When yearly repair spend on a roof starts to approach what a restoration or replacement would cost spread over its life, it's time to run the numbers.
- Avoidable damage. Punctures near rooftop equipment usually point to other trades walking across the membrane. Walkway pads and a sign-in rule can stop it.
Why it matters for warranties
Many manufacturer warranties expect defects to be reported and repaired promptly, sometimes by an approved contractor. If you ever need to make a claim, a dated record of each problem and repair is your evidence that you held up your end. Without it, it's your word against the manufacturer's inspector.
Making it a habit
The easiest way to get good repair records is to ask for them before the work starts. Put it in your maintenance agreement: no invoice is paid without the report and photos. Most good contractors already take photos; the change is making sure they come back to you and get filed against the right roof.
Then keep all of it in one place per roof, whether that's a well-organised folder, a spreadsheet with links, or software built for the job. What matters is that the next person can open one record and see everything that's happened to that roof.