What is a roofing consultant?

How consultants keep buildings and roofs performing their best by offering independent perspectives and opinions on location.

Keeping the occupants of your building safe, dry and healthy is paramount for any building owner or property manager. The key to doing this successfully is in what contractors call the "building enclosure." This refers to the parts of the building that separate the interior and exterior, think walls and roof. For property owners and managers, hiring a consultant can be a great way to make sure the building enclosure is set up to perform its best.

Building consultants can be licensed architects, engineers or other professionals in the field, but they all are focused on providing an unbiased perspective of design, maintenance, quality, legal and general building enclosure management. They have industry-wide knowledge of different materials, installation practices and design requirements with no personal affiliations to any one building or roofing resource, supplier or manufacturer, ensuring you are getting expert, unbiased advice.

There are many ways to find a consultant to give you building and roof help, but a great place to start is at the International Institute of Building Enclosure Consultants (IIBEC). Since 1983, IIBEC has been certifying consultants internationally to offer unprejudiced industry expertise. These consultants follow a strict code of ethics and are a great example of what a building consultant can do for you!

Consultants can offer help on both existing and new construction from a variety of perspectives. When it comes to design, they can build plans and specifications that help you create reliable roofing, exterior wall and waterproofing systems. At the same time, they can act as an advocate for owners. In all parts of the construction process, they can act as a proxy for you and, when issues arise, they can serve as expert witnesses.

With their extensive industry knowledge, they can also ensure that roofing products and other materials are installed in accordance to manufacture warranty terms. Further, they can test these systems for you to ensure optimal performance. In a similar vein, consultants can evaluate failures as they occur (i.e. roof leaks). Based on what they observe, they can identify what happened and how to make a plan that avoids its reoccurrence. Also on the topic of creating plans, consultants can aid owners in establishing routine building and roof maintenance. This allows you to stay ahead of any possible building and roof problems and appropriately plan for repairs and replacements.

Learn more about roofing consultants.

Find your local roofing contractor here.