Roof Talks: Commercial Building Roofs Can Make or Break a Sale

Commercial building roofs are one of the most negotiated points when transacting a building, and can be the difference between a handsome profit or painful loss. On this episode of Roof Talks with Fortis, host Tyler Kern sat down with Dave Schupmann, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Fortis to discuss how commercial roof warranties can help both increase value for sellers and save money for buyers.

“Commercial roofs are probably the most expensive component of a building envelope that gets replaced,” Schupmann said. But up to 80 percent of roofs are prematurely replaced instead of being reconditioned with a warranty.

Denver-based Fortis provides warranties for both new and reconditioned roofs, as well as extended warranties that are more comprehensive than a traditional manufacturer’s warranty.

In a commercial real estate transaction, smart buyers do their due diligence on a building’s roof to find out its age, condition, manufacturer warranty status, and quality of regular maintenance. Without a warranty in place, that becomes an opportunity to negotiate the price down based on the aging roof, Schupmann said.

But with a roof warranty, “there is significant value given to the seller, where they can sell their building with a warranty from Fortis that has the most inclusions and least amount of restrictions in the industry,” Schupmann said. “And because it’s backed by Lloyd’s of London, there’s a lot of security that comes with that warranty.”

Founded in 2003, Fortis has written more than 2700 warranties for over 120 million square feet of protection in six different countries.

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