Knights Roofing Reduces Estimate Costs by 70% with EagleView Reports

In the 11 years that Knights Roofing has been in business, Sloped Roofing Manager Allen Shaw has seen all types of jobs.

“We have done everything from houses to schools and hospitals to shopping malls here around the province of Alberta,” Shaw said.

No matter what type of roof they repair or replace, the Edmonton company’s mission is always the same.

“Our goal is to treat each building owner or homeowner as if they are family and do the roof like we would do our own,” said Shaw.

Aerial View Road and House

In his role, Shaw is in charge of the estimating staff—all crews and foremen—and the repair staff for all of the sloped roofing division of the business. Shaw and his associates need to get the details right every time. To do so, they order EagleView reports.

Shaw discovered EagleView about 10 years ago at the National Roofing Contractors Association’s annual convention. Back then, in the early days of EagleView, the imagery simply wasn’t available to cover what Knights Roofing needed. At that time, they only ordered EagleView reports about 30 percent of the time.

Today, however, with greater imagery coverage throughout Alberta, EagleView has become standard on most jobs for Knights Roofing.

“The times that we are not using EagleView are maybe with some of the older homeowners who like to have the person come out and talk to them and get up on their roof and measure things,” Shaw explained.

In most cases, Shaw noted, homeowners want an estimate delivered as soon as possible. The use of an EagleView report makes that quick turnaround possible.

EagleView measurements help Knights Roofing meet that demand and have become integral to the business’s operations. The company even posted a video to its Instagram account showing several reports laid out on a desk, captioned: “It’s a ‘What would I do without EagleView’ kind of day.”

What are the advantages of ordering EagleView measurements? Shaw can name several.

Greater accuracy

Roof Report“The reports are very accurate,” Shaw said. “I cannot remember the last time that we were short on any type of materials that we had purchased for the job after using an EagleView roof report.”

The accuracy of EagleView’s measurements, Shaw said, “tends to take the human error portion out of the estimate.”

With incorrect calculations, Shaw and his team may wind up short on materials. The ripple effect of one incorrect estimate quickly becomes obvious.

“If we have an error where we think the job is actually larger than what it is, our prices end up being too high and we don’t get the job,” Shaw said. By using EagleView, however, “we basically avoid that now.”

Saved time and reduced risk

Previously, Knights Roofing staff were required to take manual measurements on every job, either on the roof or, at times, on the ground.

The dependable accuracy of EagleView reports enables Knights Roofing to place bids without time-consuming site visits.

“We don’t have to have actual manhours of a person driving one of the company vehicles out to the homeowner or building early on in the quote,” Shaw said. This, in turn, eliminates several estimation-related expenses.

Fewer expenses

“The other thing that is great for us is the cost of the estimating,” Shaw continued. By reducing field visits, the business can save time and avoid the risk of an employee getting injured during the estimate.

As a result, Shaw said, the company saves between $60,000 and $80,000 per year “just in insurance, vehicle costs, and labor costs.”

“The cost of estimating now for us is probably half what it was 10 years ago,” Shaw pointed out. “That labor cost has been cut by roughly 70 percent.”

With around 250 jobs completed each year, Knights Roofing has the ability to bid quickly, accurately, and more often with EagleView reports.

“It is very rare now that we don’t use EagleView,” Shaw said.

Order and view detailed measurements on the go

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