2025 State of the Industry Feature

Metal roofing is the second best revenue generator at 81% for residential and 82% for commercial. Photo: CMR Construction & Roofing.

Sales Stay Steady

If there were any soft spots in sales due to lingering inflation and high interest rates, it didn’t impact residential roofing contractors, survey data showed.

More than half of contractors that generate more than 50% of their business revenue from residential roofing projects said total sales volume increased last year. A higher amount (72%) said they expect further growth in 2025, and more (77%) anticipate residential roofing sales to grow over the next three years.

While about a quarter of respondents said sales remained the same last year, 17% said sales slightly decreased (12%) or decreased greatly (5%).

About 8% of contractors said they expect residential sales to fall slightly this year, and a combined 9% anticipated sales to drop slightly or significantly through 2027.

The survey data showed that sales volume increases are expected similarly across regions, with the exception of the South.

Significantly more Southern contractors said they expect total sales growth to increase this year (81%), and over the next three years (89%), compared to respondents in the Northeast (64%). This expectation appears to be driven by anticipated increases in residential business from population growth and severe weather events.

The optimism about 2024 sales and what lies ahead was also evident among commercial roofers.

According to the survey, 68% of commercial contractors closed 2024 with sales volumes improving over the previous year. Commercial contractors are more optimistic about this year, with 80% saying they expect 2025 annual commercial sales volumes to slightly or greatly increase compared to 2024.

Expanding their outlook even further, 83% of commercial contractors predict overall sales to grow over the next three years. Of them, 56% expect those volumes to “slightly increase.”

Regionally, commercial contractors in the South are the most optimistic about 2025, with 64% saying they expect sales volumes to grow this year. Just behind them are their compatriots in the West and Midwest at 63% each.

Prime Products

Single-ply roofing and metal roofing systems are the most common product categories respondents are involved with, accounting for, on average, 33% of sales revenue. Companies are involved with seven tested products, on average.

Commercial contractors continue to depend on single-ply roofing as their chief source of revenue, with 88% saying they offer the product to their customers. Single-ply accounts for an average of 43% of sales revenue. Two-thirds of commercial contractors surveyed said single-ply roofing product sales increased in the past year.

When broken down, TPO is the most popular, driving 49% of sales for commercial contractors. EPDM was next at 28%, followed by PVC at 24%. KEE only drives 10% of single-ply sales.

Metal roofing is the next most popular system, with 79% of all contractors involved with the product, though it only makes up 13% of overall revenue on average. Similarly, 73% offer metal accessories, accounting for 7% of revenue on average.

Commercial contractors anticipate metal will be among the best products in 2025. Sixty-one percent of contractors said metal accessory sales improved from 2023 to 2024, and 71% expect sales to improve this year. Another 60% said metal roofing sales improved from 2023 to 2024 and 73% believe they’ll be even better this year.

Coatings use among commercial roofers gained slightly from last year, climbing to 66%, and 64% of contractors anticipate coatings sales to grow this year, and over the next three years.

Commercial contractors had the lowest expectations for low-slope asphalt. It’s offered by two-thirds of those surveyed, but only a third saw sales improve in 2024. About 36% of contractors said sales decreased in this category, and 40% say low-slope asphalt sales will improve in 2025.

Of those low-slope sales, 42% are modified bitumen-SBS systems, while 28% are built-up roofs.

Spray polyurethane foam is offered by a scant 19% of commercial contractors, though 67% of them say sales improved from 2023 to 2024. Of that subset, 60% say SPF sales will rise in the coming year.

On the residential side, a whopping 85% of contractors are involved with steep-slope asphalt shingles. Laminate shingles comprise the highest share of shingle sales (31%), followed by wind or hail-resistant shingles (28%) and Strip/3-Tab shingles (23%).

A commanding 70% of residential respondents said they expect steep-slope asphalt shingle sales to increase this year. Only solar roofing sales trended that high among residential roofers, survey data shows, followed by metal (67%) and coatings (61%).

Are Sustainable Products Sustaining Contractors?

While residential steep-slope asphalt shingle sales and the metal accessories market in 2025 are expected to be significantly higher than the growth observed in RC’s surveys from 2023 and 2024, growth in solar is expected to be lower.

As high as anticipated solar sales were among residential roofers, only 31% of all respondents said they’re involved with solar. Of those companies, solar accounted for only 1%-2% of total annual revenue. Yet there are reasons for solar contractors to stay optimistic.

Only a quarter of commercial contractors surveyed offer solar products. Of them, 78% said solar sales grew from 2023. About 69% of those involved with solar said they anticipate increased sales in 2025.

This places solar among the top three most profitable products when projecting into the future, just behind metal roofing systems (73%), metal accessories (71%) and single-ply (69%).

Growth in commercial sales of metal roofing systems and metal accessories is expected to be significantly higher in 2025 than growth observed from 2023 to 2024, while growth in garden roofing is expected to be significantly lower.

That continues a downward trend in the commercial space for green/garden roofing. Just under a third of commercial contractors install garden roofing, yet 47% of them expect sales to increase in 2025. Compare this to 76% who said sales of garden roofs increased from 2023 to 2024.

Perceived Challenges and Labor

By far, the biggest challenge facing commercial contractors is the lack of qualified workers; 61% said it was an issue. Next on the list: the economy/inflation at 49%. Rounding out the top three challenges for commercial is increased building material costs at 42%.

It doesn’t help that labor costs are on the rise. For commercial contractors who said labor costs went up since January 2024, they saw a mean percentage increase of 14%.

To find the skilled labor they need, commercial companies are, by and large, turning to employee referrals, with 80% of respondents depending on them. This is followed by online job postings to sites like Craigslist and Indeed at 75%. Other primary methods include social media (56%) and referrals from family and friends (58%).

Commercial contractors keep their employees around mainly by ensuring a safe environment, which 81% said they offer. Providing benefits is also effective, with 81% saying it’s how they retain workers. The third most popular method is providing good pay, with 78% of commercial contractors paying competitive wages and/or bonuses.

At 76%, offering training is another popular retention method. In-house, on-the-job training is the most popular (83%), followed by formal training programs (69%) and manufacturer training (61%).

Among residential roofers, economic conditions and lingering inflation topped all concerns at 57%, which was consistent with last year’s findings. Increased material costs were next (47%); the lack of qualified workers (38%) and low-ball pricing (35%) rounded out the top four perceived challenges.

Employee and family referrals remain the leading methods of finding talent for residential roofing companies, but data shows more than half recruit via online job postings (55%) and 32% use trade-school affiliations.

Paying well and offering bonuses are the chief factors residential roofers use to retain employees, and about two-thirds found ensuring enough work and a safe work environment were important. Providing benefits, training and a flexible schedule all were identified as important by at least half of residential respondents.

Given the extra hazards and regulations, safety is paramount for commercial roofing. That being the case, contractors hold weekly safety meetings (42%) to ensure safety. Another 22% hold daily meetings, while 22% schedule monthly safety meetings. Around 12% say they only convene annually for safety.

Most commercial contractors (83%) said they provide all the necessary safety equipment to their workers. The remaining 17% say they provide some equipment. No commercial contractor surveyed said workers must bring their own.

On the residential side, holding monthly safety meetings is the most common practice (45%). Only 4% hold daily safety meetings, while 22% host weekly safety talks. The remaining 19% have a safety-specific meeting once a year.

Metal roofing is the second best revenue generator at 81% for residential and 82% for commercial. Photo: CMR Construction & Roofing.

Roofing Technology

Technology plays an important role in roofing, and that will continue into 2025. Among the solutions available to commercial contractors, estimating software is the most widely used, with 74% having implemented it. This is closely followed by enterprise or accounting software at 69%. Rounding out the top three pieces of tech is business process software at 64%.

Estimating software was also incorporated by roughly 71% of all residential roofers, followed by enterprise and accounting (62%) and business process (56%).

Aerial measurement tools are being used by about 61% of contractors, and another 19% said they’re exploring using them in the next year or two. Customer relationship management software and cloud computing completed the top half of the list of commonly used technology.

Drone use continues to increase, adopted by 54% of survey respondents, and 27% of contractors said they’ll be using them in one to two years. Roughly a quarter of all respondents said they’re considering innovations such as 3D modeling, artificial intelligence, predictive analytics and augmented or virtual reality.

Metal roofing is the second best revenue generator at 81% for residential and 82% for commercial. Photo: CMR Construction & Roofing.

Some Predictions

More PE Madness

The recent tidal wave of mergers and acquisitions in roofing — fueled largely by private equity — will continue. Several roofing platforms expanded their reach in the past 18 months, and with eyes on national footprints, the pace will likely accelerate before slowing down as companies across all segments of the industry look to secure and leverage market share while streamlining operations.

More Machines

The digital evolution in the roofing space continues and in 2025 offers roofing contractors a lot more than improvements to operational software and customer engagements. The innovations introduced last year in robotics, AI-powered analytics, and remote-powered assessment and inspection capabilities don’t appear to be losing momentum. With the legal landscape regarding insurance and regulation also changing, technology that increases the efficiency and accuracy of roofing work will be at a premium.

More Solar

Despite some slumps in solar enthusiasm from recent survey respondents, the data for solar roofing still shows a lot of promise. First, the continued consolidation of roofing companies and the desire to add market differentiators like solar offerings will make solar solutions easier for customers to find. Add the power of data-driven lead prospecting, and roofing companies with solid sales processes should have their solar divisions humming this year. The potential of steep tariffs and the overall cost of solar components will be a key factor for contractors in this space.

Editor’s Note: The information contained within this article comes from myCLEARopinion Insights Hub, 2024 Roofing Contractor Roofing Report. Oct. 2024.

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