Do Roofers Relinquish This Roof to Waterproofers? Richard Spreen, President, Decktight Roofing Services, Inc. and Shredded Tire, Inc. As a roofing contractor that has worked primarily in Miami for the last 32 years, I’ve witnessed a lot of changes to our industry. One of the biggest is the encroachment of waterproofing above occupied or conditioned space or, in other words, what use to be called a “roof.”
What’s in a Name?
In South Florida, areas designated for waterproofing have far more relaxed standards. Waterproofing is allowed to be used when a roof transforms into a terrace or planter but is still required to follow an NOA approved assembly. Over the past few years, I’ve witnessed waterproofing contractors installing liquid waterproofing (without slope or insulation) over occupied areas on some of the most expensive real estate in the world, without a permit. The response from one of the waterproofing contractors when I asked him about “why a permit wasn’t pulled” for the work, which was adjacent to ours, was, “we haven’t pulled a permit in 16 years.” As a licensed Florida roofing contractor, can you imagine ever saying such a thing? Our license would be revoked. Yet, this statement was made at a job meeting with the owner’s reps, waterproofing consultants and a prominent general contractor present. Surprisingly, the only ones outraged by that statement were my team and me. Witnessing this firsthand on one landmark project after another is frustrating, but more than that, it has created a challenge within our industry. When bidding against waterproofers for these coveted rooftop playgrounds, we as roofers are left with few competitive options. Since true roofing NOAs require uplift testing 16
FLORIDA ROOFING | August 2020
for the complete assembly (tile and turf included), R-Value and a slope to drain requirements along with Class-A UL fire approvals, we are automatically at a pricing disadvantage against waterproofers. Oftentimes, a waterproofing consultant’s “design” will involve a single product NOA or Florida Product Approval rather than an NOA based on an entire assembly. Furthermore, many of these “designed assemblies” involve topping slabs that have sloped finished surfaces with inherent slip and fall concerns as well as efflorescence of tile issues. If we resign ourselves (as roofers) to the fact that we will never be competitive to waterproofers and ignore the rooftop terrace market, we will live with requests (on bid day) from general contractors to bid on “JUST the elevator and stair towers since the waterproofing has already been awarded.” That request is usually then followed by a request to “supply and install all the scuppers since their waterproofer doesn’t do that.” This is happening right now on project after project as the waterproofing contracts are awarded in the very beginning of the project (many months before the roofs are even bid out) because a large portion of their work is below grade.
