COVID-19 alert: Most U.S. roofing contractors hit by coronavirus, says NRCA

A new survey from the National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA) shows that the majority (52%) of roofing contractors said the coronavirus-fueled economic shutdown has already had a "significant" or "very significant" effect on their businesses.

The biggest negative impact reported was a slowdown in normal bid activity (58.9%), followed by reduced customer demand for low-slope roofing work (48.0%). Nearly half of respondents (45.2%) had suffered job cancellations.

NRCA survey: COVID-19 effect on roofing contractor businesses, especially for low-slope roofing.

As of April 7, 2020, one in six respondents (16.8%) had had to lay off workers. A small group (6.4%) said their firms had been forced to close shop. The majority (55.6%) had taken no action in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

MOST ROOFING CONTRACTORS HAD TROUBLE GETTING ACCESS TO CONSTRUCTION SITES

About one-fifth (22.2%) of respondents said their business was experiencing trouble with material delivery, trucking, or other material sourcing interruptions. Nearly two out of three (65.3%) said building owners had limited contractor access to construction sites or buildings as part of their (the owners') coronavirus response plans.

Roofing contractors also reported other restrictions by local jurisdictions, notably service delays for inspections and permits (56.5%). More than one-third (36.5%) said local jurisdictions had stopped accepting applications for new permits.

NRDC: Actions taken by local jurisdictions as a result of COVID-19 pandemic.

MOST ROOFERS SAID THEY WERE STILL OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE FUTURE

Despite all the negatives associated with the COVID-19, a strong majority of roofer respondents (61.9%) said they could be back in business "as usual" in less than a month once the all-clear was issued. The majority (56.3%) said they were "somewhat confident" about the future of their businesses, and 37.2% were "very confident."

NRCA survey: Most roofers expect to be back in business soon after the pandemic ends.