Every year, Ontario homeowners lose money to roofing jobs that go wrong in entirely preventable ways — vanished deposits, injured uninsured workers, warranties that turn out to be worth less than the paper they were printed on. Almost none of those stories begin on the roof. They begin at the kitchen table, in the ten minutes before a contract gets signed, when the right questions never got asked.
We sat down with Rodney Eldik, manager of Armour Shield Roofing’s team serving the GTA, and asked him to make the case against his own industry’s worst actors. When we asked what single piece of advice he would give a homeowner about to hire, he did not hesitate:
“Before you sign anything, ask for the WSIB clearance certificate, the liability insurance certificate, and a written warranty with the manufacturer’s name on it. If a contractor hesitates on any of the three, that tells you what you need to know. Choosing a roofing and roof repair service in Mississauga, Ontario is as much about the paperwork as it is about the shingles.”
The rest of our conversation unpacked those three documents — and the fine print around them.
The Three Documents, One at a Time
WSIB is Ontario’s workplace injury insurance system, and a clearance certificate confirms that a contractor’s account is registered and in good standing. Eldik framed it as the homeowner’s problem, not merely the contractor’s: roofing is dangerous work, and if a worker without proper coverage is injured on a property, the property owner can find themselves entangled in the consequences. The certificate proves the workers on the roof are covered by the system built for exactly that scenario. It costs the contractor nothing to produce and takes minutes, which is why hesitation is so informative — anyone who dodges the request is showing how the rest of the business is run.
Commercial general liability insurance, the second document, protects the property itself if the contractor causes damage — a fire, a collapsed ceiling, a mishap with the eavestroughs. In this trade, Eldik said, two million dollars in coverage is the common benchmark, and he would be uncomfortable with less on a full replacement. But he warned against accepting a photocopy waved across the table: the policy should be current, the named insured should match the company on the contract, and a cautious homeowner can ask to have a certificate sent directly from the contractor’s broker. A properly insured company finds that request completely routine.
The third document trips up the most people, because every roof actually carries two warranties that homeowners routinely conflate. The manufacturer’s warranty covers the shingles — defects in the product — and the good ones run for decades. The workmanship warranty covers the installation, and it is only as durable as the company standing behind it. The catch, Eldik explained, is that manufacturer warranties come with installation requirements, and some of the best coverage tiers are available only through certified installers. Both warranties belong in writing: the manufacturer’s registered coverage for the product, and the contractor’s own workmanship term with actual years and exclusions spelled out. Verbal assurances that a job is fully guaranteed are worth nothing; names and numbers on paper are worth everything.
The Contract, the Deposit, and the Red Flags
Beyond the three certificates, Eldik wants specifics everywhere in the contract that a vague phrase could otherwise live. The exact shingle brand, product line, and colour. Whether the old roof is fully torn off or overlaid, with disposal included. The underlayment, the locations of ice-and-water membrane, the drip edge, any ventilation work. A per-sheet price for replacing rotten decking if the crew finds it, so a mid-job surprise never becomes a hostage negotiation. Start and completion windows, and a payment schedule. On deposits, his standard is modesty — a small percentage to secure materials and a date. Large sums up front, paid to a company found last week, is how every vanished-deposit story he has heard begins.
The red flags that should end a conversation immediately form a consistent script, in his experience. Pressure in any form, especially a price that expires tonight. A bid dramatically below every other quote, because that money is recovered somewhere the homeowner cannot see. Cash-only pricing, which usually means no paper trail and no warranty when one is needed. No verifiable local address or references. Door-to-door solicitation right after a storm. And, returning to where the interview started, hesitation on the three documents. The frustrating thing about roofing scams, Eldik observed, is how unoriginal they are — which means a homeowner who knows the script is very hard to catch with it.
His final advice concerned comparing quotes: compare scope before price. Three bids only become comparable once they cover the same tear-off, materials, accessories, and warranty, and the expensive quote is often simply the honest one that included everything. Then weigh the company itself — years operating locally, references actually called, how questions were handled. A homeowner is not buying shingles, in his framing. They are buying twenty years of someone standing behind shingles, and it is the second thing that deserves the price.
Our thanks to Rodney Eldik and Armour Shield Roofing for the candid guidance.
Disclaimer: Nothing in this article constitutes legal, insurance, or contractual advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Credential requirements and consumer-protection rules can change, and coverage documents can only be verified with the issuing bodies. Readers must independently confirm any contractor’s registration, insurance, and references, and should consider having significant contracts reviewed by a qualified professional before signing.
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