By Greg Allan, tradesman and creator of Data First Coaching
Which award actually covers a roofing business's crew?
For most Australian roofing businesses, the award that applies is the Building and Construction Award, administered by the Fair Work Ombudsman. It covers work done on-site in general building and construction, and names tradespersons including roof tilers and tile layers and their apprentices.
The Fair Work Ombudsman describes the industry this award covers as work done on-site, saying: “The building and construction industry means work done on-site, including:” general building and construction, civil construction, and metal and engineering construction. A roofer running re-roof jobs, restoration work, guttering and flashing repairs on a domestic or commercial site sits squarely in that description. But the Fair Work Ombudsman is also clear that an award is matched to the actual duties performed, not the business name on the invoice, so a roofer who also fabricates on a metal roof differently to how they handle a tile restoration can still sit under the one award if the work stays on-site.
Does a roofer's crew ever fall under more than one award?
Yes. A roofing business can have more than one award apply at once, because coverage follows the job each person actually does, not the trade printed on the business card.
The Fair Work Ombudsman says plainly that which award applies “will depend on the: - main industry of your business - duties your employees perform,” and separately that “an employer can be covered by more than one award depending on the jobs the employees do,” on its about awards page. For a roofer this matters most where guttering and downpipe work shades into plumbing-connected drainage. The Fair Work Ombudsman's own enforcement record shows this is not theoretical: a Sydney roofing business operator was penalised after entitlements owed under the Plumbing and Fire Sprinklers Award 2020 and the National Employment Standards went unpaid, as set out in the Fair Work Ombudsman's media release. A valley flashing repair and a stormwater downpipe tie-in on the same insurance work job can quietly sit under two different sets of rules.
Does it matter which state your roofing business is in?
It can. Most of Australia runs on the federal award system the Fair Work Ombudsman administers, but Western Australia has its own state industrial relations system for some business structures, and that changes which award a roofer checks.
Western Australia's summary of the Building Trades and Labourers (Construction) Award states that “This WA award summary applies to businesses in the state industrial relations system,” which covers sole traders, unincorporated partnerships and unincorporated trusts in the on-site building and construction industry. The WA government's own guide to WA awards for common jobs goes further and names the trade directly, noting a roof tiler employed on-site in building and construction is likely to sit under that state award rather than the federal one. A roofer running crews across state lines, or an owner who has never checked whether their structure sits in the state or federal system, is exactly the kind of gap this is built to catch.
Is there anything extra the award says about roof repair work itself?
Yes. Some awards in this space carry a specific allowance for staff doing roof repair work, on top of the base rate, because of the conditions the job is done in.
The Joinery and Building Trades Award sets out a roof repairs allowance payable to an employee engaged on repairs to roofs. This article will not state the figure, because award rates are indexed and change, and a page that quotes last year's number only misleads the next owner who reads it. What matters for a roofer is knowing the allowance exists and checking the current figure on the award page before it is quoted on a job or paid in a pay run.
What does the award rate actually cost a roofing business during storm season?
The award rate is only the compliance answer. The real number a roofer needs is what a crew actually cost against each re-roof or restoration job once storm season forces on overtime, extra casual hours and crews pushed to cover insurance work surges, because that is the figure that decides whether the quoted margin survived the season.
Most roofing businesses price labour against someone's best day on the tools, not what an average roofer, including a newer hand on a scaffold learning the edge protection setup, actually gets through. When a storm surge hits and insurance work floods in, hours stretch, weather days get made up with overtime, and a second-year apprentice ends up paired with a qualified tradesperson on jobs that were quoted assuming two tradespeople. Picture a roofing business that had been running two qualified tradespeople on the tools for every re-roof, a costly way to staff the work when one of them could be doing a tile restoration solo with the right support. The owner restructured so a qualified roofer now works alongside a second-year apprentice instead, changing what the crew actually costs without changing a single line on the quote. If that wage cost, overtime included, never gets booked against the specific job it was worked on, every quote from that storm season looks fine on paper while the real result quietly disappears into overhead.
This is where AI agents earn their place in a roofing business. An AI agent is software that does a job the way the owner would, using their own prices, their own wording and their own rules, so it can carry the paperwork of matching crew hours, including overtime and casual shifts, back to the job they were actually worked on. A data first view of the business means that match happens from the roofer's own job and pay records as the season runs, not from memory once the storm work has already been invoiced and the cash is gone.
This is general information, not legal, tax or employment advice. Check your own situation with the body named here or a qualified adviser.
Where can you check the current rules?
- Building and Construction Award summary, the Fair Work Ombudsman's summary of who and what this award covers, including roof tilers and apprentices.
- I'm not sure which award covers my business, the Fair Work Ombudsman's guide to matching an award to the actual duties performed.
- About awards, explains that more than one award can cover one employer.
- Building Trades and Labourers (Construction) Award, the Western Australian state award summary for on-site building and construction businesses in that system.
- WA awards for common jobs, names the award likely to cover a roof tiler in Western Australia.
- Sydney roofing business operator penalised, a Fair Work Ombudsman enforcement outcome involving the Plumbing and Fire Sprinklers Award.
- Joinery and Building Trades Award, sets out the roof repairs allowance; check this page for the current figure.
How does Data First Coaching approach this?
Data First Coaching starts from the owner's own job and pay records, read through the Trade Business Intelligence, rather than from a general rule about awards. For a roofing business that usually means looking at whether crew hours during a storm surge, overtime included, are actually landing against the re-roof or restoration job they were worked on, or disappearing into overhead where nobody can see the real margin. Greg Allan puts it this way: “When your team's getting pushed and they're doing bigger and bigger hours, there's a lot more pressure coming down from the top.” The how of building that tracking is worked through inside the Academy, with members, because the Trade Business Intelligence is powered by every member who is open minded, innovative and willing to share what they learn.
Looking for a business coach who starts from your numbers? Roofer Business Coach or every answer for roofers.
