A faster path to school roofing projects

By Jesse Sanchez. 

Learn how cooperative purchasing through the TIPS Program helps schools and nonprofits streamline roofing procurement while maintaining control and cost transparency. 

For school districts, government agencies, nonprofit organizations and the contractors that serve them, a roof replacement is as much an administrative hurdle as it is a construction project. The traditional public bidding process, while intended to safeguard taxpayer dollars, often requires complex requests for proposals, consultant-prepared specifications, public advertising and extended review timelines. By the time bids are opened and evaluated, months may have passed. In many cases, procurement rules require acceptance of the lowest responsible bidder, which can limit flexibility and reduce control over who ultimately performs the work. The team at Sentry Roofing knows these hurdles well, which is why they’ve shared the following insights into a time-saving solution: TIPS. 

The TIPS Program (The Interlocal Purchasing System) is designed to address these challenges while maintaining full compliance. As a national cooperative purchasing program, TIPS conducts competitive solicitations on a broad scale, evaluating vendors on price, quality, financial stability and ability to execute. When a manufacturer such as Duro-Last® is awarded a contract, standardized pricing for materials and labor is established at national volume rates. Eligible entities can then use that pre-bid contract to meet statutory requirements without running their own time-consuming solicitation. 

That shift in process changes how roofing projects move forward. Because pricing is already competitively secured, organizations retain the ability to choose a contractor they trust rather than defaulting to the lowest number. Pre-negotiated rates provide cost transparency, while the shortened procurement timeline allows facility managers to align projects with critical scheduling windows such as summer break. 

In addition, manufacturer-backed specifications help reduce conflicts between design and warranty requirements. With Duro-Last holding the contract and Sentry Roofing managing on-site execution, specifications originate from the same source that stands behind the finished system. 

Enrollment in TIPS is free and requires only a brief registration, giving schools and nonprofits access to a compliant, streamlined path to roofing procurement. 

Learn more about how the TIPS Program can help your school or nonprofit secure a compliant, cost-effective roofing solution with greater speed and control!