A hail claim usually opens with an aerial measurement and a template. The measurement gives the roof's size and pitch. The template gives a standard line roster for a re-roof. What neither one knows is what the roof requires locally, what is mounted on it, or what is underneath the shingles.
That is where the omissions live. A hail re-roof has a set of code-required items that a like-for-like template scope does not carry, plus collateral damage that never shows up from the air. This page is the code checklist. How the loss presents on the roof itself, and the slope-by-slope evidence a hail claim turns on, are worked through on the hail damage claim page. The gap is predictable, and so is the fix: know the required items, document each one, and submit them together.
How hail scopes get written
Hail damage is scoped by test square. An adjuster lays out a measured area on a slope, counts the impacts, and uses that count to decide whether the slope can be repaired or has to be replaced. The number of shingles it takes to fix a slope against the number to replace it is the first decision on the claim.
From there, the scope is assembled from a template. The template knows the standard re-roof lines. It does not know the local adopted code edition, it does not read the manufacturer's installation instructions, and it cannot see a satellite dish or a bank of attic vents from a plane. So the code items, the accessories, and the detach and reset work fall off the page, claim after claim, in the same places.
The code-required items on a hail re-roof
Ice and water barrier, at the eave and often beyond it
The ice barrier is the most common code-required miss in cold-weather markets, and the rule keys on climate. Where the average January daily mean temperature is 25 degrees or below, an ice barrier is required from the roof edge to at least 24 inches inside the exterior wall line. That is IRC R905.2.7.1 in the 2018 editions many states still use, and IRC R905.1.2 in the 2021 editions. Two things go wrong on a hail scope: the barrier is left off a re-roof that requires it, or it is written for the eave alone when the shingle manufacturer's instructions extend it to valleys and penetrations. The manufacturer instruction is the stronger argument, because the carrier is paying to install that product the way its instructions require.
Drip edge, at the eaves and the rakes
Drip edge is cheap per foot, which is why it gets treated as a rounding error until you look at the quantities. The code is specific: drip edge is required at the eaves and the rake edges of shingle roofs, and adjacent pieces have to overlap by at least 2 inches (IRC R905.2.8.5). The usual miss is a scope that pays the eaves and skips the rakes, or the reverse. Measure both and write both.
Starter course
Shingle manufacturers require a starter course at the eaves and along the rakes, and it is a separate line from the field shingles. On a fast hail scope it dissolves into the field quantity, which means you buy it, haul it, and install it for free.
Re-nail of the existing decking
On a full tear-off, the deck gets exposed and re-fastened before the new underlayment goes down. Re-nailing existing decking is its own line with its own labor, and it is routinely absent from a hail template. Walking the deck at tear-off and logging the fastening pattern is what backs the line.
Ridge and hip cap, by measurement
Ridge cap is written by the linear foot, and ridge and intake ventilation are written to the quantity the roof actually needs. A scope that guesses at the ridge length instead of measuring it comes up short in two places at once, because the cap and the vent hinge on the same number. Walk the ridge with a tape before the scope is final.
Soft metal and collateral
Hail dents metal, and metal is everywhere around a roof. Gutters, downspouts, valleys, vents, and flashing all take impacts, and so do screens, window wraps, and sometimes siding. A hammered gutter can fail a slope's own test even when the shingles look marginal, and a dented vent is a replacement line. Photograph each piece on the day you inspect, because the reviewer's next question is always the same one: show me what was there.
Test squares and the matching provision
When a hail test square shows that a slope has to be replaced, the matching provision decides how far the replacement goes. If the new shingle cannot match the existing roof in a way that leaves a continuous, uniform surface, the argument moves from one slope to the whole visible roof, and often to the siding and trim that touch it. Matching is a policy argument backed by the carrier's own language, and the matching provision entry covers how it works. Document the discontinued or unavailable material, the slope count, and the sight lines the homeowner actually sees.
Supplements specific to hail
Two hail arguments do most of the work. The first is the code upgrade. A hail re-roof has to meet the code in force, not the code that was in force when the roof was built, so anything the current code requires and the old roof lacked is a legitimate addition. The second is matching, covered above. Both belong in the same supplement as the rest of the scope corrections, and both rest on a citation, not on a preference. The code upgrade supplement entry walks the format.
Documenting the hail claim for the desk
Keep the four categories separate, because a reviewer evaluates them by different logic. Code items cite a section like IRC R905.2.8.5. Manufacturer items cite the installation instructions for the shingle being installed. Measurement items cite your numbers for the ridge, the rakes, and the deck. Condition items carry photos, numbered to match the line notes. Batch the whole set into one submission with a cover note. The omission taxonomy is the map for what to look for, and the commonly missed roofing line items post lists the specific code families. For the roofing trade in general, the roofing code index groups the SEL families a supplement needs.
To run the audit on a real file, the carrier's hail scope goes in as a PDF and comes back as a Xactimate ESX you can open next to your own. The comparison is mechanical: same structure, line against line, and the difference is a list you can turn into a supplement. The supplement software overview covers the workflow, and the supplement guide covers the process around it.
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Review required: AI-assisted content requires professional review. Verify every line item, price, and total against your actual scope before submission.