A State Farm roof claim usually moves fast at the front end. The adjuster inspects, the scope lands in the portal or the inbox, and it has a number on it. Then you read the list behind that number, and contractors report it comes up short in the same places a first pass always does.
State Farm writes its property estimates in Xactimate, so the scope you receive is a structured list, not a narrative. That is helpful, because a list can be compared line by line. It also means the misses contractors report are specific and findable once you know what to look for.
ESXPress is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by State Farm or any carrier. Xactimate is a registered trademark of Verisk. This is a workflow guide for the scope in front of you.
How a State Farm first-pass scope is structured
Because the estimate is built in Xactimate, it carries the settings of the profile the carrier used: a price list edition, a waste factor, a labor efficiency setting, and a standard line roster for the loss type. Those settings decide a lot about the number you get. The price list dates the prices. The labor setting decides how the labor lines are priced. The roster decides which items are on the page at all.
Read the summary above the line items in order. On a replacement cost policy, the first number is replacement cost value, before depreciation. The second is actual cash value, replacement cost minus the depreciation the carrier withholds. Then the deductible. Then the line most people skip: what the claim pays once the withheld depreciation is recovered. That last number is what the next conversation is about. Anything the scope left out is not held back at all, because it was never on the page to begin with.
How to read a State Farm scope for gaps
Start with the document, not with the carrier's name. A first-pass scope misses the same items whoever wrote it, because the misses come from the process behind it: a template roster for the loss type, a measurement that gets rounded on the way in, and a first pass written to close. The items below are the ones that recur on first-pass roof scopes generally, and each one is something you check against the estimate in front of you. For the carrier-specific picture, the State Farm roof scope guide is the page that owns that ground, and it states plainly what we do and do not publish about a named carrier.
- Code upgrades. Ice and water barrier where the climate triggers it (IRC R905.2.7.1 in the 2018 editions, IRC R905.1.2 in the 2021 editions), and drip edge at the eaves and the rakes (IRC R905.2.8.5).
- Accessories. Starter course, ridge cap, pipe boots, step flashing, and counterflashing as their own lines instead of absorbed into the field.
- Detach and reset. Gutters, satellite dishes, vents, and anything mounted through the roof.
- Waste and disposal. A dumpster and haul count that matches the layer count and the access.
- Hidden decking. Documented at tear-off, with photos and a sheet count.
For the item-by-item version, the State Farm missing line items post walks the same ground with the code citations and the depreciation mechanics.
Carrier-specific documentation conventions
State Farm reviewers work from the same evidence standard as any other desk: a line, a citation, and a photo. The supplement format that gets approved first pass is boring on purpose. One line per item, one sentence on what requires it, a code or a manufacturer instruction, and a photo numbered to match. Keep code items, manufacturer items, measurement items, and condition items in separate groups, because they get evaluated by different logic.
Submit once. A single supplement with a cover note that says what is inside and what each line rests on moves faster than five partial ones. Keep the trail after you send it: the date, who reviewed it, what was approved, and what came back denied. A denial with a citation behind it is the start of an appeal, not the end of the job.
A worked example: converting a State Farm PDF to ESX
Most State Farm scopes arrive as a PDF or a portal printout. A PDF is easy to read and slow to work with, because the lines are text on a page, not data you can compare. The move is to convert the scope PDF into an import-ready Xactimate ESX file, open it in your copy of Xactimate, and read it next to your own estimate. The comparison stops being an eyeball exercise and becomes line against line.
From there, the difference is a list. Each item you want back gets a citation and, where you have it, a photo. On dashboard conversions, the Completeness Advisor checks the converted scope against 93 rules covering construction, code, and supplemental items, and flags likely omissions for your review. It does not change the estimate, and it does not invent items. You decide what belongs. The PDF to Xactimate converter is where that workflow starts, and the supplement software overview covers the rest. If you are weighing tools, the comparison hub lays out the category.
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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.