A carrier scope PDF comes from the adjuster's template, not from your local code book. Here is why items go missing, which categories they cluster in, how to verify a scope line by line, and how ESXPress flags what's missing.
Read enough carrier scopes and you start seeing the same shape. The field shingles are there. The felt is there. The tear-off is there. Then the scope stops: no drip edge, no starter course, no pipe boots, and no gutter run over the front porch. The work still has to happen, so when the scope is short, the difference comes out of your margin.
The gap between an initial scope and the work a job actually requires is the most predictable source of lost margin in storm restoration. It is also the most fixable, once you understand why the gap exists and how to find it deliberately instead of by memory. This guide covers the mechanics: how carrier scopes get built, the categories that go missing most, a verification process you can run on every file, and how the Completeness Advisor fits in, including what it deliberately does not do.
Why line items go missing from carrier scopes
A carrier scope is a template product, not a code review
Here is the mechanism. An adjuster produces the estimate inside an estimating platform, starting from a template for the loss type (hail roof, wind roof, water loss) and adding what they measured and saw during the inspection. The template defines which lines show up by default: typically the main field of work, priced by quantity. It is built to be quick, standard, and defensible, not exhaustive. The adjuster then adds what the inspection surfaced.
What the template does not do is read your county's adopted building code edition, your climate zone, or the manufacturer's installation instructions for the product being replaced. Edge metal, ice barrier extents, ventilation math, flashing replacement: those live outside the default line set. An experienced estimator knows this shape before opening the file. If you are newer to claims, the template is deciding part of your scope for you.
Adjusters are measured on cycle time, and first scopes stay lean
A second structural force: claims operations are run on cycle time. Adjusters carry heavy active files, and the workflow favors a clean first estimate that closes the inspection loop quickly. Items the adjuster is unsure about, like a code upgrade that depends on a local edition or a flashing replacement that only matters if the existing flashing can't be reused, are frequently left off a first scope pending documentation rather than included on a guess.
This is how a high-volume process stays predictable, and it is why a complete claim is usually a two-document process: the carrier's starting number, plus your documented supplement. When you accept the initial scope as the final word, you are accepting the template's judgment about the job you are standing on. The contractors who consistently recover treat the first scope as an opening position and respond with documentation.
Regional code editions: why two identical roofs need different scopes
Building codes are not a national uniform rule. The IRC gets adopted state by state and county by county, edition by edition, often with local amendments. A drip edge requirement, an ice barrier extent, a ventilation ratio: each rides on the edition your jurisdiction has adopted, and adoption dates lag by years across the country. Two houses with identical roofs, hit by the same storm, can legitimately need different line items because one sits in a county on a newer IRC edition and the other is still under an older one.
That is why a static checklist you re-use across markets under-fills in one place and over-fills in another. ESXPress resolves the policy ZIP code to the county's adopted IRC edition and the IECC 2021 climate zone before its completeness rules fire, so suggestions track the code that actually applies to the address. For the full regional-code breakdown, read The 93 Missing Line Items.
The categories carriers most commonly omit
The pattern is consistent enough to organize. Missed items are rarely the field shingles; they cluster in the accessories, transitions, and code-driven lines that surround the main assembly. Here are the categories that matter most, with the authority behind each. If you want the item-by-item version, our post on the 25 most commonly missed line items carries the full list with codes and citations.
- Edge metal: drip edge at eaves and rakes. Required on new installation and re-roofs under IRC R905.2.8.5 (post-2018 editions). Commonly missed because the original roof may not have had it, and templates pair shingles with felt by default. The Xactimate SEL code is RFG|DRIP, and eave and rake runs are separate measurements.
- Underlayment and ice barrier. IRC R905.1.2 requires an ice barrier underlayment in freeze zones (post-2018 editions), with R905.2.7.1 covering alternatives in some editions. Adjusters often include it at the eaves but skip valleys or sidewalls, or skip it entirely when the original roof predates the requirement. Xactimate code: RFG|IWS.
- Flashing: step flashing, counter-flashing, pipe boots. Where a roof meets a wall, code requires the transition to be flashed so water can't get behind it, and manufacturer installation instructions call for new flashing when the surrounding roofing is replaced. Scopes commonly say "reuse existing," which fails when the flashing is nailed under the courses being torn off. Xactimate codes include RFG|STPF (step flashing) and RFG|FLPIPE (pipe flashing).
- Ventilation. IRC R806.1 addresses attic ventilation; the vent-area ratio requirements sit in the R806 series (the specific subdivision varies by edition). Ventilation lines get missed when the scope is priced as a materials swap instead of a system. Xactimate codes include RFG|VENTT and related vent lines.
- Tear-off, decking, and the things mounted on the roof. Second-layer tear-off is undercounted when the field inspection counted layers from the ground, and decking condition can't be confirmed until tear-off. Satellite dishes, solar attachments, HVAC condensers, and gutter guards all have to come off and go back on, each as its own line. Commonly flagged: RFG|TEARX, decking and re-nail lines, and detach and reset items.
- Gutters on re-roofs. Replacing drip edge and the roof perimeter frequently involves the gutter line: detach and reset, or replacement when matching fails. Xactimate code: SFG|GUTA. On many scopes the gutter work simply never appears.
- Code-required items per edition. Permit and inspection fees, ice-barrier extents, ventilation ratios, fastener schedules: anything your jurisdiction's adopted edition requires that the scope predates. These are the lines that need the ZIP-to-edition lookup to get right.
What actually goes missing, measured
These categories are not a hunch. The claim scopes processed through ESXPress repeat the same story (as of 2026): edge metal and the accessories around the main assembly lead the omissions, and the field shingles almost never go missing. The supplement appeal guide carries the full measured list with counts and citations, and About the Data explains what we publish and what we don't.
How contractors verify a scope for completeness
Verification is a repeatable process. Run the same sequence on every file and you will know whether you have the documentation or not.
- Get the itemized estimate, not the summary check. You're entitled to the full line-item document. Work from it, not from the total.
- Read the scope as an assembly list. Tear-off, underlayment, edge metal, flashing, ventilation, accessories, disposal: walk the assembly component by component and mark what is present, absent, or ambiguous. The missing items cluster in the transitions and the perimeter.
- Reconcile quantities against your own measurement. Square count, eave and rake lengths, ridge and hip lengths, penetration count. An undercounted quantity is a missing item wearing a different costume.
- Check the condition-driven lines. Decking, existing flashing, gutter condition: these are documented from the roof, not from imagery. If it was found on the roof, it needs a line and a photo.
- Apply the local code layer last. Resolve the property's adopted edition and climate zone, then walk the code-driven requirements: drip edge, ice barrier, ventilation, fastener schedule, permits.
- Submit what you found as a documented supplement, and do it early. Before tear-off when possible. Each requested line should carry its citation and photos: that is what turns "add this" into an approval. The insurance supplement guide walks the full workflow, and the F9 notes guide covers the note-writing that supports it.
The discipline matters more than the size of any single item. A drip edge line is modest on its own; so is a pair of pipe boots. Together they are the difference between a scope that funds the job and one that leaves you absorbing the difference. Verification exists so you're never guessing which kind of file you're holding.
What ESXPress's Completeness Advisor does, and its limits
When you convert a carrier PDF to ESX format with ESXPress, the Completeness Advisor runs against your converted scope automatically. It checks the scope against a 93-rule set covering construction, code, and supplemental items: roofing, framing, plumbing, water damage, drywall, painting, demolition, electrical, cleaning, appliances and fixtures, siding and gutters, HVAC, windows, and skylights. Every suggestion it returns carries three things: a real Xactimate SEL code checked against the code reference, a plain-English explanation of why the item belongs, and the authority behind it, which is an IRC section, an IICRC standard like S500 for water losses, or manufacturer installation instructions. The full product walkthrough covers how the rules were built.
The limits are deliberate. The Advisor never changes your estimate, totals, or line quantities on its own: you review each suggestion and click Add on what applies to your job. It does not invent codes. When a line item can't be resolved confidently against the reference, it keeps the PDF price and flags it for your attention rather than guessing. It does not replace your judgment, and it does not guarantee a carrier approves anything. Treat every suggestion as a lead for your review.
A supplement is a negotiation, and every unsupported line item weakens the ones around it. An estimator who understands why a line exists, because the citation is right there, writes a better supplement than one who clicks "accept all" on a tool that silently rewrites the total. The Advisor's job is to make sure the scope you're reviewing is the whole picture before you decide what to do about it.
Start with a free conversion
The fastest way to see this process on your own files: convert one carrier PDF and read the completeness report. Start free: 5 conversions a month, no card required, and your first conversion takes about two minutes.
To go deeper first: browse the Xactimate code lookup for the SEL codes behind any suggestion, validate any file in your browser with the free ESX validator, and read The 93 Missing Line Items for the regional-code mechanics.