Xactimate Shrink Wrap Codes: RFG SHRINK, RFG POLYE Billing Guide

Why Shrink Wrap Needs Its Own Line Items (Not a Tarp Code)

Heat-welded shrink wrap and a blue tarp are not the same scope of work, and Xactimate estimates should reflect that difference. Shrink wrap creates a monolithic, seam-welded membrane requiring specialized equipment, trained labor, and structural framing support, distinct from tarp-rate pricing. Coding it correctly protects contractor margins and keeps the claim file defensible under carrier review.

The confusion starts with pricing databases that were built decades ago around tarps, plywood, and standard roofing repairs. Shrink wrap entered the emergency mitigation space more recently, and adjusters who haven’t seen it on a claim before sometimes default to the closest thing they recognize: a tarp code priced at a fraction of the actual labor and material cost. That default costs contractors real money and, worse, sets a precedent on the claim file that makes the next invoice harder to justify.

The fix isn’t arguing that shrink wrap “should” cost more. It’s showing, line by line, that the codes already exist to price it correctly. Xactimate’s roofing category (RFG), maintained by Verisk/Xactware, includes codes built specifically for polyethylene and heat-applied protective systems. Contractors who use them, and adjusters who recognize them, avoid the tarp-rate downgrade entirely.

The Core Xactimate Codes for Emergency Shrink Wrap

Two codes carry most shrink wrap estimates: RFG SHRINK for heat-applied shrink wrap roofing systems, and RFG POLYE for polyethylene protective covering material and installation labor. Depending on the regional price list version, contractors may use one or both, priced by square foot or square depending on the list.

RFG SHRINK: Heat-Applied Shrink Wrap Roofing Systems

RFG SHRINK accounts for the labor intensity of heat-welding seams into a single watertight barrier rather than overlapping panels held down by rope and sandbags. Unit basis varies by price list version, some structure pricing per square foot, others per roofing square (100 SF), so confirm which convention the current regional list uses before quantities go into the estimate (Storm Wrappers, “Xactimate Codes for Emergency Shrink Wrap: A Billing Guide”).

RFG POLYE: Polyethylene Protective Covering

RFG POLYE is the workhorse code for the film itself plus installation labor, priced per square foot of coverage area. It applies broadly across residential and light commercial jobs and is often the primary line item when the scope doesn’t require the full heat-welded system captured under RFG SHRINK (Storm Wrappers, “Getting Paid for Shrink Wrap Jobs”). On many jobs, both codes appear together: RFG POLYE for the covering, RFG SHRINK for the welded-seam labor that makes it a sealed system rather than loose sheeting.

Supporting Line Items Contractors Commonly Miss

Beyond the two core wrap codes, several supporting line items reflect real, billable scope that often gets absorbed into a single lump-sum number instead of itemized separately. Missing these is the single most common reason shrink wrap estimates come in short.

RFG TMPBRD covers the temporary structural support and batten framing that anchors the wrap to the building, billed per linear foot. RFG BOARD covers decking boards used in the protective framework or scaffolding beneath the wrap system. CONT DEBR captures debris removal that has to happen before the wrap goes on, especially after wind or storm damage leaves loose material on the roof deck (Storm Wrappers, “Getting Paid for Shrink Wrap Jobs”).

LABOR MISC deserves its own scrutiny. It’s the code for work that falls outside the standard line items entirely: night or weekend emergency response, hazardous access requiring fall protection or specialized lift equipment, and similar conditions that don’t have a dedicated code but are clearly billable. Equipment setup, teardown, and ongoing monitoring (lifts, scaffolds, propane heaters for the heat-welding process) belong in the estimate as distinct items rather than folded into the wrap material cost. On larger commercial jobs, project management should appear as its own hourly line item, and final cleaning of the work area is a legitimate closing task, not an assumed freebie. Overhead and profit, typically structured at 10 percent and 10 percent, applies where job complexity and coordination warrant it under standard Xactimate estimating discipline as outlined by Xactware’s official product documentation.

Documentation That Gets Shrink Wrap Claims Paid

Carriers approve shrink wrap claims faster when the estimate is backed by a complete documentation package, not just line item codes. That package includes dated photos, written scope with material specs, sketches confirming measurements, and peril verification tying the damage to the covered event.

Xactimate’s own estimating discipline, outlined in its standard cheat-sheet workflow published by Xactware, follows seven steps: detailed inspection, sketches and photos, selection of appropriate line items, quantity determination, application of current unit costs, review, and documentation of special conditions. That last step matters most for shrink wrap work. Regional price lists and current market conditions shape unit costs, and shrink wrap labor rates can differ meaningfully from standard tarp or roofing repair rates in the same region. Contractors who note unusual circumstances directly in the estimate narrative, high-rise access, complex scaffolding requirements, hazardous roof pitch, give the adjuster reviewing the file the context needed to approve the higher unit cost without a second round of questions.

Skipping this narrative step is where otherwise well-coded estimates stall. A carrier reviewer who sees RFG SHRINK at a rate above their internal benchmark, with no explanation of why the job required a lift, overnight crew, or scaffolding, is more likely to flag it than approve it on first pass.

Addressing Adjuster Pushback: “There’s No Shrink Wrap Code in Xactimate”

Some adjusters push back on shrink wrap estimates by claiming Xactimate has no dedicated code for the work. The absence of one single universal code doesn’t mean the work can’t be priced accurately. RFG SHRINK, RFG POLYE, and their supporting line items combine into a defensible, itemized estimate that carriers can review and approve.

This objection shows up in contractor forums as well as claim files. One commenter on a Reddit thread dedicated to Xactimate estimating stated flatly, “No, there is no shrink wrap for the roof on Xactimate,” and went further to suggest shrink-wrap roofing could be misused or damaging (r/Xactimate, “Shrink Wrap Roof” thread). The correction isn’t a debate about whether the poster is right or wrong about fraud risk elsewhere in the industry. It’s a factual point: the codes exist, they’re published in current price lists, and the estimating discipline that supports them is the same discipline used across every other roofing and mitigation category.

The bundling problem isn’t unique to shrink wrap. C&R Magazine’s coverage of the contents code CPS BXMSE, which bundles “Evaluate, Box, Paper, Tape” into a single line item combining evaluation labor with materials, makes the broader point clearly: when Xactimate coding lumps distinct tasks into one code, reviewers lose visibility into what they’re actually paying for, and contractors lose the ability to justify complexity-driven cost increases (C&R Magazine, “A Troublesome Contents Line Item,” March 22, 2025). Shrink wrap estimating avoids that trap precisely because it splits material, weld-seam labor, framing, and debris removal into separate, auditable codes.

A Sample Line-Item Breakdown for a Commercial Roof Wrap

A hypothetical 8,000-square-foot commercial roof wrap after wind damage illustrates how the codes stack into a complete estimate. Each phase of the job maps to a specific line item rather than a single bundled charge, giving both contractor and adjuster a clear audit trail.

Notice what’s absent from this table: a single generic “tarp/poly cover” line item standing in for the entire job. That’s the difference a properly coded estimate makes visible on paper, and it’s the difference that holds up when a carrier’s desk adjuster reviews the file months later.

Getting It Right the First Time: Working With Storm Wrappers

Storm Wrappers builds Xactimate-formatted documentation into every emergency shrink wrap job from the first site visit, not as an afterthought once a carrier pushes back. That means pre- and post-install photo sets, written scope with film specs, and itemized invoicing aligned to current RFG codes are standard practice, not a special request.

For adjusters and contractors evaluating a shrink wrap estimate for the first time, that consistency matters more than any single line item. A crew that documents scope the same way on every job, nationwide, gives carrier reviewers a predictable format to check against rather than a new invoice style to interpret each time.