Gaining access to root directory

I had my blog set up by a webmaster who uses bitserve as a hosting company. I want to get into my root directory to perform some operations (like making it google friendly). Do I have to gain access to the host company account to get to the root directory. Also once I’m there, can I make a copy of the directory on my computer for easier access? I did look at the documentation on this, but it was pretty confusing for me.