Roofing Contractors Insurance
Roofing carries the highest fire exposure of any trade in construction, and it is not close. Torch on felt, hot bitumen and heat guns are used daily, directly against a building's timber structure, often above occupied premises, and the fire does not start while you are watching. It starts in a void hours after you have packed up, which is precisely why every roofing policy carries a hot works condition and why fire watch compliance decides more claims in this trade than anything else.
The second exposure is water. A roof opened up and not adequately covered before rain arrives will damage everything below it, and the resulting claim runs through plaster, decoration, flooring, contents and often a tenant's stock. Insurers know how frequently this happens, so many wordings carry conditions about how open roofs are protected overnight.
We arrange cover for roofing contractors across flat and pitched work, new build, repair and maintenance, and the two things worth being precise about are your hot works procedure and the height you actually work to.
What actually goes wrong
The exposures that produce claims in this trade, rather than a generic list.
Fire from hot works
Torch on membrane, hot bitumen and heat guns applied to a timber structure start fires in concealed voids that smoulder for hours. A fire discovered at nine in the evening on a roof last worked at four is the classic roofing claim, and the first question asked is always whether a fire watch was maintained after work ceased.
Water ingress to an open roof
Stripping a roof creates a period where the building has no weather protection. Overnight rain onto an inadequately sheeted roof damages ceilings, decoration, floors and contents across multiple rooms, and where the building is occupied it produces a business interruption claim as well.
Falls, and falls through fragile materials
Falls from and through roofs remain among the most serious accidents in construction. Fragile materials are the particular hazard: asbestos cement sheets, rooflights concealed by weathering and corroded metal decking all look walkable and are not.
Working above occupied premises
Reroofing a shop, a school or a block of flats means the people below continue their day underneath you. Dropped tools and materials, dust, and water ingress all become third party claims immediately rather than site incidents.
Storm damage claims and workmanship disputes
After every named storm, roofers receive calls from customers whose recent work has failed. Distinguishing storm damage from workmanship is contested, and insurance covers the damage caused by defective work but not the cost of correcting the work itself.
The cover we arrange
Policies are put together around how you work. Employers liability is included as standard wherever you employ anyone.
Public liability
Third party injury and property damage, including fire and water damage to the building and its contents. £5m is the practical standard for commercial roofing and £2m the minimum most domestic work now expects.
- Fire damage to the building and neighbours
- Water damage to interiors and contents
- Injury from falling tools or materials
- Limits typically £2m, £5m or £10m
Employers liability
Legally required and included as standard at £10m. On roofing the underwriting attention goes to fall protection, access equipment and competence, since falls dominate the serious injury claims.
- Legally required, £10m as standard
- Falls from and through roofs
- Labour only subcontractors
- Legal representation at inquest
Contract works
Covers your roofing work in progress and materials on site. Storm damage to a partially completed roof is the typical claim, and the section needs to reflect that the works are exposed to weather by definition.
- Roofing work in progress
- Materials and membranes on site
- Storm damage to unfinished work
- Temporary weather protection
Tools, equipment and access
Torches, gas bottles, nail guns, hoists, ladders and towers. Gas cylinder storage is a specific concern given the fire exposure, and the tools section carries the usual vehicle conditions.
- Hand tools and power tools
- Hoists, ladders and tower scaffolds
- Cover in transit and on site
- Vehicle conditions apply overnight
Personal accident
Optional but well suited to this trade, since roofing is physical, worked at height, and much of the workforce is self employed with no sick pay. Pays a benefit on injury without needing to prove anyone was at fault.
- Benefit following injury
- No fault needs to be proved
- Suits self employed roofers
- Temporary and permanent disablement
What an underwriter will ask
Having these to hand shortens the process considerably, and usually improves the terms.
- Turnover split between flat roofing, pitched roofing, and repair or maintenance
- Whether you use hot works, and which methods: torch on, hot bitumen, heat welding
- Your hot works procedure, including permits and fire watch duration
- The maximum height you work to
- Whether you work above occupied premises
- How open roofs are protected overnight and in bad weather
- Whether you handle or remove any asbestos cement sheeting
- Access arrangements: your own towers, or scaffolding by others
- Gas cylinder storage arrangements
- Five years of claims, particularly fire and water damage
What moves the premium
Where the price actually comes from, and which parts of it you can change.
Whether you use hot works
The largest single factor. Cold applied and mechanically fixed systems rate very differently from torch on. Contractors who have moved away from hot works, or who can evidence a rigorous permit and fire watch regime, see the benefit directly.
Flat or pitched
Flat roofing carries more of the fire and water exposure; pitched carries more of the fall exposure. The split between them changes the shape of the risk, so it is worth giving accurately.
Working height
Domestic housing rates differently from industrial units and multi storey commercial. Being accurate about the maximum rather than the typical avoids an argument at claim stage.
Occupied buildings
Working above trading premises or occupied flats raises the third party exposure considerably, because water and dropped objects reach people and stock immediately.
Fire and water claims history
Priced hard, because both are severe and both are largely procedural. A single fire claim followed by a documented change of procedure is treated far better than a pattern of water ingress claims.
Conditions and exclusions that catch this trade out
Terms vary between insurers, so treat these as the questions to ask rather than a description of any one policy.
Hot works conditions
The most important condition in roofing. Typically requires a written permit, combustibles cleared or protected, extinguishers immediately available, and a fire watch maintained for a set period after work stops, most commonly sixty minutes and sometimes longer. A fire claim where the fire watch was not kept is routinely declined in full, not reduced.
Open roofs left unprotected
Many wordings require that stripped roofs are made weathertight at the end of each working day, or restrict cover for water damage where they were not. Since overnight rain is the second most common roofing claim, this condition is worth reading before relying on the cover.
Height limits
Standard wordings often restrict work above a stated height. Domestic and low commercial roofing sits below it, but industrial and multi storey work may not, and exceeding an undeclared limit puts the work outside cover.
Asbestos
Asbestos cement roof sheeting is common on older industrial and agricultural buildings, and asbestos is excluded on most wordings for both liability and removal cost. Non licensed work is still work with asbestos, and the exclusion does not distinguish.
Defective workmanship itself
If a roof leaks because it was badly laid, redoing the roof is your cost. The water damage it caused to ceilings and contents is a claim. Customers frequently expect the policy to fund the remedial roofing work, and it does not.
Common questions
What insurance do roofers need in the UK?
Public liability, usually £2m as a minimum for domestic work and £5m for commercial, covering fire and water damage to the building as well as injury. Employers liability at £10m, which is a legal requirement and included as standard wherever you have anyone working under your direction. Contract works for the roof in progress and materials on site. Tools and access equipment cover. Personal accident is worth considering given how physical the work is.
What is a hot works permit and do roofers really need one?
It is a written record, completed before hot work starts, confirming that combustibles have been cleared or protected, extinguishers are to hand, and who is responsible for the fire watch afterwards. Most roofing policies make it a condition of cover rather than a suggestion. The fire watch element is the part that matters most: typically sixty minutes after work stops, sometimes longer, and a fire that starts in a void after the crew has left is exactly what it exists to catch. A fire claim where no fire watch was kept is usually declined outright.
Am I covered if rain gets in through a roof I have stripped?
Water damage to the building's interior and contents is a public liability matter and would normally be covered, but many wordings condition it on the roof having been made weathertight at the end of each working day. Sheeting properly and photographing it before you leave is both good practice and useful evidence. What is not covered is the cost of redoing your own roofing work, only the damage caused to everything below it.
Does roofers insurance cover asbestos cement sheets?
Generally not. Asbestos is excluded on most policies for liability arising from exposure and for the cost of removal or remediation, and asbestos cement sheeting is very common on older industrial, agricultural and garage roofs. Some of that work is non licensed, but the policy exclusion does not usually distinguish between licensed and non licensed. If you regularly encounter it, raise it specifically rather than assuming the ordinary policy deals with it.
A customer says a roof I fitted last year is leaking. Will my insurance pay?
Not for the roof. Insurance covers damage caused by defective work, not the cost of putting the defective work right. So if a badly laid roof lets water into a ceiling, the ceiling, decoration and damaged contents are a public liability claim, and stripping and relaying the roof is your own cost. Where a customer is claiming after a storm, the argument is usually whether the failure was storm damage or workmanship, which is why photographs at completion are worth taking.
Do I need my own insurance if I work at height on somebody else's scaffold?
Yes. The scaffolding contractor is responsible for the scaffold, and the main contractor for the site, but neither covers your liability to your own employees, which is what employers liability does and which is a legal requirement. Nor do they cover damage your work causes. In practice most contractors will not grant site access without seeing your own certificates, so it is also a commercial necessity rather than only a legal one.
Talk to somebody who knows the trade
Tell us what you actually do and we will come back to you with cover options built around it.