How to start a roofing business in the UK: a practical guide

Every roofer knows the phone goes mad the morning after a storm. Slipped tiles, a flapping bit of felt, water through a bedroom ceiling. If you're thinking about going it alone, that's the moment you want people ringing you rather than the firm you used to work for.

This guide covers how to start a roofing business in the UK: skills and cards, the working at height rules, scaffolding, CompetentRoofer and the NFRC, registering the business, insurance, pricing and getting your first customers. The legal and safety points are checked against the HSE, gov.uk and the organisations themselves as of October 2026, with links so you can read them yourself.

I'm not a roofer, and I don't go up ladders if I can help it. I build websites and do SEO for trades, including roofers, so the getting-found part is where my opinions come in.

What kind of roofing business are you starting?

Roofing covers some very different work, and each needs different kit, insurance and customers:

• Repairs and maintenance. Slipped tiles, ridge and verge work, leaks, chimney flashings. Quick jobs, high volume, lots of call-outs.
• Re-roofs. Bigger tickets, scaffolding, a crew and building regulations.
• Flat roofing. Felt, EPDM rubber or GRP fibreglass. Each system has its own training, and torch-on felt brings heat into the insurance conversation.
• Fascias, soffits and guttering. Often bolted on to the above, and steady work in its own right.
• Lead and heritage work. Specialist, skilled and well paid, with a smaller pool of customers.
• Subcontracting for builders. Steady work without chasing customers, but under CIS and on someone else's terms.

Skills, qualifications and CSCS cards

There's no licence to be a roofer in the UK, which is exactly why homeowners worry about cowboys and why proof of competence sells. The recognised route is an NVQ in your roofing occupation, such as roof slating and tiling, usually through an apprenticeship or on-site assessment.

If you'll work on building sites or for main contractors, you'll need a CSCS card. It isn't a legal requirement, but without the right card you can be turned away at the gate. You need to have passed the CITB Health, Safety and Environment test within the last two years, and the card application fee is £36 (CSCS).

Asbestos awareness training is the other one I'd sort early. Roofers come across old cement sheet roofs, soffits and garage roofs all the time, and anyone who might disturb asbestos at work is expected to be trained to recognise it and know when to stop.

Working at height: the rules that matter most

Falls from height kill people in construction every year, and roofing is right in the middle of it. The Work at Height Regulations 2005 say the work must be properly planned and supervised, carried out by competent people, and done with the right equipment for the job, after the risks have been assessed (HSE). Short, simple jobs need less planning than a full re-roof, but every job needs some.

In practice, for a small roofing business, that means:

• Avoiding work at height where you can, and where you can't, using equipment that stops falls (scaffold, edge protection, towers) before kit that only limits them (nets, fall arrest lines).
• Treating rooflights, old cement sheets and anything you're not sure of as fragile until you know otherwise.
• Ladders for short, simple jobs only, set up properly and tied or footed.
• Writing down your risk assessment and method for each job, even if it's one page. It's what an insurer or the HSE will ask for if something goes wrong.

Scaffolding

Most small roofing firms hire scaffolding rather than erect it themselves, and that's usually the right call. Scaffold and towers have to be put up by trained, competent people and, for construction work where someone could fall two metres or more, inspected after they're put up, at least every seven days and after anything that could have affected them, like high winds, with the results recorded. If the scaffold goes on the pavement or road, the council will need to license it, and a good scaffolder normally handles that application.

Check the scaffolder's own insurance, agree who inspects it, and build the scaffold cost into your quote clearly. Customers are often surprised by it, so explaining it upfront saves an awkward conversation later.

CDM, building regulations and CompetentRoofer

The CDM Regulations 2015 apply on homeowner jobs as well. If you're the only contractor, the client's duties pass to you on top of your own, which mostly means planning the job safely and having a construction phase plan proportionate to the job (HSE).

Replacing a roof covering can also be building work that has to meet the Building Regulations, including insulation requirements once enough of the roof is being renewed. You either go through building control, or you join a government-authorised competent person scheme and self-certify. For replacing roof coverings on pitched and flat roofs, the authorised schemes are CompetentRoofer and NAPIT (gov.uk).

CompetentRoofer is open to all roofing contractors. Applicants are audited and inspected before acceptance and inspected regularly after, and notified work comes with an insurance-backed guarantee for the customer. For a roofer doing re-roofs, it means no separate building control application for the customer, and paperwork they'll want when they sell the house.

The NFRC and other memberships

The National Federation of Roofing Contractors is the UK's largest roofing trade association. Contractor members are inspected before joining and then every three years, have their financial standing reviewed, and must show employers' and public liability cover (NFRC). The trade application fee is £250 plus VAT, non-refundable, with the annual fee discussed during the application (NFRC).

Is it worth it on day one? Probably not until you've got a body of work to be inspected. But as a goal for year one or two, membership gives a nervous homeowner a reason to trust a roofing company they've never heard of, and that's worth a lot in a trade with a cowboy reputation.

Registering your roofing business

Most roofers start as sole traders and register for Self Assessment with HMRC once they earn over £1,000 in a tax year, by 5 October after the end of the tax year they started (gov.uk). A limited company costs £100 to register online, with directors verifying their identity through GOV.UK One Login. Which suits you depends on your profits and plans, so get an accountant to run the numbers both ways.

Three tax points that matter for roofers, as of October 2026:

• CIS. Sub for a builder and they'll deduct 20% from your payments if you're registered for the Construction Industry Scheme, or 30% if you're not (gov.uk). Register before your first invoice.
• VAT. Registration is compulsory once taxable turnover passes £90,000 in a rolling 12 months (gov.uk). Materials and scaffold in your prices count towards that, so a busy re-roofing firm can hit it sooner than expected.
• Making Tax Digital. Sole traders with qualifying income (turnover, not profit) over £50,000 have used it since April 2026, falling to £30,000 in April 2027 and £20,000 in April 2028.

Insurance for roofers

• Public liability. Not a legal requirement, but nobody sensible lets a roofer start without it. Think a tile through a car windscreen or water damage after a storm sheet blows off overnight.
• Heat work. If you'll use a torch on felt, tell your insurer. Hot works are often treated separately, and you don't want to find out it was excluded after a fire.
• Employers' liability. A legal requirement once you employ anyone, labourers included: at least £5 million of cover, with fines of £2,500 for every day you're not properly insured (gov.uk).
• Contract works, tools and van. Cover for the job in progress, the kit and business use of the van.

Waste

Old tiles, felt, battens and timber are construction and demolition waste, so carrying them in England means upper tier waste carrier registration, even when it's waste from your own job. As of October 2026 that costs £191.02 and lasts three years, with renewal at £130.25 (gov.uk). Asbestos is a different matter entirely: it's hazardous waste with its own rules, so find out how you'll deal with it before you quote any job where it might turn up.

Van, ladders and tools

A roofer's van does a lot of heavy lifting: ladders and a roof ladder on top, slates, tiles, lead and a full kit inside. Get a roof rack and ladder clamps that lock, because ladders are one of the first things to go missing. Buy good ladders and look after them, and hire anything you'd only use a few times a year, like a cherry picker for a tricky chimney or a tile cutter for a one-off job.

A used van in decent nick is fine to start with. Keep it tidy and get it lettered, because a clean, well-signed van parked outside a job looks like a proper roofing company to every neighbour who walks past.

Pricing roofing work

Roofing has more hidden costs than most trades, and new roofers tend to forget at least one of them. Every quote should account for:

• Access: scaffold, towers or a cherry picker, and any licence fees.
• Materials, plus a markup for collecting and handling them.
• Labour for the whole crew, for realistic days.
• Weather. You'll lose days to rain and wind, so build them into your day rate rather than eating them.
• Waste: skips, tip fees and your own time.
• A contingency for rotten timbers or what you find under the old covering.

For repairs, set a minimum charge that covers getting the ladders off the van and the drive there. For re-roofs, take a deposit or stage payments so you're not funding the materials yourself, and put everything in a written quote. If you agree the job in the customer's home, they usually get 14 days to cancel under the Consumer Contracts Regulations, and you must tell them that in writing.

Getting your first roofing customers

Roofing has a trust problem. Every homeowner has heard a story about someone knocking on the door, pointing at a "loose tile" and charging thousands. Your marketing job is to look like the opposite of that, and it starts with the basics.

A name that looks established

Your name goes on the van, the scaffold banner and the quote. It needs to read clearly from the street and not sound like a rogue trader. My guide to roofing company names and trade business name ideas covers the checks.

A Google Business Profile

When water's coming through the ceiling, people search "roofer near me" and ring whoever's on the map. Here's how to set up a Google Business Profile properly. Add before and after photos from every job, especially from up on the roof, because customers can't see their own roof and love seeing what you found.

A website that answers the nerves

Roofing jobs are expensive and customers can't easily check your work, so they check you. A simple website with your services, the areas you cover, real photos, your memberships and what your guarantee covers does a lot of persuading. If you're unsure, read do I need a website. If you're ready, see how I build websites for roofers.

Be ready before the weather turns

Storm season is when new roofers can win a year's worth of customers, but only if those customers can find and reach you. Have your Google profile live, your phone answered (or a missed call followed up within minutes), and a simple way to book an inspection. Then do the job well, because the emergency repair customer is your re-roof customer in three years.

Reviews, and owning your leads

Ask every customer for a Google review, and text them the link before you've loaded the van. Lead sites can fill gaps early on, but you're usually sharing those leads with other roofers, so read should you buy roofing leads or build your own before you sign up to anything. Longer term, ranking on Google for "roofers in Doncaster" is where SEO for roofers comes in, and there's more on my marketing for roofers page.

Questions about starting a roofing business

Do you need a licence to be a roofer in the UK?

No. There's no licence, but you must follow the Work at Height and CDM regulations, the Building Regulations apply to re-roofing, and you'll need upper tier waste carrier registration to carry roofing waste.

How much does it cost to start a roofing business?

If you already have the skills and some tools, the big costs are a van, ladders and roof ladders, insurance and access equipment. Scaffolding is usually hired per job and passed on in the price. Registration fees are small by comparison: £100 for a limited company online and £191.02 for upper tier waste carrier registration as of October 2026.

Do I have to join the NFRC or CompetentRoofer?

Neither is compulsory. CompetentRoofer (or NAPIT) lets you self-certify re-roofing instead of going through building control, and the NFRC gives customers an inspected, vetted name to trust. Both are worth working towards.

Where I come in

I'd be no use on a roof. What I can do is make sure the people searching for a roofer in your area find you, see your work and trust you enough to ring. I build trade websites personally: £497 one-off, no VAT, no deposit, and you see your homepage design within 24 hours of the set-up call before you pay anything. Hosting and your web address are £20 a month, paid by you.

If you're starting out, get your free website mockup. And if your Google profile will do the job for now, I'll tell you that.