Roof Survey London

What a roof survey records

The survey is intended to provide a dated record of every part of the roof that can be seen, with the defects identified and explained. On most roofs that covers the following.

• Roof coverings: slipped, cracked or missing slates and tiles, worn or split felt and membrane, corroded or delaminated sheeting.
• Flashings and junctions at chimneys, parapets, abutments and changes in level, where most leaks begin.
• Chimney stacks: pointing, flaunching, pots, lead trays and lean.
• Rainwater goods: blocked or broken gutters, failed joints, missing downpipe sections and staining below overflows.
• Parapet, valley and box gutters hidden behind parapets and out of sight from the ground.
• Rooflights, vents, aerials, plant and other penetrations through the covering.
• Moss, vegetation, ponding water and debris that hold moisture against the covering.

Roof types and their common defects

Each roof type fails in its own way, and the survey is read with that in mind. The building stock across London and the South East falls into a few groups.

Listed buildings and conservation areas add a further constraint. Repairs must match the original materials, so the cost of any defect is higher. In central London, Bath and the market towns of the West Country, the survey is also used to specify repairs before listed building consent is sought.

How the survey is done

Scaffold to a terraced house commonly costs more than the survey itself, and a ladder shows only the eaves. A drone records the whole roof in one visit, including the valley and parapet gutters that cannot be seen from the ground or from a neighbouring window. The practice is fully qualified and insured for drone flights, and each flight complies with the legal requirements.

1. A short discussion of the property, the concern and any constraints on site.
2. A drone flight over the roof, recording every slope, gutter and junction from several angles.
3. A hands-on check of any area the images leave in doubt, where safe access exists.
4. Review of the images by the surveyor against the construction and age of the roof.
5. A written report with annotated photographs, or an image-only record where that is all that is needed.

A drone survey is not a substitute for a hands-on inspection where a covering must be lifted, timber probed or a test carried out. Where the images show a defect that needs that, the report says so and recommends the access required. Weather and light also limit the flight, so a survey may be rearranged for a clear day.

What the report contains

The level of reporting is agreed at the outset. An image-only record suits a maintenance check or an insurance file. A written report suits a purchase, a lease event or a dispute. A full report contains the following.

• Annotated photographs of each defect, keyed to a roof plan or a description of the location.
• A description of the roof construction and coverings as found.
• The condition of each element, with the defects recorded and their likely cause.
• Repairs recommended, in order of urgency, with a view on whether they are routine, planned or immediate.
• Where the survey is for a lease or a claim, cross-references to the lease or the schedule.
• A note of anything that could not be seen and any further investigation advised.

Where the survey supports a lease, the photographs are organised so that each can be tied to a specific roof element and date. That is the format used for a photographic schedule of condition, and it is the format that carries weight when a claim is disputed years later.

How much a roof survey costs

A drone roof survey of a house with an image-only record starts from a few hundred pounds. A written report with annotated photographs costs more. Large commercial roofs, sites that need permission before a flight, and surveys tied to a lease or a claim are priced on enquiry. The fee depends on the size and complexity of the roof, the level of reporting, and whether a hands-on inspection follows.

Set against that, scaffold to a house runs into four figures before any repair starts, and a roof that fails between surveys can cost tens of thousands of pounds in repairs and internal damage. On a commercial lease, the roof is often the single largest item in a dilapidations claim, and a dated survey at the start of the lease is the evidence that limits it.

When to commission a roof survey

• Before buying a house or a commercial building, so the price reflects the roof.
• At the start of a commercial lease, as part of a schedule of condition, so the tenant does not inherit an old roof as a liability.
• At the end of a lease, where the roof is often the largest item in a schedule of dilapidations.
• After a storm, to record damage for an insurance claim before repairs begin.
• When a leak cannot be traced from inside the building.
• For planned maintenance, so repairs are budgeted before a failure forces them.

For a purchase, a roof survey is often instructed after a RICS Level 3 building survey has flagged the roof but could not see it fully. For a commercial lease, it usually forms part of a schedule of condition at the start or a dilapidations instruction at the end.

Coverage

The practice is based in London and carries out roof surveys across London, Essex and the wider South East. Coverage extends west along the M4 corridor through Berkshire and Wiltshire to Bristol, Bath and the West Country. The drone roof survey service page lists every area, each with a note on the local roof types and the instructions that arise there.