How to start a roofing business in the UK

You don't need a licence to start a roofing business in the UK. That surprises customers as much as anyone. NFRC, citing Citizens Advice's 2026 research, says 53% believed all traders must be licensed or weren't sure.

No licence doesn't mean no rules. Roofing carries some of the heaviest safety duties of any small trade, and you start out with a reputation problem you didn't create. Citizens Advice logged 8,985 complaints about roofing, roof sealing and chimney repairs in the year to August 2026, and roofing was the top scam its consumer service saw.

So your first job is to be safe and insured. Your second is to prove you're the real thing.

Step 1: Know the safety law

HSE says almost one in five construction deaths involve roof work, and many of those are people repairing or cleaning roofs rather than specialist roofers. In 2025/26, provisional HSE figures show 126 workers killed in Great Britain, 25 of them in construction, and 31 deaths from falls from height across all sectors.

Work at Height Regulations 2005

HSE says roof work is highly dangerous even if a job only takes a few minutes. In practice:

• Plan every job, however small. I'd write a short method statement each time.
• Use scaffold with edge protection for almost all domestic roof work. On a terrace, that means front and back.
• Use ladders for access. Working from one is a last resort.
• Treat every roof as fragile until a competent person says it isn't. Don't assume any sheeted roof will bear your weight.
• Protect rooflights. HSE singles out fragile ones.

Rooflights aren't a theoretical risk. In August 2026 a construction company was fined £60,000 plus £6,070 costs after a worker fell through an open, unprotected roof light on a domestic roof in Fulham and was seriously injured.

CDM 2015

CDM applies to domestic work too. If you're the only contractor for a homeowner, you take on the client's duties as well as your own. HSE says that shouldn't mean doing more than you'd normally do to comply with health and safety law. You need a construction phase plan before you set up the site, and welfare facilities, and you must make sure the client knows their duties. Keep the plan short and specific to the job.

You only have to notify HSE on an F10 if a job's expected to last more than 30 days with more than 20 workers at once, or to exceed 500 person-days. Few domestic jobs come near that.

Asbestos and bats

Two things can stop a roofing job dead.

• Asbestos cement roof sheeting is notifiable, though it needs no licence, where the material will be substantially damaged or broken up, HSE says. Other asbestos can need a licensed contractor. Don't touch any of it until you've read HSE's guidance on which category applies.
• All UK bats and their roosts are protected. If you find bats during work, stop in that area and get advice. The National Bat Helpline is 0345 1300 228. Historic England says work may need a licence from Natural England.

Step 2: Check your qualifications

There's no legal qualification for roofing that I could find. A training provider says the same, though it cites no law. Customers, main contractors and schemes all want proof anyway.

• A Level 2 NVQ in Roofing Occupations suits people starting out, and Level 3 suits experienced or supervising roofers.
• If a site asks for a CSCS card, a skilled worker card usually needs at least a Level 2 NVQ.
• The Roofer apprenticeship in England is level 2. One live listing shows a course of 1 year 9 months. I couldn't open the official standard, so check the current length.

Step 3: Decide on schemes

This is where you can pull away from the cowboys. All of these are voluntary.

A new business may not qualify for NFRC straight away, given the accounts it usually wants. I'd aim for it in year two. Don't use any logo until you've earned it. The ASA has ruled on logos in a roofing firm's advertising, and NFRC says it investigates misuse.

Building regulations on a re-roof

In England, re-covering more than half of a roof, or renovating more than a quarter of the building's envelope, generally brings in building regulations and a thermal upgrade. Councils word this slightly differently, so check yours. Replacing a flat roof's waterproofing membrane counts as renovation, while one roofing manufacturer says an overlay counts as a repair. Wales and Scotland have their own rules.

If you're not in a competent person scheme, the customer needs a building control application. Put that on the quote. Conservation areas and listed buildings need checking too, especially if the material's changing.

Step 4: Choose sole trader or limited company

I'd lean towards a limited company sooner in roofing than in most trades, because the jobs are big and the risks are serious. Customers can also check you at Companies House, and Trading Standards tells them to. That's my view, and it's a question for your accountant.

Step 5: Sort out tax

• Self Assessment: you must register once you earn over £1,000 in a tax year.
• VAT: the line is £90,000 of taxable turnover in 12 months. Materials count, so full roofs get you there fast. Our pricing guide shows the sum.
• Making Tax Digital: sole traders over £50,000 joined in April 2026. The line drops to £30,000 in April 2027 and £20,000 in April 2028, measured on income before costs.

The Construction Industry Scheme

CIS decides what lands in your bank account the moment you take subcontract work.

• Householders aren't contractors, so a job for a homeowner is outside CIS.
• If you work for a builder or main contractor, you should register. They deduct 20% if you're registered, and 30% if you're not.
• If you pay other roofers for construction work, you're a contractor yourself and must register.
• Gross payment status means no deductions, but it got riskier in April 2026. Accountants Saffery report that HMRC can now cancel it immediately under a "knew or should have known" test, with a wait of up to five years to reapply. Ask your accountant what that means for your supply chain.

Step 6: Get insured properly

Public liability may not be a legal requirement, says Simply Business, but I'd expect customers and schemes to ask for it. Don't just buy the cheapest. Check three things.

Height: Trade2Base says general trade policies often exclude work above about 3 metres or two storeys, and some roofing policies cap at 10 metres or three storeys. Check yours against your real jobs.

Hot works: this is the big one. On 26 October 2026 the High Court ruled on a preliminary issue in a case between Attleys Roofing and its insurer, QBE. The dispute follows a fire at a school in Newbury in April 2023, where oxyacetylene was being used on lead detailing. According to trade press, the court held that the policy's hot works condition was absolute, so even an innocent failure to comply could defeat the cover. Whether the condition was breached, and whether that caused anything, is still undecided. The precautions listed included clearing combustibles within six metres, a fire watch, and monitoring for an hour after finishing. I've read the press report, not the judgment.

My advice is simple. Read your hot works condition before you buy, treat every line as mandatory, and record each fire watch with a time and a name. NFRC sells a guidance note on this, GN76, which is free to members.

Employers' liability: you need at least £5 million of cover from your first employee, and fines reach £2,500 a day without it. A close family member can be an exception. Ask your insurer how it treats a regular mate on day rate, because that's the grey area in roofing.

Simply Business says 10% of its roofer customers paid £346.04 or less a year, between April and September 2026. Trade2Base suggests £500 to £1,500 for a sole trader on £2 million. I'd expect more with staff or hot works.

Step 7: Register as a waste carrier

If your business moves waste, you must register. GOV.UK puts a new registration at £191.02, and says it's usually free if you only carry waste you produce yourself. From memory, construction and demolition waste can be treated differently, and the page doesn't cover it, so ring the Environment Agency on 03708 506 506 before you assume it's free. Outside England, check your own regulator.

Step 8: Set up how customers reach you

You can't answer a phone on a scaffold with a slate in each hand, and voicemail won't save you. In YouGov's June 2026 poll for Answer4u, 37% of UK adults said they'd give up on a business call within 60 seconds, and 6% would leave a message.

A new roofer also has no name to fall back on. So get these sorted before you spend on adverts:

1. A dedicated work number, kept apart from your personal phone.
2. An automatic text when you miss a call.
3. A Google Business Profile showing your true area, your hours and your first jobs.
4. A plain website giving your full name, business address, insurance and any memberships you hold.
5. A habit of asking every customer for a review.

The wording's in our free text templates.

Step 9: Find your first customers

With no reviews yet, borrow other people's word. In Citizens Advice's 2026 survey, 36% of those who used a trader found them through someone they knew.

1. Ask local builders, loft converters, scaffolders and fascia installers what work they turn away.
2. Do your first jobs well, with before and after photos. Ask permission to use them.
3. Ask every customer for a review, not only the happy ones.
4. Add lead sites if your diary has gaps. Read lead sites or your own leads first.

Don't knock on doors, not even after a storm. 77% of suspected roofing scams reported to Citizens Advice involved doorstep tactics, and you'd be starting out looking exactly like them.

David Bell, founder of Real Business Systems

David helps small UK businesses get found, answer every enquiry and keep customers coming back. We sell some of the services mentioned here, and we say so where they come up.