Roof renovation is short work with high stakes: the moment the covering comes off, every floor beneath is at the mercy of the weather. The genre's claims statistics aren't dominated by complicated cases, but by one simple scenario: an overnight downpour, inadequate temporary covering, soaked floor slabs. Good site discipline guards against this – and so does properly sized cover.
- With the roof opened up, the whole building is exposed – the loss can be several times the value of the work itself.
- The main roles go to existing-property cover and discipline around temporary covering.
- In an occupied building, loss suffered by residents or tenants is a liability matter.
- Scaffolding and work at height form the second risk category.
The law of the open roof
The basic rule of roof work: only ever open up as much surface as can be closed the same day – and finish every working day in a closeable state. The insurer's expectation is typically exactly that: properly sized, secured temporary covering (not just "a sheet of tarpaulin thrown over it"), keeping an eye on the forecast, and closing up immediately if a storm warning is issued. In a disputed claim, the first question is always the quality of the temporary protection: the storm article.
Whose loss is the water ingress?
If the downpour soaks the client's building, that's a matter for the existing property extension – on roof work, this is practically a switch you can't leave off. If the loss hits the residents' property in a block of flats, or tenants' property in an office building, that's already a liability matter. Your own materials and completed work sit under contract works. A single downpour can set all three covers in motion – which is exactly why all three need to be properly sized.
The second category: scaffolding and height
The other risk category in roof work is work at height: the scaffolding (temporary-works article), falling materials and tools, and protecting pavements and entrances. Thrown-down debris and falling tiles are the classic liability losses. Health and safety obligations are shared between the contractor and the client under whatever regulations are in force at the time (appointing a coordinator, a health and safety plan, prior notification) – from an insurance point of view, what matters is that the safety netting, the debris chute and the sealed-off safety zone are in place and documented as such.
Short job – does it need cover?
Roof renovation is typically the kind of "small job" where the question of needing project cover comes up. The frank answer: the risk doesn't scale with the length of the job, but with the value beneath it – a few weeks over an occupied block of flats or an operating plant is still high stakes. For weighing it up: small-project article; for a company that re-roofs one job after another, an annual open cover is the convenient route.
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