Do roof repairs come with a guarantee?

A guarantee on a repair is normally a promise about workmanship: that the fixings hold, the joints are sealed and the repair does not fail through a fault in how it was done. It covers the area that was worked on, not the roof as a whole. If a roofer re-bedded your ridge and a slate fails three metres away, that is a different matter, even though water might arrive in the same room.

There are three things worth separating. Workmanship is the quality of the labour. Materials may be covered by a manufacturer's warranty, which belongs to the product rather than to the roofer and usually has its own conditions. A lifespan, such as the typical figures published for slate or clay, is not a guarantee of any kind.

A roofer who replaces a whole slope can see and stand behind every part of it. A patch is different. It sits within an older covering whose condition the roofer does not control: neighbouring tiles may be brittle, battens may be soft and the underlay may be tired. A new tile hung beside a worn one depends on the battens and nails around it.

For that reason a guarantee on a patch often covers only the repaired area, for a shorter term, or comes with conditions. That is a reasonable position, if it is stated clearly. What matters is that it is stated at all, in plain words, before you agree to the work.

Put these questions to any firm, in writing if you can.

• Which firm stands behind the work, and is the promise on paper or spoken only?
• How long does it last, and when does it start?
• What exactly does it cover: the repaired area, the materials, the labour, or all three?
• What is excluded, for example storm damage, lack of maintenance or work by someone else afterwards?
• What must you do to make a claim, and how quickly will the roofer respond?
• If you sell the house, can the paperwork be handed to the buyer?
• Who do you contact, by phone and in writing, if something goes wrong?

The answers matter more than the headline number of years. A ten-year promise with a long list of exclusions can be worth less than a shorter one that says plainly what it covers. Ours is a workmanship guarantee, and we describe it by that name and nothing grander.

Manufacturer warranties on materials

New tiles, membranes and lead may come with a warranty from the maker. That is a promise about the product, usually conditional on correct installation and sometimes on registering the purchase. It does not replace the roofer's own guarantee of the labour, so ask for both, and ask which one answers if a fault could be either.

A repair guarantee is not a substitute for buildings insurance. If a storm blows off tiles next to the repair, the cause is the weather, not the workmanship, and the claim belongs with your insurer. Our guide to snow damage to a roof shows the kind of event that falls outside a workmanship promise. Equally, a guarantee does not cover wear that was already present when the repair was made.

It also helps to ask what counts as maintenance. Some guarantees assume that gutters stay clear and moss is kept off, and may be affected if a blocked outlet sends water over the fascia. That is a fair condition, but it should be written in the terms and not raised for the first time when something goes wrong.

Keep the invoice, the written terms and a copy of the survey notes, with the photographs from the visit. Without them, proving that a fault is within the guaranteed area is much harder, and a set of before and after pictures usually settles a dispute fast.

Be wary of guarantees that sound generous but cannot be read. A sticker, a phrase on an invoice or a promise made on the doorstep is hard to rely on years later. A page of terms with the date, the address, the work carried out and a contact is far more useful, and a good firm will provide it without being pushed.

Timing matters too. A guarantee often asks that you report a fault within a reasonable time of finding it, and that you let the roofer return to look before anyone else touches the repair. If a second firm lifts the same tiles, the original promise may fall away, because nobody can say what was disturbed. Keep a note of the date you first saw water.

Start by checking that the leak is coming from the repaired spot and not from a second source. Our page on a roof that is still leaking after a repair explains how to tell, and what to say. Then contact the firm promptly in writing, with photographs, dates and the weather. Good practice is to allow them a return visit to inspect.

Our own position is simple: our workmanship guarantee lasts 10 years, we put it in writing, and if a repair fails we would expect to be called back to it. For advice on who to tell about a leak, and in what order, read reporting a roof leak. Our roof repairs page lists the jobs we cover, and you can ring 01453 933613.