The short answer
In Somerset, a report about an unsafe roof reaches Somerset Building Control, whose dangerous structures service handles tiles coming loose and chimneys on the move. It sets a 90-minute target for visiting buildings it rates high risk once contact is made. Responsibility for the bill rests with the owner, who pays for making the building safe.
A neighbour, a passer-by or you may report a roof that looks unsafe. What follows depends on the risk, and the owner carries the responsibility.
What the dangerous structures service covers
Alongside its work on Building Regulations applications, Somerset Building Control, the service acting for Somerset Council, runs a dangerous structures service. Slipping roof tiles and leaning chimney stacks are the sort of thing the service lists as its own examples. A gale does exactly that to a roof with tired fixings, a worn ridge or a chimney whose mortar has weathered away.
Who can make a report?
Anybody. You might ring because the stack on your own house has begun to lean, or a neighbour might call about slates sliding off the house next door towards a footpath. The team answers on 0300 303 7790, the same number as the rest of building control, and works out how urgent the case is from the description it is given. The clearer the description, the better: say which side of the building, how high up, and whether anything has already fallen.
If something is dropping towards a road or footpath as you read this, keep people clear and report it. Stay out from underneath, and resist the urge to climb up for a quick fix. A roof that has started shedding material is not one to approach, even to move a single tile.
How quickly a high-risk roof is looked at
For a building it considers high risk, Somerset Building Control sets a target of a visit inside 90 minutes of contact being made. That is the service's own target for its most urgent cases and not a statement about any roofer. When you phone, ask for a time as well, because arrival depends on access, the weather and how the roof is built.
What happens at the visit?
The team weighs the danger to people and property and decides what has to happen next. On a roof that can mean keeping people away from the ground beneath a loose tile or a leaning stack, and the owner arranging for the hazard to be dealt with. Removing the hazard is the first job, with the lasting repair coming after the roof has been looked at and priced.
Whatever priority your roof is given, the owner is the person who has to act on it, so be ready to say who you have asked to look at it. If you are the owner, take photos from the ground before anything changes. They help you, your roofer and any insurer, and they cost nothing.
Who pays and what the owner should do
The building control service is plain on this: whoever owns a building that becomes dangerous is liable for every cost of making it safe. If the house is yours, so is the bill, and the sooner a loose tile or a stack is dealt with, the smaller that bill tends to stay.
Will insurance cover it?
It may, but do not take that for granted. Following a storm, the order is: insurer first, a temporary repair to make the roof safe, then a folder for photos and receipts. Jot down when you first noticed the damage. The Financial Ombudsman handles complaints about how an insurer has treated a claim. A payout is never certain, so ask your insurer what it needs from you.
For a sense of scale, MyJobQuote shows call-out charges of £150 to £300 for an emergency roofer, and £1,200 or more for storm repairs (Oct 2026), as typical UK ranges. A scaffold that obstructs the highway also needs the highway authority's licence. Somerset Council deals with applications on less than 10 working days' notice only in an emergency. Our page on scaffold licences in Somerset sets out who applies.
Making a roof safe, then repairing it
Once a roof has been reported, the sensible order matches the one we use on a leak: safe first, repaired properly after. Making safe might mean lifting loose tiles off a slope, taking down an unstable chimney pot, or fixing a temporary cover. The repair that follows deals with the cause.
Why do tiles and chimneys fail?
Loose tiles often trace back to corroded nails, slipped clips, or battens, the timber strips that hold the tiles, that have rotted. A chimney stack leans when its mortar joints fail or its flaunching, the sloping mortar cap around the pots, cracks and lets water in. Our chimney repairs page covers the usual causes and fixes.
The emergency and general roof repairs page explains what a make-safe visit involves. If a roof worries you, photos sent through our homepage start the conversation. You see pictures of your own roof first, then decide which work is a make-safe job and which can wait for a planned repair, such as rebuilding a stack or re-bedding a run of ridge tiles.
More on dangerous roofs
Can I report a neighbour's loose chimney?
You can. Unstable chimneys are among the examples Somerset Building Control lists for its dangerous structures service. Ring 0300 303 7790 and describe what is visible from your own side of the boundary, including which part of the building and roughly how high. Making that building safe is a cost for its owner, not for whoever made the report.
Does a loose tile mean the whole roof is unsafe?
Not necessarily. One slipped tile is a repair, whereas a run of loose tiles, a leaning stack or sagging timbers points to a bigger problem. A survey shows which it is, and the pictures of your own roof let you see the reason for the price.
The full picture: Roofers in Taunton · More short answers