The short answer
It depends on the roof. A straight swap of glass units or polycarbonate sheets is glazing work, and a glazier or a roofer who fits glazed roofs can do it. A solid tiled roof is a roofer's job from the rafters up, with battens, underlay, tiles, a ridge and lead flashing. If the work mixes both trades, find out who answers for each joint before anyone starts.
The right trade follows the covering you are choosing. The risk sits at the joints where one trade's work meets another's.
What each trade does
A glazier works with glass and glazing systems: measuring panels, supplying sealed units, bedding them on bars and sealing them. That is a different skill from laying tiles, and it is the right one for a roof made of glass.
What does a roofer bring?
A roofer deals with water: how it runs off the roof, where it is turned away from a wall, and how the covering is laid so it cannot get under. That means battens, the timber strips tiles hang on, underlay, the sheet membrane below them, and flashing, a lead or metal strip dressed into the house wall. Solid conservatory roofing behaves like a compact version of the roof on the house, so it is roofing from the rafters up.
The two trades meet at the frame. Aluminium and uPVC frames usually come from a conservatory supplier, and either trade may be asked to work on them, so say what your frame is made of when you ask for prices.
Neither trade is better in general. Each is better at its own part of the job. A glazed roof leaks most often at the wall flashing and at the caps and seals, so even a pure glass job has a roofing component, which our answer on conservatory roof wall flashing covers.
Glazed roofs: who suits a swap
For a glazed roof, the question is what is being replaced and how much else is involved.
Who should replace panels or glass units?
If only sheets or units are changing on a sound frame, a glazier is a natural choice, and so is a roofer who fits glazed conservatory roofs. We replace polycarbonate sheets, caps and seals and fit new glass units, and our answer on replacing individual roof panels shows how that works.
Where the job reaches beyond the glass, the roofing side grows: lead flashing at the house wall, gutters and downpipes, a ridge, or a change to the frame. A specialist who sees only the glass can leave the wall junction as it was, and that junction is where many leaks start. A glass swap also needs measured units and the right lifting gear, and the risk sits in the fit: a unit a few millimetres out of square will not seat on its tape and will leak at the corner. Whoever you choose, ask who will deal with the wall flashing, and whether the quote covers it. It is a straight question, and a good answer is easy to give.
Solid tiled roofs: why a roofer suits
A solid roof is a different build. The old glazing comes off, a new structure of rafters and insulation goes on, and the covering is laid in tiles or slates to suit the house.
Who builds a solid conservatory roof?
A roofer who builds solid conservatory roofs, working with a carpenter or the frame supplier where the structure needs it. The tiling, the lead and the ridge are roofing skills, and so is making the new roof meet the existing wall without a gap. The roof also has to meet Building Regulations, as the Planning Portal points out for a new conservatory roof, so ask who deals with building control. Ask for the stages in order too: strip, structure, insulation, tiling, flashing, internal finish and inspection.
The choice often arrives at a fork. Our answer on whether a solid roof turns a conservatory into an extension deals with the sign-off.
Questions to put to anyone you ask
Whichever trade you call, the same questions sort a clear quote from a vague one. Put them in writing and keep the answers with the quote; if a problem comes up later, written replies are easier to rely on than a conversation.
What should I ask before I say yes?
Who is responsible for the flashing at the house wall? Who deals with building control, and who pays? Who clears away the old roof and the waste? Is scaffold or other access included, and does the price include VAT? Who comes back if a joint leaks, and in what time? How long does the work take, and how is the room protected from weather while the roof is open? The quote should be one total, in writing, after a survey, not a figure given over the phone.
MyJobQuote gives £3,200 to £6,000 for conservatory roof replacement (Oct 2026), and The Eco Experts £2,300 to £6,000, both typical UK ranges. We begin at the frame and the wall junction, you see pictures from the visit, and the single written price covers whichever roof you choose. Our conservatory roofs page sets out all three coverings.
More on choosing a trade
Can one firm do the glass and the roofing?
Yes, and that often suits a conservatory best, because the glazing and the wall junction affect each other. Ask any firm what it fits itself and what it sends elsewhere, and who is responsible when the two parts meet. One written price covering both is easier to compare than two separate ones.
Does a tiled conservatory roof need a carpenter too?
Often the structure is formed in timber or aluminium by the roofer or a specialist supplier, and the carpentry is part of the same job. What matters is that one party is clearly responsible for the finished roof, including the insulation, the ceiling, the flashing and the sign-off.
The full picture: Conservatory roofs in Taunton · More short answers