The short answer
Often, for a small repair. A few tiles on a reachable slope can be done from a ladder, a roof ladder, a mobile tower or an access platform. A wide area, a high or awkward elevation, or a full re-roof is safer from scaffold. The survey decides, and scaffold on a footway needs permission from the highway authority first.
Access is chosen for the job, not for the budget. A handful of tiles and a whole roof ask for very different set-ups.
What small repairs can use
For a few tiles, full scaffold is not always the answer. Several safe ways exist to reach a slope, and a roofer picks the one that suits the roof, not the one quickest to unload from the van.
Which kinds of access suit a minor tile repair?
A plain ladder gets the roofer up to the eaves, where the slope ends. A roof ladder, fitted with hooks that bite over the top of the slope, spreads weight across the tiles and gives a firm foothold. A tower is a wheeled scaffold frame set on level ground beside the wall. An access platform raises the roofer to the right height from the ground and suits work on one elevation.
Each is checked against the ground level, overhead cables, the state of the roof and who is passing below. Tiles that have slid out of line often mean others are loose too, so a roofer wants a stable position before touching anything. We choose at the survey and tell you which we plan to use, so the visit holds no surprises and nobody has to guess at the cost of the set-up.
When scaffold is the safer answer
Scaffold comes into its own when the work spreads, climbs high or needs both hands free for long spells. A tower or ladder protects one person in one place. Scaffold gives a platform along the whole eaves with edge protection around it, so materials and people move without improvising, and the roofer can use both hands on the work instead of one on a ladder.
Does a full re-roof need scaffold?
In practice, yes: the whole covering comes off, materials are carried up and the roof edges need protection. Chimney work, valleys, high gables and steep slopes also lean towards scaffold. A single tile at a low eaves does not.
Cost enters the picture, though it should not steer the choice. MyJobQuote's typical UK figure for a front-elevation scaffold is £550 to £750 for a week's hire (Oct 2026), and HomeBuilding puts scaffold at approximately £1,000 for a three-bed semi with permits included (Sep 2025). Neither is our price. When you collect quotes, ask each roofer whether scaffold is covered. Ours is one written total that names the access planned.
The highway licence
Put a frame on a footway or carriageway and the law steps in. Under Highways Act 1980 section 169, nobody may erect or keep scaffolding that obstructs the highway unless the highway authority has granted a licence. The test is the highway itself, so a frame inside your own boundary falls outside this rule.
Who applies, and how long does it take?
It depends on the authority. Somerset Council issues them to accredited contractors alone, so the firm taken on for the work files the application. The fee is £124.60 per 28-day period (Somerset Council, April 2026), and the council asks for at least 10 working days' notice. In Devon, County Council applications come from the scaffolders themselves, acting for the customer. Anywhere else, the scaffolder and we arrange the licence between us, and you are told the dates it covers.
Because of that notice period, a roof needing pavement scaffold may not be able to start the next morning. Plan for the wait, and ask the scaffolder for the earliest date the licence can run from, since a licence only covers the days on which the frame is up. Where rain is already coming in, a temporary cover can be fixed from a ladder and protect the house while the paperwork is processed.
Making the choice for your roof
Three questions settle most cases: how many tiles are involved, how high is the work and what is underneath. A few tiles at a reachable height over a driveway are ladder jobs. The same tiles above a pavement, a conservatory or a chimney are not.
Can access be judged from the ground?
Partly. From the ground we can count the slipped tiles, judge the pitch and see the elevation. We cannot see the battens, the underlay or whether neighbouring tiles are loose until a roofer is on the slope. That is why a survey, with photos, comes before any price.
If one tile is the whole problem, our answer on replacing a roof tile from inside explains why the loft is no shortcut. The page on walking on roof tiles covers why nobody should climb out and try. Our pitched roofing page lists the repairs we carry out, and the access we propose is named before you agree to anything, along with any reason it might change once a roofer is on the slope and sees the battens. Whatever the choice, the price reaches you in writing, after the survey.
More on access and licences
Does every scaffold need a council licence?
No. The licence under Highways Act 1980 section 169 applies to scaffolding that obstructs the highway. Scaffold kept within your own boundary requires no such licence. Once it occupies the pavement or carriageway, the highway authority must have granted permission beforehand, and the paperwork runs alongside the scaffolder.
Is a roof ladder enough for one missing tile?
Often, if the slope is sound and the pitch is gentle. A roof ladder spreads weight and gives a foothold, so the roofer can reach the gap. We look first for loose neighbours, rotten battens and nail failure, because the missing tile may not be the only fault on that slope.
The full picture: Pitched roofing in Taunton · More short answers