The short answer
Not always. Checking the roof from outside can be done while you are away, as long as the roofer can reach the front, sides and back of the house. You do need to be there, or leave access arranged, if the inspection includes the loft, a locked side gate or a flat roof reached through a window. A short chat at the start is useful either way.
The outside of a roof can be checked without you. The loft, the gate and your own knowledge of where the leak shows are the reasons to be there.
What a roofer can do with nobody home
A roofer can look at a pitched roof from the pavement, the drive and the garden without ever entering the house. They can see slipped tiles, a sagging ridge, cracked pointing around a chimney stack and overflowing gutters from the ground, and a ladder at the eaves adds a closer view. If the front, sides and back are all open to reach, an inspection of the outside is a job that can go ahead while you are at work.
What stops that from working?
Three things, mostly. A locked side gate hides the rear slope. A parked car or a skip blocks the ladder spot. And a dog loose in the garden makes the visit unsafe for everyone, the dog included. Tell the roofer in advance about anything like that, and say if a neighbour's land needs crossing to see a particular slope, because that is a request you may need to make yourself.
Without you there, the roofer cannot ask where the damp showed, so a brief text or a note on what you have noticed saves guessing.
Why the loft changes the answer
The underside of a roof tells you things the outside cannot: stained rafters, a dark patch on the sarking or boards, wet insulation, or a spot of daylight where there should be none. To see those, the roofer has to get through your hatch, and that means someone has to let them in.
Do I have to clear the loft first?
It helps a great deal. A hatch buried behind boxes, a boarded floor that hides the insulation, or a ladder you have not got can turn a ten-minute look into a failed one. If the loft is full, say so when you book, because the roofer may be able to inspect the part nearest the hatch and report on what they could not reach.
You are not required to follow them up there, and plenty of owners choose not to. Stay at the foot of the ladder or in the room below, answer questions, and let them work. Our roof inspections page lists the other kinds of visit. Our guide on checking a roof from the loft shows what that visit looks for. The answer on loft access for a roof inspection covers the details.
Gates, gardens, flat roofs and keys
Access comes down to simple practical points. If the rear garden sits behind a bolted gate, leave it unbolted, or tell the roofer where the key is kept. If a flat roof below a bedroom window can only be reached by climbing out of it, someone has to open that room and say it is safe to step through. Terraced homes with a shared passage may need a neighbour to be told, because the roofer needs to see the rear slope.
What if the roof is tenanted or let?
Landlords can arrange the visit without being present when the tenant agrees, and many do. but the tenant should hear from the landlord first, with a date and a rough time. Tenants have a right to refuse entry without notice, and a surprise ladder against the wall alarms people. A message with the date, who is coming and what they will look at is courteous and usually enough.
For a larger building with several roofs, such as a shop with a flat section and a pitched section, agree one access route for the whole inspection before the day.
Why a short word at the start still helps
Even when you do not need to be there, ten minutes together at the beginning makes the report better. You know things the roof cannot say: where the stain appeared after the last storm, which window sticks in damp weather, which bedroom smells musty in winter. A roofer who hears that points the inspection at the right slope and does not waste time elsewhere. It also lets you explain anything about the house they should know, such as a loft floor that is only part boarded.
Can I stay out of the way afterwards?
Yes. After the visit, the useful part is the photos. Ask for pictures of anything the roofer found, taken from where they stood, and for an explanation you can follow at a table, with the problem shown and the choices laid out. If you were out, a phone call or a message with the pictures does the job.
If you would like us to visit while you are home, we will agree a date, show you what we see on the slopes, and follow it with a written price. Book a survey and tell us about the loft and gate when you do.
More on being home
Can someone else let the roofer in?
Yes. A neighbour, relative or key holder can open the gate or the loft hatch for the roofer. Tell the roofer who it will be and give them a phone number. The person only needs to show the way in. They do not need to understand the roof, and the roofer explains the findings to you afterwards.
Will the roofer need to go inside the house?
Only to reach the loft or a flat roof through a window. A check of tiles, ridge, flashing and gutters stays outside. If you want the underside looked at too, the roofer passes through the hallway to the hatch, so clear the way and move anything fragile.
The full picture: Roof inspections in Taunton ยท More short answers