The short answer
Book as soon as you have a survey and a price in writing, because several clocks run before any work starts on the roof. Somerset Council wants 10 working days to process a scaffold licence on the highway, any consent route takes its own time, and the weather decides which weeks suit the work. Earlier is easier than later.
A re-roof is not a same-week job. Scaffold notice, consents and weather each set a clock, and the longest one decides your date.
Scaffold licences and the notice they need
Scaffolding that stands on the road or pavement outside falls under section 169 of the Highways Act 1980, the law behind the highway licence. Scaffold erected wholly within the boundary is a different case, since the licence concerns the highway only.
How much notice does the council need?
Under Somerset Council's rules, only accredited contractors receive scaffold licences, and whichever contractor takes your job puts in the application. The council wants 10 working days or more before erection, with emergencies the sole exception, and charges £124.60 for each 28-day period (April 2026). A job that overruns needs a paid extension.
Devon County Council puts applications in the hands of scaffolding companies acting for their customers, with a minimum of 10 working days' notice, and a licence is £158. North Somerset Council expects the company providing the service to apply, at least five working days before it is needed.
So the date cannot be fixed the moment you agree. The licence is a joint job for us and the scaffolder, and the clock starts when the application lands, which is why booking early protects your start date.
Consents and building control
Re-covering a house with matching material rarely needs planning permission, because Class C of the permitted development rules normally covers it. A listed house also needs listed building consent for works that alter its character, and a conservation-area home deserves a call to Somerset Council's planning team before a date is pencilled in.
Does a re-roof need Building Regulations approval?
Sometimes. The Planning Portal's rule of thumb: building control is normally not triggered while under 25 per cent of the building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof is involved. A new covering that adds 15 per cent or more to the weight needs approval, and the Planning Portal suggests a structural professional checks the roof beforehand.
Somerset Building Control gives 10 working days to hear back on full plans and 5 weeks for a normal decision. Those are Somerset's own figures, and other bodies keep their own timetables.
If the house sits in Exmoor National Park, Exmoor National Park Authority handles planning in place of Somerset Council, so allow time for that conversation as well. Ask early who handles your address, since a wrong guess costs weeks, or ring Somerset Building Control on 0300 303 7790 if that side is unclear.
Weather windows and the time of year
Weather decides which days a roof can be open. Rain on an uncovered roof is the main risk, so the work is planned in sections and each slope is closed up before the end of the day, but a run of wet or windy days still moves the programme.
Is there a best season to re-roof?
Summer brings the longest dry spells, and also the fullest diaries. Winter work is possible, with sections covered and protected, as our guide to re-roofing in winter explains. The month matters less than the plan for rain and wind, and a firm that has no such plan is the one to avoid.
For a home on the Levels or in the Quantock and Blackdown Hills villages, exposure means wind can halt work on a ridge or high slope even on a dry day. Nobody can promise dry weather, so the useful promise is a clear message each morning about what is happening and why.
Booking early gives you a choice of season. Booking late gives you whichever week is free, and the weather that comes with it.
A sensible order of events
Put together, the clocks suggest an order. Survey first, so the covering, the timber condition and any structural question are known. Then the price in writing, then any consent or building control step, then the scaffold booking, and only then the date.
When should you make the first call?
As soon as you suspect the roof is ageing badly, not after a ceiling stains. A survey costs little, and a calm decision costs less than an urgent one made with a bucket under the leak. A roof that is leaking now gets made safe first, with the re-roof planned afterwards.
On the day itself you should know where the skip and materials sit, who is on site and how the waste leaves. Our answer on how long a re-roof takes covers the work, and the page on who notifies building control explains that step.
To start the clocks, use the form, giving your address and a clear photo of whichever slope worries you. A survey follows, then your pictures, then one total in writing, and the date is worked back from the longest notice. Our main roof replacement page sets out the whole job.
Booking a re-roof date
Can a re-roof start sooner if the scaffold is on my own land?
Often, yes. A scaffold that does not obstruct the highway does not need a highway licence, since section 169 concerns the highway. You still need the scaffold itself erected, the materials delivered and the survey done. Tell us the layout and we confirm whether any licence applies.
Do I have to be at home during the booking process?
Not for most of it. The survey needs access to the roof and the loft, and the price can be discussed by phone or message. We need you or a contact for the start date and for decisions during the work, and we keep you informed each day.
The full picture: Roof replacement and new roofs in Taunton · More short answers