Roofs: What You Need to Know
The roof is one of the most critical parts of a new home, yet it’s also one of the stages that homeowners often feel least confident assessing. It usually can’t be accessed safely by the owner, which means defects can sometimes remain hidden until they cause water damage inside the home. Because of that, understanding when the roof is installed, when it should be checked, and what is normal at each stage is important.
On a new home, the roof is installed shortly after the frame stage. This is particularly the case on double-storey homes, where scaffolding or fall protection must already be in place so the framer can complete the roof trusses and the roofer can safely install tiles or metal sheeting. For this reason, many builders include the roof within the frame stage payment, even though in the DBCA the roof is defined to be part of the lock-up stage.
Defects in roofs are especially important because even relatively minor issues can become entry points for water. Once water gets in, it can damage framing, insulation, plasterboard, and finishes, often long before the problem is obvious from inside the home. Eventually, you will probably have mould from the roof leak.
There are different views on the best time to check the roof, but from a practical perspective, it is often useful to inspect it as soon as it has been laid. At that point, it’s possible to see whether it has been installed correctly in the first place. It’s also a time when scaffolding or fall protection is usually still in place, which makes inspection safer and more effective for professionals. But it should also be checked at the end of the project before completion.
For homeowners, roof access is a real limitation, as they are generally not permitted or insured to walk on their roof, and it would be unusual and unsafe for them to do so. In practice, roof condition is often checked indirectly. On double-storey homes, lower roof areas such as garages or alfresco roofs can sometimes be viewed from upstairs windows. In other cases, assessments are done from ladders, from scaffolding used for cladding, or by engaging someone with the appropriate training, equipment, and insurance. Or possibly a drone inspection.
It’s also important to understand why some roof areas are not fully finished at frame stage or even early lock-up. Lower roofs in particular, are often left incomplete because cladding trades need to access those areas to finish external walls. Trades may walk across the roof to complete their work. If the roof were fully finished too early, it could be damaged by following trades.
Because of this sequencing, it is not unusual to see small penetrations, incomplete flashing, or loose tiles during the lock-up stage (and sometimes the fixing stage). In those circumstances, the roof may not look finished, but that does not automatically mean the stage has not been reached or that the work is defective. Some elements are deliberately left until later to avoid unnecessary damage. But make sure that you know what your contract says about this stage.
That said, there is a critical point in the build where this changes. Before plasterboard and insulation are installed, the roof must be should finished and watertight. This is a practical requirement, and builders often try to compress timelines, which can lead to overlapping trades, but once internal linings go in, any roof leak becomes far more serious and far more expensive to deal with if not picked up early.
Tiled roofs are more prone to leaks because they are overlapping and can have small air gaps. Metal roofs, such as Colorbond systems, use continuous sheets and are generally less prone to water entry. However, they come with their own issues, including scratches and dents from other trades walking across the roof, as well as the need for proper condensation and vapour management inside the home.