How to choose a roofing contractor in the UK: the nine checks that actually matter

If you've been quoted for roofing work and you're trying to work out which contractor to trust, you're already doing better than most. Around half the homeowners we meet after the fact tell us they wish they'd asked more questions before signing with the previous contractor — usually after finding out the job wasn't done to standard, the guarantee was worthless, or the contractor has vanished.

This guide is the specific questions to ask, checks to run, and warning signs to watch for. We're going to tell you honestly what separates professional roofing contractors from rogue traders, and we're going to do it without pretending we're the only option — we're not, and any contractor who tells you otherwise is telling you something else that isn't true either.

Twenty years of doing this work has produced a reliable pattern. The professional roofers pass all of the checks below. The dodgy ones fail at least three. The genuinely dangerous ones fail most.

Why this matters more than it used to

Roof replacement is one of the most expensive building jobs most homeowners will ever commission. On a typical 3-bed semi, £8,000-£20,000 depending on tile choice. That's not small money, and the consequences of getting it wrong are meaningful — a poorly done reroof can fail within 2-3 years, cause damage to the property, and cost more to remediate than the original job.

The market has also become more crowded and more difficult to navigate. Cold callers claiming to have "just noticed" your roof from the road. Companies operating under multiple trading names to avoid poor reviews. Contractors quoting suspiciously low prices then adding "unexpected extras" once work is underway. All of these are real patterns, all of them still active in 2026, and all of them can be spotted by asking the right questions upfront.

The nine checks below are what genuine professional contractors expect to be asked. If a contractor bristles or evades on any of them, that itself is your answer.

Check 1: Are they accredited?

The two accreditations that matter for UK roofing contractors are:

CORC (Confederation of Roofing Contractors) — Membership requires verified insurance, technical competence assessment, and adherence to a code of practice. CORC members can issue mortgage-recognised completion certificates. The register is publicly searchable at confederationroofing.co.uk.

NFRC (National Federation of Roofing Contractors) — Trade association covering the full UK roofing industry. Members are vetted for financial stability, technical competence, and safety compliance. Register searchable at nfrc.co.uk.

A contractor holding one or both of these is a genuine professional. A contractor holding neither may still be competent, but you have no independent verification to rely on if things go wrong.

How to check: Look up their company name on the CORC or NFRC register directly. Don't trust a logo on their website — many rogue contractors display accreditation logos they don't actually hold. The public register is the only reliable check.

Check 2: Are they a proper limited company with a real address?

Legitimate UK contractors trade as limited companies with a Companies House registration, a real registered office address, and public filed accounts. This isn't legally required for all trades, but for a business handling £10,000+ jobs, it's the professional standard.

How to check: Search their company name on Companies House (companieshouse.gov.uk). You'll see the company registration number and date of incorporation, the registered office address, filed accounts, and the names of directors.

Warning signs:

• Company incorporated within the last 6 months for a job worth £15,000+
• Registered office is a virtual address or "care of" address
• No filed accounts because the company is too new
• Multiple similar companies under similar names (a common pattern for contractors who phoenix out of trouble)

A contractor operating under a personal trading name may still be competent, but you have no meaningful business protection if things go wrong.

Check 3: Do they have public liability insurance you can verify?

Any contractor working on your property should carry public liability insurance of at least £2 million (£5 million is standard for larger contractors). This covers you if their operatives damage your property, or if someone is injured on your site.

How to check: Ask for a copy of their insurance certificate. A professional contractor will send it without hesitation. Look for the policy period (must cover the dates of your job), the insurer name and policy number, the coverage amount (£2m minimum, £5m preferable), and any exclusions relevant to your work.

If they hesitate, provide only a screenshot without the insurer's contact details, or send anything that doesn't look like a legitimate certificate, treat it as a failed check.

Bonus check: contact the insurer directly with the policy number to verify it's in force. Most legitimate contractors will support this if asked — it's standard for commercial procurement and shouldn't feel intrusive.

Check 4: What guarantee do they offer, and how is it underwritten?

This is the single most important question and the one homeowners most often fail to ask properly.

The professional answer sounds like this: "We offer a 10-year insurance-backed workmanship guarantee, underwritten by [named insurer], transferable to future owners of the property. The manufacturer's material warranty on the tiles is separate and typically lasts 30 years."

The dodgy answer sounds like this: "We offer a 10-year guarantee on our workmanship."

The difference matters enormously. A workmanship guarantee that isn't insurance-backed is worth exactly what the contractor is worth. If they cease trading in 3 years — and many small contractors do — your guarantee becomes worthless the moment they close.

Insurance-backed guarantees are underwritten by third-party insurance companies (common providers include Independent Warranty Association, IWA, and Building Guarantee Scheme). The guarantee remains valid and enforceable regardless of whether the contractor is still trading, because the insurer takes on the obligation.

How to check: Ask specifically who underwrites the guarantee. If they can't name an insurer, or if the "guarantee" is only backed by the contractor's own promise, that's not a real guarantee.

Check 5: Do they have real, verifiable reviews?

Reviews on the contractor's own website are worth almost nothing. Anyone can write anything on their own site. What you're looking for are reviews on independent platforms you can verify:

Trustpilot — Reviews are tied to email addresses and Trustpilot investigates fake reviews. Look for volume (100+ reviews for an established contractor), consistency (mostly 4-5 stars), and freshness (recent reviews within the last 3 months).

Google Reviews — Tied to Google accounts, harder to fake at scale, and Google actively removes suspicious activity. Look for the same signals.

Checkatrade — Vetted trade platform. Members are verified for insurance, references, and financial stability.

Which? Trusted Traders — Which? does its own vetting. Fewer contractors in the scheme, but the vetting is thorough.

What to look at beyond the star rating: volume (more reviews reduces noise), recency (dated reviews suggest current operation), consistency (mixed reviews are more credible than all-perfect scores), and response quality (how the contractor responds to negative reviews tells you a lot).

Warning sign: a contractor with almost no reviews, reviews that all appeared within a short window, or a "5.0 star" rating from only 15 reviews.

Check 6: Are they Marley or Knauf approved (or the equivalent for your tile brand)?

Roofing manufacturers operate approved installer schemes. Being approved means the contractor has trained specifically on that manufacturer's products, follows their installation specification, and is authorised to issue manufacturer-backed guarantees.

The main UK schemes: Marley Approved Installer (for Marley concrete and clay tiles — approved installers can issue Marley's 15-year workmanship warranty), Knauf Approved Installer (for Knauf insulation products, included in most reroofing scopes), Redland Trusted Installer (for Redland tile products), and Sandtoft Approved Contractor (for Sandtoft clay tiles).

How to check: Manufacturers publish lists of approved installers on their websites. Marley's is at marley.co.uk; Knauf's at knaufinsulation.co.uk. Cross-reference the contractor's name against the manufacturer's register.

Why this matters: manufacturer's material guarantees are typically conditional on installation by an approved contractor. Using a non-approved installer may invalidate the manufacturer's warranty on the tiles themselves.

Check 7: How do they handle Building Control?

Any full roof replacement should involve Building Control notification and completion certificate. Without the certificate: future sale of the property can be delayed or complicated, insurance claims may be more difficult to process, and remortgage applications can hit obstacles.

The right answer to "how do you handle Building Control?" is: "We submit the notification on your behalf, coordinate any inspections, and provide the completion certificate as part of the handover pack. It's included in the quoted price."

Warning signs:

• "You don't need Building Control for a like-for-like replacement" (usually incorrect for full replacements)
• "You can arrange that yourself if you want it" (Building Control coordination is standard professional work)
• Quote significantly cheaper because it "doesn't include the certificate"

If a contractor's quote is £2,000 cheaper than others, one of the areas where the saving may be hiding is skipped Building Control.

Check 8: Do they sub-contract labour, or use directly-employed teams?

Both models exist in the roofing industry, but they produce different outcomes. Direct employment means the contractor employs the operatives who will do your work — quality is more consistent because the contractor has ongoing management responsibility. Sub-contracted labour means the contractor sub-contracts to independent operatives — quality varies more because the contractor is managing at arm's length.

The question to ask: "Will the operatives who show up on my property be directly employed by you, or are they sub-contracted?"

The professional answer either way is honest and specific: "We directly employ our teams" or "We use a specific team of sub-contractors we've worked with for X years, and I personally supervise their work on your job."

Warning sign: a vague or evasive answer usually means the contractor doesn't want to admit they'll be using cheaper sub-contractors than the quote suggests.

Check 9: Are they VAT-registered, and do they issue proper invoices?

Contractors carrying out £10,000+ jobs should be VAT-registered. If they're not, they're either operating below the £90,000 threshold (unlikely for a contractor doing meaningful roofing work) or they're avoiding VAT by operating cash-in-hand.

Cash-in-hand contractors are cheaper on the day. They're also almost certainly uninsured or under-insured, not accredited, unable to issue proper VAT invoices, and unlikely to still be trading in 5 years if problems emerge.

The question: "Are you VAT-registered? Do you issue proper invoices with your VAT number?"

The right answer: "Yes, we're VAT-registered, and our VAT number is [X]. All quotes and invoices include VAT and our registration details."

The scoring — how to weigh the nine checks

The professional contractors who deserve your business will pass all nine checks without hesitation. Ask each question, note the answer, and score accordingly:

• All 9 passed: Genuine professional. Compare quotes against another contractor at similar level.
• 7-8 passed: Competent but with some concerns. Ask specific follow-up questions on the failures. May still be the right choice depending on which checks failed.
• 5-6 passed: Take significant caution. This contractor cuts corners in areas that matter. Get quotes from other contractors before deciding.
• Under 5 passed: Don't proceed. There are enough failures that the risk to you materially exceeds any price saving.

The specific pattern that should stop you regardless of price: No accreditation AND no verifiable reviews AND no insurance-backed guarantee — these three together indicate a rogue trader. Company incorporated in the last 3 months AND no filed accounts — a phoenix contractor. Cash-in-hand AND no proper invoices AND no VAT — running outside the tax system.

The specific questions to ask on the first call

Save the nine full checks for after you've decided the contractor is worth spending time with. On the initial call, five questions will filter out the obvious dropouts:

1. "Are you CORC or NFRC accredited?" — Immediate answer expected. Vague responses fail.
2. "What's your Companies House registration number?" — Legitimate contractors know this or will send it immediately.
3. "Is your guarantee insurance-backed?" — Yes/no question with a follow-up on the underwriter.
4. "Do you handle Building Control notification?" — Should be included as standard.
5. "When can I see the survey?" — Legitimate contractors offer free surveys within days.

If they pass all five, book the survey and continue with the fuller checks. If they fail any, thank them and end the call.

Warning signs to watch for beyond the checks

Cold calling. Legitimate roofing contractors don't cold-call houses claiming to have "just noticed" your roof. If someone knocks on your door offering to fix your roof, they're almost certainly a rogue trader.

Cash-only pricing. Legitimate contractors accept bank transfer, card, or cheque. Cash-only pricing suggests tax avoidance and financial opacity.

Pressure tactics. "This price is only available if you sign today." No legitimate contractor puts genuine time pressure on £10,000+ decisions.

Suspiciously low quotes. If one quote is 30% below the others, there's a reason. Ask specifically what's not included in the cheaper quote.

No physical premises. Legitimate contractors have a workshop, office, or yard you could theoretically visit.

Difficulty getting written details. A contractor who won't put quotes, guarantees, or terms in writing is protecting themselves against being held to account.

Any single one of these could have an innocent explanation. Two or more in combination usually don't.

What Countrywide meets on each check

We would rather be measured against these criteria than any marketing claim, so here's our position on each:

• Accredited — CORC members, verifiable on the CORC public register
• Limited company — Countrywide Roofing & Insulation Ltd, Company Number 12706804, incorporated 2020, with filed accounts on Companies House
• Public liability insurance — £5 million cover, certificate provided on request
• Insurance-backed guarantee — 10-year workmanship guarantee, transferable to future owners
• Verifiable reviews — 600+ verified Trustpilot reviews at 4.9 stars, all readable individually
• Manufacturer approvals — Marley Approved Installer, Knauf Approved Installer
• Building Control — full notification, coordination, and completion certificate included as standard
• Employed teams — directly employed, DBS-checked. No sub-contracted labour.
• VAT-registered — full VAT invoices provided on every job

Full details on our roof replacement service page. For a free survey and written fixed-price quote, call 0800 246 5145.

Craig Webb, Director
Craig Webb is a Director of Countrywide Roofing & Insulation Ltd, with extensive on-the-tools experience surveying, replacing, and remediating UK roofs across residential and commercial properties. Countrywide holds CORC accreditation, Marley and Knauf approvals, and 600+ Trustpilot reviews at 4.9 stars.

Frequently asked questions

How do I know if a roofing contractor is legitimate in the UK?

Run through the nine checks: accreditation (CORC or NFRC), Companies House registration, public liability insurance, insurance-backed guarantee, verifiable reviews on independent platforms, manufacturer approvals, Building Control handling, employment model, and VAT registration. A legitimate contractor passes all nine without hesitation. Any pattern of evasion or failure across multiple checks is a serious warning sign.

What is the difference between CORC and NFRC?

Both are UK roofing industry accreditation bodies. CORC (Confederation of Roofing Contractors) focuses specifically on roofing contractor competence and can issue mortgage-recognised completion certificates. NFRC (National Federation of Roofing Contractors) is a broader trade federation covering the wider roofing industry. Many professional contractors are members of one or both. Membership of either is a positive signal; membership of neither is not automatically disqualifying but you lose the independent verification.

Should I get multiple quotes for roofing work?

Yes, always. Three quotes is standard. This gives you a sense of the price range for your specific job and helps identify quotes that are suspiciously high or low. Make sure each quote is on the same basis — same tile type, same scope, same inclusions — otherwise the comparison isn't meaningful.

What should I do if a roofing contractor doesn't have insurance?

Do not proceed with them. Every roofing contractor working on your property should carry public liability insurance of at least £2 million. Without it, you have no protection if their operatives damage your property or cause injury on site. A contractor without insurance is not a professional; they're a liability you can't afford.

Are cash-in-hand roofing quotes cheaper?

Sometimes cheaper on the day, always more expensive over time. Cash-in-hand contractors are typically uninsured, unaccredited, and unable to issue proper documentation for insurance or future sale. When problems emerge, you have no recourse. The upfront saving is not worth the risk.

How can I check if a roofing contractor is on Trustpilot?

Go directly to trustpilot.com and search for the contractor's name. Look at review volume (higher is better for reducing outlier noise), recency (recent reviews suggest current operation), and consistency (mixed reviews are more credible than uniform 5-stars). If a contractor claims Trustpilot reviews but has none on the actual platform, they're misrepresenting their reputation.

Should I pay a deposit for roofing work?

A reasonable deposit for a large roofing job is 10-25% of the total, typically due when materials are ordered. Deposits above 50% are unusual and should be treated with caution unless the contractor has a very strong verifiable track record. Never pay 100% upfront; a legitimate contractor will not ask for it. Final payment is normally due after the work is completed and you've inspected it.