A roof certification is a signed, dated document stating what condition a roof is in and how much service life it should reasonably be expected to have left. Lenders ask for them before closing. Insurers ask before writing or renewing. Buyers ask during an inspection period.
It is a professional opinion based on evidence, recorded on a particular date. It is not a guarantee, and the distinction is the single most important thing to understand before you commission one or accept one from somebody else.
What the document says
Three things.
Condition. What was found, where, photographed and located, with the defects distinguished from the ordinary signs of age.
Estimated remaining service life. A period, in years, that the roof should reasonably be expected to perform for, given what was found and on the date it was found.
Scope. What was inspected, what was not, and why. A certification that does not say what it did not look at is not telling you enough.
What it is not
It is not a warranty. A warranty is a promise to put something right if it fails. A certification is a statement about what is there now.
Nobody can guarantee a roof against hail, wind, or an air conditioning technician dropping a compressor on it. Any certification presented as cover for a period of years is being misrepresented, and the right question is what precisely the certifier will do if the roof leaks next year. Usually the answer is nothing, which is perfectly honest, provided nobody implied otherwise.
The tile problem
Most homes in this valley are tile, and tile is where certifications most often go wrong.
The tile is a shield. The underlayment beneath it is the waterproofing, and in this climate it dries out and becomes brittle decades before the tile shows its age. A roof with excellent tile can be sitting on underlayment at the end of its life.
So a remaining life estimate on a tile roof requires lifting tiles in representative places and looking at the layer that actually matters. A certification issued without that is an opinion about the wrong thing.
If you are handed a tile roof certification by a seller, that is the question to ask: was the underlayment inspected, and where.
When we cannot issue one
Sometimes the answer is no, and it is better to hear it than to be given a document that does not hold.
A roof with active leaks has to be repaired first. A roof at the end of its service life cannot honestly be given a remaining life, and gets a condition report instead, which is still the thing you need to price the replacement.
Where repairs are required, you get the list, with reasons and a price, and you are free to have the work done by anyone. The certification does not depend on who does it.
Timing, if this is a transaction
Book early in the inspection period, not late.
The reason is simple arithmetic. If the roof needs repair before it can be certified, you need time for the inspection, the repair and the reissue. Left to the last week, the certification becomes the thing holding up a closing, and that pressure tends to produce either a rushed repair or a document somebody was persuaded to sign.
Also check, before commissioning anything, what the party asking will actually accept. Lenders and insurers sometimes have requirements about how recent the document must be and who may issue it. What an insurer wants a certification to say covers the insurance side.
Tell us who needs the document and roughly what the roof is, and we will tell you what the visit involves.
Next: what an inspection covers, or the roof in a home purchase.
Common questions
What is a roof certification?
A signed, dated document stating the condition of a roof and an estimate of how much service life it has left, based on an inspection. It is commonly requested by lenders before closing, by insurers before writing or renewing a policy, and by buyers during an inspection period.
- It records condition and estimated remaining life
- It is based on an inspection, with the findings attached
- Lenders, insurers and buyers are the usual requesters
- It is a professional opinion, not a warranty
- The scope has to be stated: what was and was not seen
The estimate is the part people misread. It says that on the evidence available on a given date, the roof should reasonably be expected to perform for a stated period. It does not promise that it will. Hail, wind, a trade dropping something or a defect that could not be seen can all change it the week after the document is signed.
Is a certification the same as a warranty?
No, and the difference matters. A certification is an opinion about condition and expected life, given on a date, by someone who inspected the roof. A warranty is a promise to put something right if it fails, backed by whoever issued it.
- A certification states what is; a warranty promises what will be done
- Nobody can guarantee a roof against weather or third parties
- Some certifiers offer a limited guarantee separately; read it
- Manufacturer warranties cover materials, on their own terms
- Treat any certification sold as a guarantee with suspicion
If someone offers to certify a roof for a number of years and implies that means it is covered for that long, ask what exactly they will do if it leaks in year two, and ask for it in writing. The answer is usually nothing, and that is fine as long as nobody pretended otherwise. The confusion is what causes the trouble, not the document.
Can every roof be certified?
No. A roof at the end of its service life cannot honestly be given a remaining life, and a roof with active defects has to have them repaired first. If an inspection finds either, you get the findings and a repair list rather than a certificate.
- Active leaks are repaired before anything is signed
- A roof past its life gets a condition report instead
- Repairs can be done by us or by anyone you choose
- Being told no is a result, not a failure of the visit
- The report is still useful for pricing the work
This is worth understanding before booking, especially inside an escrow period. If the roof needs work, the certification cannot be issued until the work is done, and that takes time you may not have. Booking the inspection early in the period rather than late is the practical answer, because it leaves room for the repair.
What does an inspector need to see on a tile roof?
The underlayment, directly. On a tile roof the tile is a shield and the underlayment beneath it is the waterproofing, so a remaining life estimate that has not looked under the tiles is an estimate about the wrong layer and is not worth signing.
- Tiles are lifted in representative places
- The underlayment is what determines remaining life
- Tile condition matters but does not answer the question
- Valleys and flashings are examined at the same time
- Areas under broken tile are checked specifically
A very large share of Las Vegas homes are tile, and this is by far the most common way a certification goes wrong here. A roof whose tiles look excellent from the street can be sitting on underlayment that is at the very end of its life. Any certification on a tile roof that did not involve lifting tiles somewhere should be questioned, including and especially one you are handed by somebody else in a transaction.
Who should pay for it, the buyer or the seller?
Either, and it is negotiable. What matters more is that the document is independent and that it is recent. A certification commissioned by the party with an interest in the outcome carries less weight with the other side, which is usually the point of contention.
- Age of the document matters; an old one is often refused
- Independence is what makes it persuasive
- A seller with a recent certification is in a stronger position
- A buyer may want their own regardless
- Check what the lender or insurer will actually accept
Before commissioning one, ask the party who wants it exactly what they require: how recent it must be, who may issue it, and in what form. Lenders and insurers sometimes have specific requirements written into their own procedures, and a document that does not meet them has to be redone at the worst possible moment, which is always the week before a closing.