Roofs and flat roofs
Nothing on the visit sampled double Roman tiles, opened a dry ridge system or tested hip irons that are no longer fixed. What has to stay undecided?
What has to stay undecided is the fixing of the double Roman tiles, the inside of the dry ridge system, and the hip irons that are no longer fixed. Nothing on the visit sampled the tiles, opened the ridge or tested those irons. The survey can say a hip iron looks loose or missing from the ground. It has not decided why, whether the hip tiles are restrained, or whether the dry ridge is complete. Those three limits stay open until someone with proper access looks at them.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
Double Roman tiles are large interlocking tiles. A dry ridge is a mechanical fixing rather than a mortar bed. A hip iron is the metal stay at the foot of a hip that stops the lowest hip tile sliding off. If it is loose, the hip may still look tidy. The surveyor does not sample tiles or strip a dry ridge on a home survey. A note of an unfixed iron is a warning about restraint. It is not a test of the fixings hidden under the caps.
Tell the solicitor the hip irons were not tested and the ridge was not opened. Ask the seller who installed the dry ridge and whether any guarantee names the hips. A roofer can check restraint at the ridge and the irons. The home survey will not turn a ground view into that check. Do not assume a modern dry ridge means the hips were finished, or that a loose iron is only decoration.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which hip irons looked unfixed, and from what viewpoint?
- Was the dry ridge described from outside only?
- Did the report avoid sampling the double Roman tiles?
What are the typical next steps?
- Leave the ridge, the tiles and the irons undecided.
- Ask who fitted the dry ridge and whether hips were included.
- Get a roofer to check restraint before you rely on it.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
Is a dry ridge a guarantee that mortar is no longer doing the work?
Only if the system was actually completed, which this visit did not confirm. A dry ridge can sit beside leftover mortar, or stop short of the hips. The survey did not open the caps. The hip irons being loose is a separate restraint question. Neither point has been tested.
Can a missing hip iron be ignored if the tiles have not slipped yet?
The iron is there to stop the lowest hip piece moving. The fact it has not slipped today is not a test of the fixing. The visit recorded that the irons are no longer fixed and did not load the hip. A roofer should see the foot of the hip rather than waiting for a tile to come down.