Roofs and flat roofs
What should you ask if a slate roof above a door has no snow guard?
Ask whether the survey is noting an absence, not imposing a duty. Snow guards are rails or brackets low on a slope that can hold a slide of snow, and above a door they are a practical comment, not proof the slates have failed. A home survey does not invent a rule that every slate roof must have them, and snow on the day is not a test.
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?
A slate slope can shed a sheet of snow onto a doorway. Guards are one way people interrupt that. Some roofs never had them, some have lost them, and some have rails that are bent or fixed through the slates with poor flashings. The condition point, if there is one, may be the fixing through the covering rather than the mere absence of a rail. The survey should say which it saw.
Do not treat a missing guard as a condition rating on the slates. Rating words describe defects the surveyor judges serious or not, and an absent guard is not automatically urgent. There is no national requirement stated in a home survey for snow guards, and this page will not invent one. If you want them, ask a roofer what fixing they would use so the slates stay weathertight. That quote is separate from any slate repair.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Did this roof ever show brackets, or is absence all you could record?
- Are any fixings through the slates damaged where a guard used to be?
- Are you commenting on snow risk, or on the slate covering?
What are the typical next steps?
- Do not replace slates because a guard is not there.
- If you fit one later, ask how it is weathered through the covering.
- Do not write to the seller that the law requires a snow guard.
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
Does a tile roof raise the same point?
A slide of snow is more often discussed on slate. The survey should describe this roof, not a general rule.
Is ice behind a guard a leak?
A guard is not a test of the covering. A leak still needs a defect in the roof, which the survey names separately if it saw one.