The roof is a structurally important and very costly component of a building and the average cost of a roof as a portion of the final building can easily exceed 25%. The costs associated with repair or replacement of the same roof structure will be even more than this due to the additional work required to establish structural integrity. This is why roof maintenance is so important.
According to the Construction Regulation 2014 Occupational Health and Safety Act of 1993, an owner of a structure must ensure that:
- Inspections of the structure are carried out periodically by a competent person in order to render the structure safe for continued use;
- That the inspections contemplated in paragraph a) are carried out at least once every six months for the first two years and thereafter yearly;
- The structure is maintained in such a manner that it remains safe for continued use;
- The records of the inspections and maintenance are kept and made available on request to an inspector.
A roof is a lifetime investment and should last just as long. For that reason it is imperative that a roof structure, on residential, commercial and industrial buildings, is regularly inspected for any anomalies and that remedial action is promptly and accordingly taken.
All nail-plated timber roof structures must be designed, manufactured, erected and inspected by ITC-SA accredited members who have been awarded a Certificate of Competence. An A19 Certificate will be issued on compliance, which is required by the Local Authority before issuing an occupation certificate.
Many thanks to MiTek Industries SA and International Truss Systems for their contribution to this article.