People often assume a pre-purchase building inspection covers the roof thoroughly. It usually doesn't — and that gap is exactly why we offer standalone roof reports. Here's the difference and when you need each.
What a building inspection covers
A standard pre-purchase building inspection includes a visual, ground-level or ladder-level look at the roof — usually noting obvious issues like broken tiles, visible rust or a sagging roof. It's a generalist overview across the whole building, and the roof gets a fraction of the time.
What a roof report covers
A dedicated roof report is a full roof-level inspection by a roofer: every fixing, flashing, valley, ridge cap and penetration is checked and photographed. You get 30–60 annotated photos, condition ratings, a priority list of issues, and itemised cost estimates to fix them. It's a specialist deep-dive, not a glance.
Why the difference matters when buying
A building inspection might note 'some roof rust' — a roof report tells you exactly which sheets, how bad, what it'll cost to fix, and whether you're looking at a $400 treatment or a $15,000 re-roof. On the biggest purchase most people make, that detail is worth the few hundred dollars.
When a roof report is the better choice
You're buying an older home, a coastal home, a home with a known roof issue, or you simply want certainty. You're making an insurance claim and need an itemised scope of works. Or you own the property and want a clear, prioritised plan of what to fix and when.
The credit makes it low-risk
Our roof report fee is credited to any repairs you book within 30 days. So if the report finds something and you fix it with us, the report effectively cost you nothing — and you got the full picture regardless.
Questions
Common questions
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We're local to Lennox Head and cover the whole Northern Rivers. Every job is photo-documented and warranted.
Coastal Roofing Repairs
Local Northern Rivers roofers · 28 years on the tools · insured
Written by the Coastal Roofing Repairs team, 28 years roofing on the NSW North Coast. We work on coastal metal and tile roofs every day — these guides come straight from what we see on the tools, not a marketing desk.
