Question answered
Roof leaking in a shop or office: what to do
The short answer
Protect people first: move them and the stock out from under the leak, catch the water and, if it is near lights or sockets, have the circuit made safe. Photograph everything, tell your insurer before permanent work, and have the roof made safe by a contractor. Do not climb up yourself. A temporary repair buys time while the cause is traced.
A leak over stock, desks or customers needs quick, calm decisions in a sensible order. These are the steps that protect people first, then the building, then any insurance claim.
Contain the water and keep people clear
Start inside. Move people away from the wet area and lift stock, paperwork and equipment out of the line of the drips. Lay plastic sheeting under the leak, set a bucket or bin to catch the water and, where a ceiling tile or board is bulging with trapped water, release it at one chosen spot over a container rather than waiting for the whole panel to give way on someone.
Water and electricity do not mix. If the leak is near light fittings, sockets or a distribution board, switch off the affected circuit and have an electrician check it before it is used again. Mark wet floors so that staff and customers do not slip. The roof itself is not a place for a member of staff with a ladder; old sheeting and rooflights can be fragile, and the fall is a bigger danger than the damage you are trying to stop.
Photograph, record and ring the insurer
Photograph the leak, the stained ceiling and any damaged stock or equipment, and note the date, the weather and when the problem began. During Storm Eunice (2022), insurance industry advice was to notify the insurer quickly and to book emergency make-safe work so the damage cannot spread, with the proviso that the insurer is consulted before any spending is committed.
In a disputed storm claim, the Financial Ombudsman Service asks about the date, the type of damage and the real cause: whether a storm struck that day, whether storms usually cause such harm, and whether the weather drove the loss. Which? offers a roof in poor repair letting water through as a typical wear-and-tear case. A leak after a gale and a leak that has crept up over months may therefore be treated differently, and your own policy wording decides. Keep receipts for the make-safe work, and keep any removed material until the insurer has seen it.
The temporary repair that buys time
Leaks go to the front of our diary, and stopping the water comes ahead of any discussion of the permanent job. A temporary repair means sheeting, a taped patch or a sealed cover over the damaged area, enough to stop water coming in while the cause is traced. It is not the permanent fix, and a quick coat of sealant over a failed lap usually just conceals the fault until the leak returns.
On a profiled sheet roof, the usual temporary jobs are a patch over a split sheet, a sealed repair at a lifted lap, or a cover over a cracked rooflight. On a flat roof it can be a patch over a split in the membrane. Whichever applies, let the insurer know the method and the reason, and keep the photographs taken before and after. A dated record protects you if the repair is questioned later, and it also helps anyone who has to finish the job.
Finding where the water really enters
The stain is rarely under the hole. Water can run along a purlin, the horizontal beam that carries the sheets, or down a liner before it drips, so the mark inside may sit some metres from the entry point. The trace starts from the inside, with tide marks and wet fixings, and is matched to the outside: a lifted lap, a failed rooflight seal, a split in a flat roof membrane or a blocked outlet.
Often the entry point is an industrial gutter or valley that has silted up and overflowed back under the sheets. Pictures of the actual roof follow, then a written price that arrives as one sum. If the building is rented, check your lease for who bears the cost of roof repairs, landlord or tenant, before you commission anything permanent. Our commercial roofing team can attend either way.
From emergency to permanent repair
Once the water is stopped, decide whether the roof needs a local repair or a bigger job. A single failed sheet is a repair; a roof leaking in several places may be nearing the end of its life. Regular checks, especially after storms and before winter, tend to find small faults before they let water in, and a planned maintenance routine is cheaper than repeated emergencies.
Permanent work may need consents, depending on the building and the materials; see planning for commercial roof work. Keep the insurer informed throughout, since some policies require approval before major repairs begin, and ask the contractor to describe the cause in writing so that the record is clear for the insurer, the landlord and any buyer who asks about the roof history later.
A leaking business roof: two more questions
Will my buildings insurance cover a leak that has been going on for months?
Not automatically. Cover frequently excludes slow, gradual deterioration, according to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which adds that it falls to the insurer to show an exclusion really applies. Which? reports that only 32% of storm-related claims made in 2024 resulted in a payout. Read your policy wording and speak to the insurer.
Who is responsible if I rent the unit and the roof leaks?
It depends on your lease. Commercial leases allocate roof repair to the landlord, the tenant or a service charge, and the wording varies. Read the repairing covenant, then write to the landlord or their managing agent straight away, enclosing dated photographs, before arranging anything permanent.
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