Editorial methodology

1. Editorial principles

Four things the site tries to do, consistently:

• Be useful before being clever.Every guide is written to answer a specific homeowner question in a specific UK context. If a piece isn't useful it's not published.
• Cite the source. Where a claim needs backing — a price range, a legal requirement, a standard — the guide names the source so you can check it yourself.
• Label opinion as opinion. Where a guide takes a view, the view is attributed, explained, and based on documented reasoning. Facts and opinions are not mixed up.
• Correct errors quickly. When something turns out to be wrong we fix it on the page, log the change, and email anyone who reported it.

2. How we build the directory

The RoofersBook directory is assembled in four layers.

Layer 1 — Companies House (baseline)

The starting list is drawn from UK Companies House public records, filtered to companies registered against SIC code 43910 (Roofing activities)with a status of "active". This gives us a defensible, public-records-based universe of UK roofing companies rather than a curated friends list.

For each company we capture: the registered name, company number, incorporation date, SIC codes, registered office postcode (for city routing), filing history indicators, and directors as listed. None of this is secret — it is all available free from find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk.

Layer 2 — Enrichment from public web sources

Where a company has a public-facing website, telephone number, or Google Business Profile, we add that to the listing. The purpose is to make the directory useful to a homeowner who wants to get in touch, not to compile a private intelligence file. Enrichment is limited to information the business has itself chosen to publish.

Layer 3 — Voluntary verification

A roofer can claim their listing and submit additional evidence:

• Current Public Liability and Employer's Liability insurance certificates
• Trade body membership (NFRC, FMB, CompetentRoofer, TrustMark)
• VAT registration (where applicable)
• Director identity via the Companies House filing record

Verified listings display a clear badge indicating what we checked and when. A verified badge means the named documents were checked by us on the date shown. It is nota recommendation, endorsement, or guarantee of the quality of the roofer's workmanship, conduct, or financial standing. We are not a trade body and verification by RoofersBook does not replace or equal accreditation by the NFRC, FMB, TrustMark, CompetentRoofer, or any other industry scheme.

Layer 4 — Removal and dispute

A roofer can ask for their listing to be corrected or removed at any time via the complaints process. We will act on legitimate requests promptly. The directory is not a weapon and we have no interest in keeping a business listed against its will where there is a reasonable ground to remove it.

3. How rankings work

Ranking factors are public. If you are a roofer and you are wondering why another listing appears above yours, the answer should be visible here.

Rankings are determined by a combination of the following, in descending weight:

1. Geographic match.Whether the roofer's registered area and stated service radius cover the postcode or city being searched. A London roofer does not outrank a Leeds roofer on a Leeds search.
2. Service match. Whether the roofer does the type of work the homeowner is looking for (emergency repair, flat roof replacement, re-roof, etc.) based on claimed specialisms.
3. Verification tier. A fully verified listing (insurance checked, trade body confirmed, director matched to Companies House) ranks above an unclaimed listing that only shows baseline Companies House data.
4. Companies House signals. Active status, accounts filed on time, length of trading history, absence of director disqualifications and phoenix patterns. These are defensive signals rather than quality signals — they rule out bad actors, they do not prove a good one.
5. Completeness of the listing. Whether the roofer has supplied photos, service area map, trade references, and written a useful description. Complete listings are more useful to homeowners and rank accordingly.
6. Consistency over time.Whether the phone number and address line up with Companies House, Google Business Profile, and the roofer's own website. NAP consistency reduces the chance of fake or impersonating listings.

Rankings are not determined by whether a roofer pays us a lead fee, takes a subscription, spends money with us, or has a personal relationship with anyone at RoofersBook. See section 5 below.

4. How editorial guides are researched

Every pillar guide on the guides page is written by Giuseppe Giona. The research process is roughly:

1. Define the question.What does a homeowner actually want to know? Not "everything about flat roofs", but "which flat roof system is right for my small rear extension, and why".
2. Gather primary sources. UK legislation, British Standards (BS 5534, BS 6229, BS 8217), Approved Documents (Part L, Part C, Part K), Historic England guidance, trade body technical notes (NFRC, FMB, CompetentRoofer), manufacturer datasheets, Met Office weather thresholds, Consumer Rights Act 2015, Financial Ombudsman Service decisions.
3. Cross-check. Where two sources disagree we either reconcile them or note the disagreement explicitly.
4. Price the market. Where a guide gives a price range, the range is triangulated from (a) our own incoming quote data, (b) published merchant price lists, (c) trade body cost indices, (d) the RICS Building Cost Information Service where available.
5. Write and label. Facts are stated factually, opinions are marked clearly, sources are credited in the piece or in the footer.
6. Review on a schedule. Guides are reviewed at least annually, and immediately when a relevant regulation, standard, or price index changes meaningfully.

Editorial disclaimer

The guides on this site are editorial journalism, not professional advice. They are researched from published sources and written by a named author, but they are not a substitute for a building survey, a solicitor, a structural engineer, an insurance broker, or any other professional adviser on your specific property or situation. No liability is accepted for decisions taken on the basis of guide content. See Terms, section 13 for the full limitation of liability.

5. Editorial independence and lead referrals

This is the part that matters. We are clear about it because it would be dishonest not to be.

RoofersBook makes money by charging roofers for lead referrals. When a homeowner submits the quote form, we pass the brief to a small number of suitable local roofers and, where those roofers have accepted our lead terms, they pay us a per-lead fee for the introduction.

This is disclosed because it has to be, and because a disclosed commercial model is not the same as a compromised one. Specifically:

• Lead fees do not influence rankings in the directory. The directory ranks on the factors in section 3. A roofer who pays us £0 in lead fees can rank above a roofer who pays us £1,000 in lead fees, if the factors in section 3 say so.
• Lead fees do not influence editorial content. The guides name trade bodies, roofing systems, and practices by name, regardless of whether the companies behind them are RoofersBook lead buyers.
• Who gets a quote form referral is determined by match, not spend. When a homeowner submits the form, we identify roofers who cover the postcode, do the type of work, have capacity to take new work, and have accepted our lead terms. Matched roofers receive the brief. The match is by geography and service, not by lead spend.
• Roofers cannot buy their way into editorial pieces.Sponsored content, paid reviews, and "advertorial" are not accepted and will not be in the foreseeable future. If that changes, any such content will be clearly labelled as advertising and the change will be announced.
• Homeowners pay nothing. The quote form is free. We do not sell homeowner details to anyone outside the small number of roofers who receive the specific brief, and the privacy policy is the full statement of what we do with your data.

6. What we do not do

• We do not fabricate reviews. We don't write fake reviews of roofers and we don't buy review-farm output.
• We do not accept pay-to-rank. See above.
• We do not run AI-generated guides. The pillar guides are written by a named author and the research is manual.
• We do not sell homeowner details as a separate data product. They go to the specific roofers matched to the specific brief, under the privacy policy, and that is the end of it.
• We do not run surveillance analytics or third-party advertising trackers on the site as of the date at the top of this page.

7. Sources we lean on

The guides draw repeatedly on the same sources. We would rather name them here once:

• Companies House — public records of UK limited companies.
• Approved Documents to the Building Regulations — in particular Parts L (energy), C (resistance to contaminants and moisture), and K (protection from falling, collision, and impact).
• British Standards — BS 5534 (slating and tiling), BS 6229 and BS 8217 (flat roofing).
• NFRC technical notes and good-practice guides.
• Historic England — guidance on energy efficiency in historic buildings.
• Manufacturer datasheets — Marley, Redland, Sandtoft, Dreadnought, Keymer, Cupa, Firestone, ClassicBond, Sarnafil, Alkor, among others.
• Consumer Rights Act 2015 and related UK consumer protection legislation.
• Financial Ombudsman Service — published case decisions on home insurance claims.
• Met Office — historical weather data used in storm-damage claim pieces.
• RICS Building Cost Information Service — regional cost indices.

8. Corrections, updates, and right of reply

Every guide carries a published date and a last-updated date. When a guide is updated materially, we note the change and the reason.

We retain the source materials relied upon for each published guide — including referenced legislation, standards documents, manufacturer datasheets, and cost data — for at least two years from the date of last update, so that any factual statement can be substantiated if challenged.

If you spot a factual error — anywhere on the site, in a guide, in a directory listing, or in a statement about a named business — email corrections@roofersbook.com. We aim to acknowledge within two working days and resolve within seven. The full process, including the route for formal defamation and data-protection complaints, is on the complaints page.

If you are the subject of a statement on this site and want to publish your own account, we will consider adding a clearly labelled right-of-reply note alongside the original. This is not automatic but it is routine where the request is reasonable.

9. Who is accountable

Every published page on this site is owned editorially by Giuseppe. Errors, takedowns, and corrections go to me personally. That is how a one-person editorial operation is supposed to work.

10. Changes to this methodology

When we change how the directory is built, how rankings are calculated, or how the guides are researched, we update this page and change the "last updated" date at the top. Material changes are highlighted at the top of the page for at least 30 days after the change.