Falls from height remain the biggest killer in maintenance work, and duties reach building owners
The Work at Height Regulations 2005 do not only bind contractors. Building owners and managers who commission roof work, or whose buildings are accessed for maintenance, hold duties to ensure the work can be planned, supervised and carried out safely.
The hierarchy the law expects
The Regulations set a simple hierarchy: avoid work at height where you can, prevent falls where you cannot avoid the work, and mitigate the consequences where risk remains. In practice that means asking first whether the inspection or repair can be done from the ground or by drone, then whether existing access — parapets, guarded walkways, fixed ladders — genuinely protects the people using it, and only then relying on equipment and procedures.
Fragile surfaces are the recurring London failure
Roof lights, corroded metal decking, fibre-cement sheets and aged felt over timber boarding all behave as fragile surfaces, and they are everywhere on London commercial roofs, mansard backs and post-war additions. Falls through fragile surfaces account for a steady share of fatal accidents in maintenance work, usually involving someone who went up for a small job. If a roof has fragile zones, the access strategy needs to name them, mark them and keep people off them.
What a building-side review covers
A roof access and working at height review looks at the building rather than any single contractor: how each roof area is reached, what edge protection exists at eaves, valleys and parapet gaps, where fragile materials sit relative to walking routes, how plant and gutters that need regular attention are accessed, and whether arrangements that have grown up informally over the years would survive scrutiny after an accident. The output is a prioritised schedule: what is acceptable, what needs management controls, and what justifies physical improvement.
Anchors, eyebolts and equipment need their own regime
Where fall-arrest anchors, eyebolts, latchway systems or fixed ladders exist, they need periodic inspection and certification through competent specialists, and records that managing agents can produce on request. An uncertified anchor can be worse than none, because it invites reliance. Our reviews identify what equipment exists and whether its inspection regime is in place; the testing itself sits with specialist firms.
Where this lands for owners and agents
For managing agents and block freeholders, the practical exposure is commissioning: when you instruct a roofer, gutter clearance or aerial contractor, you are expected to have considered whether the work can be done safely on your building. A documented access review, fed into your planned maintenance file, is the cleanest way to evidence that — and it usually pays for itself by replacing repeat scaffold hire with planned, safer access.
Where this usually links to live instructions
Working at Height & Roof Access Risk Reviews
Independent building-side review of roof access, fall risk, fragile surfaces and edge protection.
View ServiceDrone Roof & Facade Inspections
Inspect roofs without putting people on them, through CAA-compliant operators.
View ServicePremises H&S Compliance Audits
Workplace compliance audits with priority-rated, costed action plans.
View ServicePrimary sources and further reading
Links checked 18 July 2026. These primary and professional sources provide general context; they do not confirm how the guide applies to a particular building or appointment.
Source material
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Compliance, Estates & Decarbonisation topic hub
Working at Height & Roof Access Reviews
Specialist review still required
A competent work-at-height or CDM professional should confirm dutyholder scope, access-system checks, task-specific controls and rescue arrangements.
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Savas Bulduk
BSc (Hons) MRICS, Director & Chartered Building Surveyor.
Writes on Building surveying, Fire safety and facade, External wall systems, Technical due diligence, Contract administration. See the full team profile.