Conservatory Roof Installation, Day by Day
A new roof on an existing conservatory runs in a fixed order: survey, application, an inspection before anyone starts, strip-out, ring beam, structure, weathering, plastering and a final inspection. This is that order, with the published time for each part and the points where installers disagree.
Time on site · tiled or solid roof · existing conservatory
2 to 7 days no single typical
Reasonably evidencedFive publishers, 2.0× apart on the floor and 2.33× on the ceiling. Checked 14 September 2026.
How long a conservatory roof installation takes
Two to seven days on site for a tiled or solid roof, and two to four for glass. Both figures are for a new roof on a conservatory you already have. Building a whole new conservatory is a different job with different timings.
| Stage or roof type | Time | Evidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tiled or solid roof, on site | 2 to 7 days | Reasonably | Guardian, undated; Publisher A, May 2026; Publishers B and C and one other installer, undated |
| Glass roof, on site | 2 to 4 days | Reasonably | Publisher A, May 2026; Publisher B, undated |
| Installation team | 2 to 3 people | Reasonably | Publisher E, September 2026; one installer, 2025; one roof system maker, July 2026 |
| Roof made to measure after you order | 3 to 6 weeks | Thin | Publisher A, May 2026 |
| First enquiry to finished roof | 6 to 10 weeks | Thin | Publisher A, May 2026 |
The same letter means the same publisher everywhere on this page. Where a source carries no date, we say so. Checked 14 September 2026.
Across every roof type together, the published figures run from one day to seven. That is too wide to be one answer, so we give the time by roof type. The weeks before the first day are a separate clock: the roof is made to order, and nobody should start until building control has seen the existing conservatory.
This page is the order of work, not the bill. For the money, see what a conservatory roof replacement costs, or price your conservatory roof against your own size first. If the roof you have now is leaking, decide whether to repair it or replace it before you book anyone.
Before anyone arrives: the survey, the frame check and the application
The job starts with a survey. LABC's guidance for homeowners says the existing structure should be “assessed by your roofing company's surveyor, or a qualified structural engineer”. Guardian and Ultraframe both say their own installers check the existing structure.
The frames are the go or no-go point. A conservatory built for a polycarbonate roof may have no steel in its mullions, and LABC adds that it is important to make sure “the existing door supports contain steel inserts to distribute the roof load down to the floor slab”. How that is tested, and what follows if the steel is missing, is set out under whether your frame will take the load. Get the answer at the survey, in writing. One published schedule leaves the reinforcement decision until the old roof is off on day one, which is a late point to find out.
Then the application. Where a translucent roof is being replaced with a solid one, LABC is plain that “you'll need to submit a building regulations application as the change will need approval.” The first inspection comes before a single tile arrives: “Before work starts, and after your application has been received by building control, they will inspect the existing conservatory to ensure it can take the additional load of the new roof.” Who is allowed to carry that out, and what it costs, is covered under building control for a roof replacement.
Meanwhile the roof is being made. Guardian describes its roof as “prefabricated and made to measure”, and Ultraframe says its roofs are “structurally designed to your postcode”. Publisher A, May 2026, puts the wait at 3 to 6 weeks, which we grade Thin evidence because it is a single publisher. None of the manufacturers we checked publishes a lead time of its own.
Day one: deliveries, access and taking the old roof off
Clear the room before the team arrives, including blinds and curtain poles. Publisher D, an installer briefing its own customers in November 2023, lists three deliveries on the first morning: timber, plastics including the tiles, and a skip. Publisher E, September 2026, says taking away the old roof is typically in the quote, and budgets £120 to £300 for a skip if you have to arrange one yourself, Thin evidence from one publisher. Expect a team of two or three.
Access is the first thing to ask about. Publisher A's schedule puts scaffolding up on day one as standard, and its worked example, July 2026, prices it at £500 before VAT. Publisher E, September 2026, says scaffolding is not usually needed for a conservatory roof, because most installers use ladders or their own access tower, and puts it at £400 to £800 where it is. That price is Reasonably evidenced across the two publishers, but they disagree on whether you will need it at all, so ask which your installer plans and whether it is in the price.
Then the old roof comes off. Publisher A times the strip-out at one to two hours for polycarbonate and two to three hours for glass, Thin evidence as a single publisher. Publisher C says removing the old roof and making the room watertight typically takes a day. Ultraframe notes that the windows and doors sometimes come out as well, where they need to.
The step you never see again: the ring beam and the structure
With the old roof off, the top of the frames is exposed, and that is where the new roof sits. A solid roof needs a continuous beam fixed around the frame head: a ring beam, eaves beam or box beam, depending on the system. One roof system maker, writing for installers in July 2026, says the existing dwarf walls, corner posts and lintels “must provide an aligned, continuous platform to accept the new perimeter ring beam”. A trade fabricator's fitting guide fixes supporting shelves to the existing build, sets box beams on them, and leaves props in place until the roof is fully built.
Then the structure goes up: ridge, rafters or a timber frame. How long that takes depends on where it was made. The same roof system maker describes a prefabricated structure going up in a matter of hours. Publisher C builds its timber structure on site over three to five days.
Ask where the beam is in your schedule
Two of the published day-by-day schedules we compared go straight from strip-out to rafters with no beam step at all. It is the part you will never see again once the ceiling is up. Ask which beam your installer's system uses, which day it goes on, and who checked the frame head it sits on.
When the room is weathertight, and the roof windows go in
Insulation goes on next, with a waterproof layer and battens, and then the outer skin of tiles or glazing. Publisher C describes layers of insulation, counter-battened, under the tiles. The tile and insulation choices themselves are covered under a tiled roof on an existing conservatory.
When the room is sealed against the weather again is where published schedules disagree most. The roof system maker writing for installers aims for a weathertight roof on day one. Publisher A has the outer skin on by the end of day two. Publisher B puts the external roofing on day four. Our reading, not a fact: the system makes most of the difference, because a prefabricated roof closes faster than one built on site. Ask which day yours will be weathertight.
Around the same point come the joints and openings: lead flashing where the roof meets the house wall, the fascia and gutter, and any roof windows. Publisher A fits the flashing and roof windows on day three, and Ultraframe confirms Velux roof windows can be used in its roofs. How much daylight they give back, and what they cost, is covered under conservatory roof windows.
Inside: electrics, plasterboard and the skim
Inside, the order of trades is electrics, then plasterboard, then a skim of plaster. Publisher D puts the electrician on site for about half a day, Thin evidence from a single publisher in November 2023, and has the plasterer attend when the roof is ready. Publisher A boards the ceiling on day three and plasters on day four. Ultraframe tells buyers to allow extra time for the interior to be plasterboarded and skimmed, and Publisher C finishes within two weeks of starting, plastering and electrics included.
Is the plastering in your price?
Publishers disagree. Publisher E says plastering is not typically included in a roofing quote, and tells you to budget £500 to £2,000 for plastering and decorating, depending on the size of the room. Publisher F, March 2026, lists making good the internal finishes as an extra cost. Publisher A says most branded systems include plasterboard and skim, and prices it at £500 to £1,200 where they do not, while Publishers C and D both describe plastering as part of their own job. Both prices are Thin evidence: they cover different work and sit up to four times apart. Neither side is wrong. Ask, and get the answer written into the quote.
The final inspection, and who can sign it off
The job ends the way it started, with building control. Publisher D's briefing describes an initial inspection and a final one, with the installer telling you the dates, and says the final inspection “is set to confirm the completion”. Guardian says its certified installers always obtain full building control sign-off.
Sign-off comes from Local Authority Building Control or a Registered Building Control Approver, and nobody else. No competent person scheme covers a conservatory roof. FENSA's own wording is that “the installation of a conservatory or porch falls outside the scope of the FENSA competent persons scheme”. CERTASS runs CQ-Assured, which issues a Certificate of Conformity: that is not a Building Regulations Compliance Certificate, and the scheme does not notify your council. The new roof also has to reach 0.15 W/m²K, the limit Approved Document L sets for a replacement roof.
What you should be handed at the end
Agree this list before the job starts, not afterwards.
- The completion paperwork from building control, from whichever body took the application. It is the document that matters when you sell.
- The U-value the finished roof achieves, written down against the 0.15 W/m²K limit.
- What the survey found in the frames, and what, if anything, was reinforced.
- The product and workmanship guarantees. Guardian, for example, lists a 10-year product guarantee, a 10-year workmanship guarantee from its certified installer, and an insurance-backed guarantee in case the installer stops trading. Ultraframe gives a 10 year warranty.
Publisher A's schedule ends with a snagging walk-round and the warranty paperwork, and that walk-round is worth having before the final payment. None of the guarantees is building control sign-off, and neither is a Certificate of Conformity or a FENSA certificate.
What stretches the week
Three things add days. All three figures come from one publisher, so read them as Thin evidence.
| What happens | Adds | Evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| The frames need reinforcing once the old roof is off | about 1 day | Thin | Publisher A, May 2026 |
| A Victorian or P-shape roof | 1 to 2 days | Thin | Publisher A, May 2026 |
| Waiting for the building control inspector at the end | 2 to 5 days | Thin | Publisher A, May 2026 |
Checked 14 September 2026.
The last row sits oddly beside the same publisher's own schedule, which signs the job off on day five. Our reading: that schedule assumes the inspector is free on the day. The reinforcement delay is the one you can remove, by settling the frame question at the survey rather than on day one.
Why installers quote different installation times
Put the published times side by side and they do not agree, sometimes on the same website. Guardian Building Systems gives 2 to 3 days in the FAQ on its Guardian Warm Roof page and 3 to 5 days elsewhere on that same page. Publisher E says most roof jobs take 1 to 2 days, and to allow another 1 to 2 for a solid or tiled roof. Publisher F says most take two to five. Publisher A says a tiled roof with insulation, a plasterboard ceiling and building control sign-off cannot be done in two days on a conservatory of 14 to 18 m².
| Day | Publisher A, May 2026 | Publisher B, undated |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Scaffolding and strip-out | Old roof removed |
| Day 2 | Insulation and outer skin | Structure and insulation |
| Day 3 | Flashing, roof windows, internal boards | Structure and insulation |
| Day 4 | Plastering and downlights | External roofing |
| Day 5 | Snagging and sign-off | Internal finishes and plastering |
Publisher B also allows up to seven days. Checked 14 September 2026.
Our reading, and it is a reading rather than a fact: most of the gap is scope. A two-day figure tends to stop when the roof is on. A five or seven day figure tends to include boarding, plastering, electrics and the final inspection. So when an installer gives you a number of days, ask what it includes.
Replacing a glass roof: the shorter version
A glass roof takes 2 to 4 days on site, Reasonably evidenced across two publishers, with Publisher A allowing 3 to 5 for a Victorian or P-shape. Several of the steps above fall away: there is no plastered ceiling to wait for, and a like-for-like glass roof on an exempt conservatory generally does not need building control at all. That changes the moment the new roof is solid. Specification and prices are covered under glass roof replacement for a conservatory.
Get the schedule in writing, then get it priced
Six questions, roof condition first, phone number last.
Ask every installer the same four things: when the frames are checked, when the application goes in, which day the room is weathertight, and whether plastering and the final inspection sit inside their day count. Then compare local conservatory roof installers on the answers, or see a number first with our conservatory cost calculator. Holding every installer to the same four questions is what makes conservatory roof quotes comparable at all.
Questions people ask first
How long does it take to fit a conservatory roof?
Do I need permission to put a solid roof on my conservatory?
Can I replace my own conservatory roof?
What should I do before the installers arrive?
Is plastering part of a conservatory roof installation?
Sources for this page
The rules and manufacturer documents behind this page. Checked 14 September 2026 unless another date is shown.
Find out what yours costs
Six questions, about sixty seconds, and an estimate built from published UK figures with every source shown. Then up to four local installers can quote you, if you want them to.