The short answer
The standard rate of VAT is 20%, and it normally applies to commercial roofing work. The domestic reverse charge can change who accounts for it, but only between VAT-registered businesses within the Construction Industry Scheme, and never for a homeowner. Its effect on your job turns on your VAT status and the contract, so check with your accountant. This is general information, not tax advice.
Twenty per cent, and who bears it
The standard VAT rate, per GOV.UK, is 20%, and roofing work for a business is generally charged at it. A new roof, a repair, a replacement of sheets or a membrane, and the labour and materials for each, are all ordinarily standard-rated.
A VAT-registered business can usually reclaim VAT charged on its costs, so for many companies the VAT on a roof job is a timing matter in the cash flow, not a real cost. A business that is not VAT-registered, or that makes supplies on which VAT cannot be recovered, cannot reclaim it, and the full 20% is a cost.
That difference changes how a quote should be read. Two quotes that look far apart may differ only in whether VAT is inside them. A net figure is a different basis from a gross one, not a saving. Always check which you are looking at, and compare like with like.
Check the VAT line on the invoice as well. It should show the rate and the amount, and the supplier's VAT registration number if they are registered. Our answer on the cost of a commercial flat roof explains why a single total is more useful than a rate.
The domestic reverse charge
The domestic reverse charge is a different way of accounting for VAT on certain construction services. GOV.UK's guidance confines it to supplies passing from one VAT-registered firm to another and reported inside the Construction Industry Scheme, or CIS. Instead of the roofer charging VAT and paying it over, the customer accounts for it on their own VAT return.
The roofer's invoice then shows the work and a note that the reverse charge applies, with no VAT added. The customer records both the VAT due and the same amount as VAT they can recover, so for a customer who can reclaim in full, the net effect is nil, though the entries still have to be made correctly on the return, which is where mistakes creep in.
It never applies to a homeowner paying a roofer. A private individual is not a business in the scheme, so the roofer charges ordinary VAT in the normal way.
Whether the reverse charge applies to your commercial job depends on who is paying whom and in what capacity, and the point should be settled before the invoice is issued. A wrong treatment leaves one side with a VAT problem later.
Reading a quote
On a commercial quote, look for four things. Does it state whether VAT is included, excluded or reverse-charged? Is the rate shown? Does it say whether scaffold, edge protection and waste disposal are inside the price? And does it describe what is being done, so that two quotes can be compared on the same scheme?
A quote that leaves out VAT is common in trade pricing, and it is not a trick, but it needs to be read with that in mind. The figure to compare is the total you will pay or account for. If a reverse charge applies, the quote should say so, and the invoice should carry the matching wording so your bookkeeper knows how to record it.
Citizens Advice advises obtaining written quotes from at least 3 traders, and a business roof is no exception. Ask each to describe their VAT position in the same terms.
Energy-saving materials have their own VAT rules, with a zero rate for some installations until 31 March 2027 and a reduced rate after. Whether those rules touch your roof depends on exactly what is installed, so put any insulation element to your accountant.
Check with your accountant
VAT depends on facts that a roofer cannot see: your registration, what you sell, your place in the CIS, who the end user is and how the contract is structured. For that reason a roofer should not give VAT advice, and a business should ask its accountant or HMRC before signing.
What we can do is be clear on our side. The written total we give you after the survey says what is included, and we show VAT as the law requires for your case once the position is confirmed. If you tell us at the outset about your VAT registration and CIS status, the paperwork can be right the first time.
Records matter too. Keep the quote, the contract, the invoice and the survey together, since a VAT inspection looks at the whole file. For work on a building that stays in use, our guide to roof work on an occupied building covers the other planning side.
If you are a landlord, a tenant or an agent, say which, because the one who pays and the one who reclaims may differ. The commercial roofing page lists the range of work we quote for.
