Garage Roofs

Garage Roofs Explained

Reviewed by Martin, Select Roofing Services — Family roofers in Formby, Merseyside — 30+ years on the tools · Last updated August 2026

A completed garage roof — material, safety and Building Regs all matter here.

Garage roofs are small enough to feel like a minor job, which is exactly why the two things that actually matter — asbestos risk on older garages, and whether the roof needs Building Regulations sign-off at all — get skipped over. This guide covers materials, the asbestos question properly, and the size thresholds that determine what compliance actually applies to your garage.

GRP, EPDM & Felt Compared

Most garage roofs are flat or low-pitch, so the same three materials that cover house flat roofs apply here too — see our complete flat roofing guide for the full comparison. The short version for garages specifically:

GRP and EPDM both significantly outlast felt and are the better long-term choice for most garage roofs. Felt still has a genuine place on a tighter budget or where you don't plan to be in the property for decades — we'll specify honestly rather than push the more expensive option regardless of your situation.

Asbestos — What You Need to Know

Asbestos cement sheets were a very common, cost-effective roofing material for garages — especially sectional, prefabricated concrete garages — right up until it was banned in the UK in 1999. If your garage was built before 2000, there's a real possibility its roof contains asbestos. Built after 2000, it's very unlikely.

The classic warning sign is a grey, corrugated cement sheet with a rough, slightly dimpled texture, sometimes with a printed batch code — "AC" indicates asbestos cement, "C" or "CE" indicates a non-asbestos replacement — though many older panels have no visible marking at all. None of this is a reliable DIY test. Asbestos cannot be safely or accurately identified just by looking.

Our position: we do not handle, disturb or remove suspected asbestos ourselves. If we find or suspect asbestos-containing material on your garage roof, we stop, tell you plainly what we've seen, and point you towards a licensed asbestos specialist for proper testing and safe removal. Once that's done and confirmed clear, we come back and carry out the new roof installation. See our full garage roofs guide for more detail on this.

Building Regs & Planning Permission by Size

Most garage roof replacements need neither planning permission nor formal Building Regulations sign-off, but the exemption depends on real size and construction thresholds, not just "it's a garage."

Electrical work in a garage always needs to comply with Part P regardless of the garage's exemption status for the structure itself. We'll confirm the position for your specific garage as part of the survey, not assume.

Our Process

1. Survey and assess — including checking for signs of asbestos before anything else is agreed.
2. Confirm the Building Regs position — based on your garage's actual size, construction and boundary distance.
3. Specify the material honestly — GRP, EPDM or felt, matched to your budget and how long you plan to stay.
4. Install to specification — with correct falls and edge details for a genuinely watertight result.
5. Written guarantee — every garage roof backed the same as any other job we do.

Garage Roofs, Area by Area

We install and repair garage roofs across the whole of Merseyside and West Lancashire, with the same honest, safety-first approach described on this page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Summary

A garage roof looks like a small, simple job, and often it is — but the two things worth getting right are recognising a potential asbestos roof rather than guessing, and understanding that most garage roof replacements don't need Building Regs or planning permission at all given typical UK garage sizes. Get an honest material recommendation, a straight answer on compliance, and you're set.

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