Broken tiles, a stain on the ceiling, a gutter hanging loose after the wind: the first question is almost always whether the roof needs a repair or a replacement. This section gathers what we have published about repairing a roof: what to do first, how the cause is found, what the law says about permits, VAT, the prices we found and how to pick who does the work. We do not repair roofs: we give information, with sources.
Updated 3 November 2026.
The essentials
- Repairing a roof to keep it as it is needs no permit. The RJUE exempts conservation works: restoration, repair or cleaning. Changing the material, colour or shape is a different matter. See the permit guide.
- Water rarely enters above the stain. Before you pay, find where it comes from. The leak guide shows the most cited causes.
- Do not climb onto the roof. Falls from height are the main risk. In rain or wind, more so.
- VAT. Labour for repairing a home can carry 6%, with conditions. Cleaning is excluded. See the VAT guide.
- Always ask for a written quote, by area and by task. Prices read online are not quotes.
Where to start
- Is the roof letting water in right now? Read the first 48 hours: people first, then evidence, then the insurer.
- Does it drip but you do not know from where? Read the causes of a leak.
- Is it a one-off problem or is the roof at its end? Read repair or replace.
- Know what you want to do? Run quotes through the checker and check the contractor.
Guides in this section
Other guides that cross with this one
- Damaged roof: the first 48 hours
- Roof leaks: causes
- What a roof costs: what we found
- Permits for roof works
- VAT on roof works
- How to choose a roofing contractor
- Warranty on roof works
- Home insurance and storms
- Roofs in a condominium: who pays
- Asbestos-cement roofs: questions and answers
- Damp at home: is it the roof or something else?
- Work at height on the roof: what the law requires of whoever does the job
- Cleaning gutters and downpipes
- Roof insulation: where, techniques, prices and aid
- Damage file and area calculator
What we could not confirm
- Official repair prices. There is no State table or sector-association table we could read. The figures are in the price guide, with the source of each.
- How many broken tiles justify replacing the roof. No source we read gives a number. The decision depends on the state of the structure and on how often the roof has been patched.
Sources (read 3 November 2026)
The sources for each claim are in the guides linked above, in particular: APICER and CTCV, Guia para Projeto e Aplicação de Telhas Cerâmicas (2018); ACT, leaflet Reparação de telhados após intempéries; Regime Jurídico da Urbanização e da Edificação (Decreto-Lei n.º 555/99, as in force); VAT Code, item 2.27 of List I.