Re-roofing/renovations and insurance

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › Re-roofing/renovations and insurance - what’s the deal?

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Bung

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#3364354 15-Apr-2025 17:34

richms: I was told I had to have a 60k tent over the house to get an asbestos fake tile removal and reroof done. Is that not the case?

A local house that had asbestos cement corrugated roofing just had it replaced with Colorsteel. No tenting involved. Discussing this with a builder, he wasn't aware that the asbestos would require tenting maybe the risk of the roof being exposed to weather. 60k seems crazy.

mattwnz

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#3364371 15-Apr-2025 18:34

What if they take a lot longer than 3 weeks? Make sure you get very good roofers.

Ragnor

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#3366621 23-Apr-2025 01:12

The roofer's insurance is not going to cover your contents which of course their insurer has no details off at all.

Also your existing home and contents insurance will have exclusions and limits related to renovation

You will need to check your policies and ask a copy of their policy then you can identify how big the gaps you might want to cover are.

For any renovation you'll want to weight up the risk/size of the job and consider getting contract works insurance... but like any insurance it's a matter of how risk adverse (or not) you are.

If you were mid re-roofing during the easter storm in Auckland (or the cyclone or the anniversay floods in 2023) you'd probably be very thankful you had contact works insurance.

johno1234

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#3366640 23-Apr-2025 07:48

richms: I was told I had to have a 60k tent over the house to get an asbestos fake tile removal and reroof done. Is that not the case?

We shopped around for a reroof with old “Super6” asbestos and had with/without tent. They all had fall protection scaffolding. The price difference was about $50k. If the asbestos panels can be removed in one piece without cutting or breaking and kept damp I don’t see the need for tenting.

johno1234

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#3366641 23-Apr-2025 07:50

mattwnz:

What if they take a lot longer than 3 weeks? Make sure you get very good roofers.

Have done several reroofs over the years and none took more than a few days.

fearandloathing

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#3366643 23-Apr-2025 08:06

Interesting, I am with State insurance. When I phoned them they informed me I didn’t need any additional cover as no structural changes were being made.

Eva888

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#3366673 23-Apr-2025 09:45

fearandloathing:

Interesting, I am with State insurance. When I phoned them they informed me I didn’t need any additional cover as no structural changes were being made.

I'm with State and they said I must have the extra insurance since it was a re-roof and the house would be exposed to the elements. Had to answer a lot of questions to prove there would be minor risk and also it was dependant on the contract price as well. Cost was $650 I think almost a year ago for a months insurance which was extendable. Our job took up most of that because of the windy days when they couldn’t work.

I asked the roofer and a builder if it was a usual and necessary thing and both said yes. State told me they would not cover me if there was damage and I didn’t take out the extra insurance.

I would call State again and ask for it in writing. They do have new policies which everyone has been moved to so maybe that’s why it is now possibly covered, but check. Seems unusual that they wouldn’t require it.

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fearandloathing

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#3366725 23-Apr-2025 12:08

Eva888:

I would call State again and ask for it in writing. They do have new policies which everyone has been moved to so maybe that’s why it is now possibly covered, but check. Seems unusual that they wouldn’t require it.

there is no point in that, the roof is done and dusted.

richms

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#3366790 23-Apr-2025 15:43

johno1234:

richms: I was told I had to have a 60k tent over the house to get an asbestos fake tile removal and reroof done. Is that not the case?

We shopped around for a reroof with old “Super6” asbestos and had with/without tent. They all had fall protection scaffolding. The price difference was about $50k. If the asbestos panels can be removed in one piece without cutting or breaking and kept damp I don’t see the need for tenting.

Im just going to keep siliconing the rusty parts and badly placed nails until its time to demo the whole house. Not worth putting the money into it when the site would be better redeveloped. Its just the ugly stones on the metal tiles that have it in for some reason, no idea why removing the roof is such a problem but all the stones falling off isnt.

Richard rich.ms

mattwnz

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#3366865 23-Apr-2025 16:53

johno1234:

mattwnz:

What if they take a lot longer than 3 weeks? Make sure you get very good roofers.

Have done several reroofs over the years and none took more than a few days.

You're lucky then.

Bung

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#3366890 23-Apr-2025 18:19

richms:

Im just going to keep siliconing the rusty parts and badly placed nails until its time to demo the whole house. Not worth putting the money into it when the site would be better redeveloped. Its just the ugly stones on the metal tiles that have it in for some reason, no idea why removing the roof is such a problem but all the stones falling off isnt.

The story that was being told by a roofing contractor on the old TradeMe forum was that some Decramastic tiles had asbestos in the priming coat the chips were stuck to. The contractors tried to get WorkSafe to allow them to remove the tiles rather than involve specialist asbestos removal firms. That must have failed. If it is true that not all Decramastic had that primer it might be worth getting your sample tested.

jayemm

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#3366909 23-Apr-2025 20:16

The roofing contractor's insurance is for their benefit covering their LEGAL liability for property damage caused by their negligence. If they take all reasonable precautions to safeguard the property they are unlikely to be legally liable unless you can prove they were in some way negligent. Far better to have your own cover in place

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