Ladder, tower or scaffold: how the choice is made
Access follows from what the repair needs and how high and awkward the roof is. There are three broad options, and a roofer picks the one that lets the work be done without putting anyone at risk.
- Ladder: for a short, low job on a roof within easy reach, such as one tile near the eaves of a single-storey extension.
- Tower: a wheeled or fixed platform that gives a stable standing place at one spot, useful for a gutter run or a chimney flashing.
- Scaffold: a full frame with platforms and edge protection, for work along a slope, at the ridge or on a tall house.
The height of the eaves matters, and so does what lies below. A garden path, a conservatory roof or a sloping drive all change where a ladder can stand safely. A job that looks small from the pavement can need more access once the roofer sees the back of the house.
Nobody can settle it from a photograph alone. The roofer decides on site, after looking at the roof, which is also why the price comes after the survey.
What the law asks of anyone working at height
The Work at Height Regulations 2005 place the duty on the employer, not on a particular piece of kit. Regulation 6(3) makes the employer responsible for stopping anyone falling far enough to be hurt, where doing so is reasonably practicable.
That wording does not say a small repair needs scaffold, and it does not say a ladder is always fine. It asks the roofer to think about the specific job: the height, the pitch, how long the work will last and what the edge looks like. Where a fall can be prevented by a better platform, the platform is the answer.
For you as a householder, the practical side is simple. A roofer who turns up with a ladder and no plan for the edge is a worry. One who explains how they will reach the work, and how everyone below stays clear, is doing what the regulation asks.
Our page on repairing part of a roof shows how the size of a patch repair connects with the access it needs, and why a small patch on a high slope can still call for a tower.
When a scaffold needs a licence in Kent
A scaffold on your own drive or garden needs no council licence. A scaffold standing on the pavement or the road, or reaching out over either, counts as being on the highway, and that is where the law steps in.
Kent County Council issues the licence in every district around Margate, under section 169 of the Highways Act 1980, and its own guidance has the scaffolding firm making the application, not the householder. The fee for 2026 to 2027 is £52 per week, and the firm applies 5 working days before the start date. Your district council does not issue scaffold licences, so ringing the town hall will not help. Kent County Council's highways line, 03000 41 81 81, answers questions before an application.
On a terraced street where the front wall sits right at the footway, a small repair to the front slope can still need a licence, purely because of where the poles stand. Our guide to the scaffold licence in Kent goes through the process in order.
If you are unsure whether anything reaches the pavement, ask the roofer to confirm which side of your boundary the poles will stand on.
What access does to the price
Expect the scaffold price to follow a survey, because the height, the run of the eaves, the ground and the time the frame stands all feed into it. A figure from a photograph alone would be a guess.
What you can do is read a quote carefully. Check that it states VAT and says whether scaffold or a tower is part of the total. A price that leaves access out can look lower than one that includes it, and the difference then arrives later as an extra.
If the repair is small enough for a ladder, the cost comes down to the roofer's time and the materials, and our guide to slipped tile repair cost shows the scale of those figures. If a scaffold is needed, that is a good moment to ask whether other work could share it, such as gutters, fascias or the chimney, so that you pay for the frame once.
Put the question to any roofer: how will you reach the work, and is that in the total? A clear answer belongs in the written quote, under roof repairs and emergency work.
