New safety guidance addressing rooflight covers and permanent wire mesh systems is now available from The Rooflight Association.
Rooflighting Safety Bulletin 2025/1 was produced collaboratively with the National Federation of Roofing Contractors (NFRC) and The Advisory Committee for Roofsafety (ACR) in response to an increasing number of complaints received by members’ customers relating to these products.
The primary message is that permanently fixed rooflight covers and framed wire mesh systems are not subject to safety legislation, and impact on rooflight performance. As such, The Rooflight Association cannot condone or support their use.
Free to download, the document highlights concern around unregulated installation practices and misuse and explores the key issues, including unproven safety benefit; impact on Building Regulations compliance; increased building energy consumption and costs; damage to roofs and rooflights; and invalidation of product guarantees and installation warranties, and provides practical recommendations.
The guidance is most applicable to roofing contractors and rooflight installers working on large-span metal clad industrial, commercial and storage buildings, predominantly, and relates to all in-plane rooflights.
In the short-term, roofing contractors will be impacted by call backs to defects not of their making. Long-term, building owners or tenants will likely suffer from poorer energy performing buildings and roofs and/or rooflights with faults not covered by any guarantee or warranty.
The increased demand for roof mounted solar PV panel systems is driving demand for these systems for both retrofit and new build projects which are being supplied with the best intention of improving the safety of roofs.
However, site inspection reports now commonly show these systems installed over rooflights have negatively impacted the original roof and rooflight installation by way of new unsealed penetrations, poorly inserted fasteners, surface abrasion etc. which create leaks, invalidated service life guarantees and potentially compromise the non-fragility classification of the roof assembly. There are also anecdotal reports of these products being used as platforms for the temporary storage of tools and materials, thereby further risking damage to the underlying rooflights.
Rather than install these permanent devices, the Rooflight Association recommends the use of temporary safety systems when any works are being carried out in the proximity of rooflights, or the replacement of old rooflights to best ensure that the rooflights are safe and non-fragile.
In new build applications, new rooflights correctly specified and supplied by Rooflight Association members are tested to demonstrate non-fragile performance, therefore, these systems are of little benefit.
Rooflight covers impede rooflight performance potentially leading to increased energy costs, poor occupant health and wellbeing, and reduced productivity. For example, consider the effective reduction in daylighting when any safety device is fitted over the top. Typically, around 6% of the rooflight area is lost for unframed systems and up to 14% or more when framed systems and larger diameter wire mesh covers are used. This can impact compliance with Building Regulations. Therefore, replacement rooflights can be a more attractive and cost-effective option when all factors are taken into consideration.
The Rooflight Association urges roofing contractors and rooflight manufacturers and installers to study the safety issues and technical reasons which are fully explained in Rooflighting Safety Bulletin 2025/1 and share these with current and prospective customers to inform better decision-making. So too, the message that roofs with non-fragile rooflights and PV panels can work in perfect harmony without the need for rooflight covers.
For further information, please refer to www.rooflightassociation.org and www.nfrc.co.uk. For further safe access and roof work practices, please refer to the HSE’s guidance document HSG33, Health & Safety in Roof Work.
