Your roof · 5 min read
Slate, tile or flat: what your roof covering changes
How solar rails are fixed on slate, tiles and flat roofs, what the survey looks for, and why the covering moves the price.
Read the guide
Survey day
Survey day, from the loft hatch to the meter.
Your roof is measured and priced before anyone visits. The survey is where those numbers meet the house: the rafters, the electrics and the space around it. Nothing is signed on the day.
- What it confirms
- Our numbers
- Photos taken for
- Your installer
- Signed on the day
- Nothing
Why a survey
A check, not a pitch.
Most of what a survey used to start with, we already have. Pitch, orientation, usable area, shading, obstructions and covering are read from aerial imagery before a visit is booked. That changes what the visit is for. Nobody arrives to size a system or to sell one. The surveyor arrives with our numbers and one job: to check them.
What the air can’t see is inside the roof and behind the meter: whether the rafters are sound for the rails, whether the consumer unit has room for the solar circuit, where a cable can run and where the scaffold can stand. The visit is built around those questions, and around anything that could move the price.
The survey-day checklist
Survey day
The visit that checks our numbers.
A surveyor comes to confirm what we read from above and to see what the air can’t. They measure, check, photograph and explain. Then they leave.
Survey · EX4Roof read from above ✓
Roof and loft
- Rafters and battens, sound for the rails
- The covering, where the fixings go
- A route through the loft for the cable
Electrics
- Room in the consumer unit for the solar circuit
- Earthing and the meter
- A wall for the inverter
Access
- Where the scaffold stands
- A spot for a battery, if you want one
Before they leave
- Photos for the installer, so nobody asks twice
- Anything that could move the price, explained
Signed on the day: nothing.
What to have ready
What helps on the day.
Three things to have ready, and one to mention.
- 01
Access to the loft hatch
The loft is where the rafters are checked and the cable route is found, so the surveyor needs to get up there.
- 02
A clear path to the meter
The consumer unit, the earthing and the meter are all checked, so the surveyor needs to reach the fuse box and the meter.
- 03
Any questions, however small
The surveyor is there to explain as well as to check. Ask about anything on the estimate.
- 04
Car or heat pump plans
Either can change the array we size, the inverter we choose and whether a battery earns its place, so mention them on the day.
If the price moves
What the survey can change, and what stays the same.
If anything moves the price, you’ll know why before you sign.
What it can change
- Fixings, if the rafters need extra
- Work on a consumer unit with no room for the solar circuit
- How the rails are fixed to the covering
What stays the same
- The seven checks every installer must hold
- The battery, priced both ways
- One introduction, not a list
- Nothing signed on the day
After you say yes
From postcode to switch-on, we stay on it.
- 01
Estimate
Your roof sized and priced from above.
- 02
Survey
A surveyor confirms the roof and checks what the air can’t see.
- 03
Introduction
One installer, their quote already checked against the market.
- 04
Install
Grid approval first, if the system needs it. Then scaffold, array, inverter, and a battery if you chose one.
- 05
Sign-off
Certificates issued, the grid notified, your export payments applied for. We chase until each is done.
- 06 · coming
Monitor
Monitoring, planned for a later phase.
Survey day · questions
Asked before survey day.
01Do I need to be at home?
Yes, or someone who can let the surveyor into the loft and show them the fuse box and meter. It is also your chance to ask questions, however small.
02Will the surveyor try to sell me anything?
No. The survey is a check, not a pitch: the surveyor confirms our numbers, explains anything that could move the price and leaves. Signed on the day: nothing.
03What if the survey finds a problem?
The surveyor explains it before they leave and photographs it for the installer. If it moves the price, you’ll know why before you sign.
04What happens after the survey?
We introduce one installer, their quote already checked against the market. The survey notes and photos go with the introduction, so nobody asks you the same question twice.
From the guides
Read more before you decide.
Every guide explains one part of the job in plain English.
Before you buy · 5 min read
Survey day: what happens, and how to get ready
What the surveyor checks on the roof, in the loft and at the fuse box, what to have ready, and what happens once they have gone.
Read the guide
Your roof · 5 min read
What an aerial roof reading can and can’t tell you
The six things we read from above before anyone visits, how each one shapes the estimate, and what only a survey can see.
Read the guideKeep reading
The rest of the service.
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Your estimate
Your roof sized and priced from above
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The installer match
Seven checks, then one name
-
Car, heat pump and hot water
Planned into the array
Estimate or survey
Start with a postcode.
Our estimate is free. If you proceed to survey, our partner installer invoices you directly; we receive a referral fee from them, never from you, and it never affects which installer we introduce.
We use these details only to send your estimate and arrange a survey. Privacy Policy
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