Spray foam removal certificate: what actually exists, and what a surveyor wants

There is no official spray foam removal certificate

Start here, because it saves a lot of wasted searching. No trade body, no government scheme and no insurance backed guarantee provider issues a recognised certificate confirming that spray foam has been removed from a roof. There is no register to check one against and no standard form it takes. If a firm hands you something that looks official, read who issued it. In every case it was issued by the firm that did the work, or by a scheme that firm pays to belong to.

That does not make the document worthless. A written record from the contractor who carried out the work is exactly what you want to have. It is simply not a certificate in the sense people mean when they search for one, and pretending otherwise is how homeowners end up paying extra for a laminated sheet that carries no more weight than a properly written scope of works would have done.

Why so many people think a certificate exists

Two reasons. The first is that roofing and insulation are full of genuine certificates, so the assumption is a fair one. Installers of new insulation often work under a scheme, electrical and gas work carries certification, and building control signs off notifiable work. Removal of spray foam sits outside all of that. It is a roofing job, and roofing repairs and re-covers do not carry a national certificate of their own.

The second reason is that some firms lean on the confusion. A document titled a certificate sells better than a document titled a scope of works, even where the content is identical, and it lets a firm imply a standard they have never been assessed against. When you see the word used, ask who issued it and what exactly they checked. The answer tells you very quickly what the piece of paper is worth.

What a surveyor is actually asking for

A surveyor is not looking for a certificate. They are looking for two things they can report on. The first is a roof void they can physically inspect, with the rafters, purlins and battens visible. The second is a record of what was done to the roof while it was open, because by the time they see it the roof is shut again, and the condition of the timber underneath is the entire question the survey raised.

That is why photographs matter more than any document title. A photograph of a rafter taken after the foam came off and before the new membrane went on is direct evidence of condition. A written scope listing what was removed, what was found, what timber was replaced and what materials went back tells them what changed. Together those two things answer the question. Whether they satisfy any particular surveyor or lender is that person's judgement, not ours to claim.

What you get from us in writing

Photographs of every timber once the covering was off. We take them as a matter of course on every spray foam job, before the new membrane goes anywhere near the rafters, and they cover the whole roof rather than one convenient sample area. Where timber was cut out and replaced, the before and the after are both there. You get them whether the roof came back sound or whether it did not.

A written scope of works setting out what was removed, what was found, what was replaced and what went back on. The materials are named, so the membrane and the battens are identified rather than described in vague terms. And the workmanship guarantee, which runs for ten years and is issued in writing with the job. Full public liability insurance sits behind the work, and we show the insurance certificate on request.

What you will not get from us is a document calling itself a spray foam removal certificate, because we would be inventing it and you would be no better off for having it. What you get is the evidence, in a form your solicitor can forward and your surveyor can read. The scope of the job itself is set out on our spray foam removal page.

Why photographs of the timber beat any certificate

By the time a surveyor comes back, the roof is shut. New membrane, new battens, tiles back on. Everything that was interesting about the job is now behind a finished roof. A certificate says work was carried out by somebody. A photograph of a rafter, taken with the covering off, shows the actual state of the timber the foam had been sitting against, which is the thing the survey flagged in the first place.

It protects you the other way too. If the roof came back sound, you have proof of that rather than a claim about it. If timber was replaced, you have the before shot showing why the money was spent and the after shot showing it was done properly. Two jobs are photographed end to end on this site, and you can follow one of them from foam to finished roof on the Norfolk bungalow we stripped.

What to ask any firm for before they start

Ask before the scaffold goes up, not after, because photographs of the timber cannot be taken retrospectively. Get it in writing that the roof will be photographed once the covering is off, that you will receive a written scope naming the materials used, and that the guarantee is documented with a stated length and stated cover. Ask to see the public liability insurance while you are at it, and check the dates on it.

Then ask the question that separates firms fastest: does the roof covering come off. A firm scraping foam out from inside the loft has no way of photographing the timber above the rafters, because they never see it. That is a paperwork problem as well as a roofing problem, and it is one of the reasons their price looks lower. The breakdown in our guide to spray foam removal cost covers what an honest quote contains.

Keep the record for when you come to sell

Put everything in one folder the day the scaffold comes down, and keep a copy somewhere that is not your loft. Photographs, the written scope, the guarantee and the invoice. When you sell, your solicitor sends that pack out with the rest of the paperwork and it answers the roof question before anybody has to raise it. It also saves you retelling the whole story to a buyer's surveyor two years later from memory.

If the reason you are doing the work is a stalled sale or a remortgage, the order you do things in matters, and our guide on spray foam and your mortgage covers who to speak to before anyone starts quoting. If you are still working out what is actually in your loft, start with open cell vs closed cell foam, which shows you how to tell from the hatch and why it changes the job.

Documents to ask for from whoever does the work

• Photographs of every timber, taken with the covering off and before the new membrane
• A written scope naming what was removed, what was found, what was replaced and what went back
• The materials used, named rather than described in general terms
• The workmanship guarantee in writing, with its length and what it covers
• Sight of the contractor's public liability insurance, and the dates on it
• A dated invoice that matches the scope of works
• Anything your lender or surveyor has specifically asked for, agreed before the start

Common questions