On a housing development running over multiple phases, the most common cause of quality issues on the roofing package is not poor workmanship on any individual plot. It is drift. The first plots roofed at the start of phase one are typically built to a high standard because everyone is paying attention. By plot fifty, the focus has moved on. By phase three, the team that started the scheme has partly turned over and the original quality expectations have started to slide. ISO 9001 certification is what stops that drift.
Why drift is the biggest quality risk on housing schemes
Most new build roofing defects identified at NHBC sign-off or post-completion inspection are not the result of wholesale failure. They are the result of small, repeated inconsistencies. A felt overlap that varies plot by plot. A fixing schedule that is followed rigorously on some plots and approximated on others. Ventilation detailing that is correct in principle but executed differently by different operatives across a long programme.
These are not catastrophic failures. They are exactly the kind of issue that ISO 9001 certification is designed to prevent — variations in process that build up over time and degrade the quality of the finished product. On a roofing programme delivering hundreds of plots over several years, the protection that a certified quality management system provides is significant.
What ISO 9001 changes in practice
ISO 9001 certification requires a contractor to operate a documented quality management system covering planning, execution, monitoring, and continual improvement. For Globe Roofing, this translates into specific outputs that developers, QSs, and warranty providers can verify on every plot.
Fixing schedules are documented and applied consistently across plot types. Felt and batten specifications are recorded in the plot-specific quality plan. Ventilation provision is verified against the design at first fix and again at completion. Inspection records are produced for each plot to a defined format. Non-conformance reports follow a structured route from identification to closure, with corrective action tracked rather than informally resolved on site. Subcontractor competency is verified before mobilisation and re-verified through the programme.
None of this is unusual in principle. What ISO 9001 certification provides is independent verification that these systems exist, are documented, and are actually being used — not just described in a tender response.
The connection to NHBC, LABC and Premier
Globe Roofing’s NHBC, LABC, and Premier Guarantee accreditations cover the new build housing work the business carries out. These warranty bodies have their own inspection regimes, but they are inspection regimes that work most effectively when the contractor’s underlying quality management system is robust. ISO 9001 certification provides the underlying system that warranty body inspections sit on top of.
For a developer, this means that the documentation a warranty inspector reviews — fixing schedules, ventilation calculations, batten specifications, completion records — is generated as part of the contractor’s standard quality process, not assembled retrospectively when an inspection is announced. Warranty sign-off becomes faster and more predictable because the documentation is always current.
Subcontractor consistency
Globe Roofing operates with subcontractor crews, which is standard practice in commercial roofing. The risk in any subcontractor model is that quality varies between crews. ISO 9001 certification addresses this by requiring that subcontractor management is documented, that competency is verified, and that the same procedural expectations apply to subcontracted operatives as to directly employed staff.
On a multi-phase scheme, this means a developer can rely on the same standard of work in phase five as was delivered in phase one, even though the operative crews may have changed several times over. The standard lives in the system, not in the individuals.
Documentation that supports handover and post-completion
Roofing defects identified after completion can be expensive to resolve, particularly on social housing regeneration schemes where access has been handed back to residents. ISO 9001 certification produces a documented audit trail for each plot, recording what was specified, what was installed, who installed it, and when it was inspected. This documentation supports the developer’s defects management process and protects against disputes about scope, materials, or workmanship after completion.
Why this matters at procurement stage
For a QS evaluating roofing tenders for a new build or regeneration scheme, ISO 9001 certification is not a procurement ornament. It is direct evidence that the contractor has the systems in place to maintain consistent quality across hundreds of plots and multiple phases. Combined with NHBC, LABC, and Premier Guarantee accreditation, it provides the basis for awarding a roofing package with confidence that quality will hold up across the full life of the development.
Talk to Globe Roofing
To discuss how Globe Roofing’s quality management approach supports your scheme, contact us on 01223 890727 or email enquiries@theglobegroup.co.uk.
