What a LeakFREE® Roof Certification records
A LeakFREE® Roof Certification records that one specific roof, at one specific address, on one specific date, met the published LeakFREE® criteria. That is the whole of what the document asserts, and being precise about it is what makes the document useful to a buyer, a lender, an adjuster or a court.
Behind the certificate sits a five-zone inspection called a LeakFREE® Check: interior, attic, exterior, perimeter and rooftop. The findings from those five zones go into a LeakFREE® Roof Inspection Report, and the certification is generated and registered through InspectionPLUS®. A certificate produced outside that platform is not valid.
What the certification is not
A LeakFREE® Roof Certification is not a promise that the roof will never leak. It is not insurance. It is not a service contract, and it is not a manufacturer warranty on materials. Nobody can look at a roof and know what the next decade of weather will do to it.
What the certification does is establish a documented condition on a known date, assessed against criteria that do not move from inspector to inspector or from state to state. That record is what people rely on when a question comes up later.
How long it lasts
The term is set by the findings, the slope, the materials and the condition of the roof. The maximum is ten years. Many certifications run shorter, and a shorter term is a finding, not a downgrade.
The expiration is printed on the certificate as a date, so there is nothing to calculate. Members do not stretch a term to help close a sale. A term that reflects the roof is the reason the document holds up.
If a leak shows up during the term
Contact the accredited member who issued the certification. That member is named on the document and is the point of contact for anything raised during the term.
Two situations come up most often. The first is a leak that develops from normal wear and tear as the roof ages inside the certified period. The second is a condition that the inspection should reasonably have identified and did not. The certificate itself sets out how the issuing member handles each of those, along with any limits, exclusions and the process for raising a claim. Read that section before you need it, and keep the certificate with your property records.
Storm damage, impact damage, work by other trades and alterations to the roof are handled separately. Those count as events rather than ordinary wear, and they generally call for a fresh inspection.
What can end a certification early
Re-inspection is triggered when repairs are performed by anyone other than an NRCIA member. Once someone else has worked on the roof, the roof no longer matches the record, and the record has to catch up.
This catches more homeowners than it should. A satellite installer, a solar crew, a gutter contractor or a handyman resealing a skylight all put fasteners through a roof surface. Before any of them starts, tell your NRCIA member. It is a short phone call that keeps the certification intact.
Who can issue one
A LeakFREE® Roof Certification is issued by the accredited individual who performed the inspection, never by a company. The person signs it, so the person stands behind it.
LeakFREE® is our federally registered trademark. Only NRCIA members can issue a LeakFREE® certification.
NRCIA does not inspect roofs, write reports, perform repairs or certify properties. We set the standard, we train and accredit the members who do that work, we administer the certification system, and we maintain the directory that tells you who is currently accredited.
Find an accredited inspector
Search the NRCIA member directory for an accredited inspector near you.
LeakFREE®, Forensic ROOF®, Mr. RoofCheck®, InspectionPLUS®, Today’s Inspection… Tomorrow’s Protection®, and Got Leaks?® are registered trademarks of Field Gate FLP, used by permission. RoofGUARD™, ForensicGUARD™, DisasterGUARD™, E3GUARD™, and Think Like a Raindrop™ are trademarks of Field Gate FLP.
