What roof renovation costs per square metre in 2026
Starting prices for flat and pitched roofs by covering, the lines a roofer’s quote adds on top, insulation done in the same visit, and a terraced house worked through. The Dutch guides disagree most on tiled roofs, where one starts at almost double the other.
New covering on a flat roof starts at €45 per m² for bitumen in 2026, according to Guides A and C (three Dutch price guides, here called A, B and C, are compared below), with EPDM from €50 and PVC from €55 in Guide A’s figures. Replacing the tiles on a pitched roof starts at €40 per m² for concrete tiles in Guide A and at €75 in Guide B, both including removal of the old tiles. Scaffolding, new underlay and battens, disposal, leadwork, gutters and insulation come on top. On the 50 m² roof worked through below, tiles and labour come to €1,750 and the whole job to €5,775.
Starting prices by roof covering, in three guides
Guide A (tiles page updated August 2026, roof renovation page July 2026), Guide B (roof renovation guide July 2026, zinc from its roof covering guide of June 2026) and Guide C (new roof guide, January 2026) each publish their own figures. Guide B includes VAT and labour. Guide A includes both on its tiles page; its flat-roof figures include materials and labour but do not mention VAT. Guide C does not say.
| Covering | Guide A | Guide B | Guide C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bitumen (flat roof) | from €45 | from €50 | from €45 |
| EPDM (flat roof) | from €50 | from €55 | from €65 |
| PVC (flat roof) | from €55 | from €75 | not listed |
| Concrete tiles, replaced | from €40 | from €75 | from €45 |
| Ceramic tiles, replaced | from €60 | from €95 | from €45 |
| Zinc | not listed | from €80 | not listed |
For flat roofs Guide A gives one average per material rather than a range. Guide C puts concrete and ceramic tiles in one line, which is why both rows show €45. The widest gap is on tiles, where Guide B starts at almost double Guide A. Guide A’s own figure for a whole terraced-house roof of 45 to 55 m², with new underlay and battens, starts at €3,000, or about €55 to €67 per m².
Flat roof: bitumen, EPDM or PVC
The guides agree on the order: bitumen is the cheapest, EPDM costs a little more and lasts longer, PVC is the dearest of the three. Guide B’s own pages differ on lifespan, from 30 to 50 years for EPDM and 20 to 30 for bitumen and PVC.
What moves the price most is whether the old layer can stay. On a 60 m² roof Guide B starts a new bitumen layer over the old one (overlagen) at €3,000 and full replacement, old layer removed, at €3,600. Its EPDM guide of June 2026 gives from €55 per m² over a sound existing layer and from €75 with the old covering taken off. Guide C prices removal and disposal at €10 to €25 per m². An overlay only works when the old layer is sound and the roof can carry the extra weight, which a roofer decides on the roof.
A flat roof that is to carry a terrace is a different project, with its own structural and permit questions; see building a roof terrace on your extension.
Pitched roof: tiles, underlay and battens
Guide A breaks a tile replacement into its parts, VAT included:
- Tiles (material) from €10 per m², by type and quality
- Labour, removing the old tiles and laying the new, from €25 per m²
- Underlay foil (onderdakfolie) from €5 per m², almost always renewed
- Battens and counter-battens from €3 per m²
- Scaffolding from €250 per job
- Disposal of old tiles and rubble from €200
Guide B prices new battens from €15 per m² and adds roof boarding (dakbeschot) from €45 per m² where it has rotted, which usually shows only once the tiles are off. If the old tiles are sound and go back on, the tile material line drops out; labour, underlay, battens and scaffolding stay.
Smaller jobs are priced per job. Guide A puts one loose tile replaced or put back at €100 to €250 including call-out, ridge tiles re-bedded from €750 and the tiles around a valley gutter (kilgoot) from €1,500.
Insulating while the roof is open
With the tiles off and the scaffold up, insulation costs less than as a separate job later. Guide A puts it at €33 to €65 per m² on top of a tile replacement. From the outside its renovation page starts at €40 per m² on a pitched roof and €45 on a flat roof; from the inside at €20 and €25. Guide B starts flat-roof insulation at €30 per m² and pitched-roof insulation at €50.
The ISDE subsidy pays €16.25 per m² for roof insulation carried out in 2025 or later, RVO says, for at least 20 m² and at most 200 m². The material needs an Rd value of at least 3.5 and must be on RVO’s product list, and a company has to fit it. Biobased material adds €5 per m². A new dormer or extension does not qualify. More in our ISDE 2026 guide.
Lead, zinc and gutters
Lead flashings seal the joints around a chimney or dormer and against walls. Guide A starts a small leadwork repair at €700 and advises doing it during a tile replacement; replacing all the leadwork, chimney included, is a larger line it advises having specified separately. Zinc as a covering starts at €80 per m² in Guide B. Guide A starts plastic gutters at €63 per metre, zinc at €75 and downpipes at €25; Guide C starts gutters at €40 per metre. Done while the scaffold is up, gutters avoid a second scaffold bill. See also autumn home maintenance.
Scaffolding, disposal and hourly rates
Scaffolding starts at €250 per job in Guide A and at €300 for hire and erection in Guide C, and a tall house or steep roof needs more of it. Disposal starts at €200 in Guides A and C. These lines do not shrink with the roof, so a small roof costs more per m². Hourly rates start at €40 in Guides A and C and €45 in Guide B, and an inspection from €150 (Guide B).
Worked example: a terraced house, 50 m² of tiles
A 1970s terraced house with 50 m² of worn concrete tiles front and back and sound boarding. New tiles, underlay and battens, insulation from the outside, a small lead repair at the chimney, and new zinc gutters of 5.5 m front and back. All rates are Guide A’s.
- Tiles: 50 m² × €10 = from €500
- Labour: 50 m² × €25 = from €1,250
- Underlay foil: 50 m² × €5 = from €250
- Battens and counter-battens: 50 m² × €3 = from €150
- Scaffolding: from €250
- Disposal: from €200
- Insulation from the outside: 50 m² × €33 = from €1,650
- Lead repair at the chimney: from €700
- Zinc gutters: 11 m × €75 = from €825
Total: from €5,775, or €115.50 per m² of roof. The tile work alone is €2,600, or €52 per m², just under Guide A’s own €3,000 start for a terraced house; Guide B starts a 60 m² tiled roof at €4,500. If the insulation qualifies, the ISDE pays back €812.50. Rotten boarding, asbestos or a taller scaffold each add a line.
Signs a roof needs work
Guide A lists broken or crumbling tiles, tiles shifted after a storm, damp patches in the attic, heavy moss and sagging battens or a wavy roof line. On bitumen Guide B advises checking for cracks, blisters and loose spots, and recommends an inspection every 10 to 15 years: by the time a roof visibly leaks, the damage inside has often started.
VAT: 21 percent, with one exception for insulation
Roofing work carries 21 percent VAT: covering, tiles, battens, leadwork, gutters and scaffolding. The Belastingdienst’s 9 percent list for homes older than two years covers insulating, painting, plastering, wallpapering and cleaning, and roofing is not on it. For insulation only the labour of fitting the insulation material to floors, walls and roofs is at 9 percent; the materials stay at 21 percent, as does demolition before insulating. The two years count from the date the property was first used as a home, and a quote that combines both must split the 9 and 21 percent parts. See VAT on renovation.
Permits, monuments and the VvE
Ordinary maintenance in which the detailing and design do not change is permit-free under article 2.29 of the Bbl, IPLO says. That does not apply to a listed home, and a protected townscape (beschermd stads- of dorpsgezicht) adds conditions. Guide A treats new tiles of the same type and colour as maintenance, and notes that a different type or colour can need a permit or welstand review and a new roof shape always needs a permit. For dormers and listed homes, see dormer cost and monument renovation.
In an apartment building the roof is usually a common part, so the VvE decides. On roofs from before 1994 asbestos can lie under the tiles; a certified company must remove it, and Guide A’s quotes for that start at €11,000 with the tiling. Checking permits and obtaining VvE consent are the homeowner’s responsibility.
LucKey Construction works from Zaandam in Amsterdam, Haarlem, Alkmaar and the rest of North Holland. Its roofing page lists roof repair and emergency repair, inspection and maintenance, roof installation and replacement, roof tile replacement, skylights (dakraam, lichtkoepel, lichtstraat), chimney exterior renewal, painting of wooden elements and Trespa panel replacement. Gutters, leadwork and insulation are not named there, so the written quote after a visit shows whether they are part of the job; it lists materials and labour per item and what you buy yourself. Work areas are cleaned daily, and the work carries a one-year warranty, with insurance against damage. See roofing services, or ask for a quote.
Disclaimer: every figure in this article is a starting point, not a price and not a ceiling. They are national market indications for 2026, drawn from published Dutch price guides and observation of the Amsterdam region, and they describe where work of this kind begins when nothing unusual is found. They are not a quotation, a price list or an offer, and no figure here can be relied on for any particular project. What roof work actually costs depends on the property, the size, pitch and height of the roof, the condition of the boarding, battens and existing covering, the materials chosen, access for scaffolding and the region, and it is fixed only in a written quotation after a property visit and a full calculation. That quotation is the only figure that binds anyone. The legal points are a general summary and not legal advice. Labour rates and material prices change, and the figures here reflect the position in October 2026. Rules on permits, subsidies and VAT change: check anything here that affects a permit, a subsidy or a tax rate with the body responsible for it, which means your municipality and the Omgevingsloket for permits, RVO for the ISDE, and the Belastingdienst for VAT. Responsibility for permits, VvE consent and applications rests with the homeowner, not with the contractor.
