WHAT IS PORTFOLIO STRUCTURAL SCREENING?
Portfolio structural screening is a desk review of every roof in a solar programme before any design is fixed. Each site is checked against its own snow and wind loads, its roof covering and its roof form, and sorted into roofs likely to take an array with a standard check, roofs that need a signed desktop report, and roofs that need an engineer on site. It tells a programme owner where the structural risk sits before money is committed, so the surveys and reports go where they are needed.
HOW A PROGRAMME RUNS
Site List to Signed Answer: Four Stages
Free first-pass screen
Send us your site list: postcodes, and the roof type if you have it. We aim to return a first-pass screen within 48 hours, with a map flagging the sites likely to need more than a standard check. No charge and no obligation.
Desktop structural reports
Every site that needs one gets a desktop structural roof loading report, at our standard prices, issued in batches. We aim to issue within 48 hours of complete information.
Site surveys where they are needed
Measured surveys of the roof structure, with a drone record of roof condition, only where the desk check calls for one. Scheduled in batches by region.
Sign-off, and remedial design if needed
A signed structural answer for every roof. Where a roof cannot carry the array, the report states the strengthening or layout change required. Detailed strengthening design is quoted separately.
WHY SCREEN FIRST
Structural Risk Is Not Spread Evenly Across a Portfolio
Figures from our open UK Roof Plane Dataset 2026: 651 buildings and homes assessed for solar, every figure taken from an issued structural report.
36%
Schools, and faith and community buildings
Of each group, 36% used 90% or more of their roof capacity once panels and snow were counted.
1 in 5
Risk sits in the complex sites
One building in five carries more than half of the commercial roof. Those are the sites where a quick check is least reliable.
51–96%
Altitude sets the headroom
Median capacity used on homes rose from 51% below 50 m to 96% at 150 m and above, and on commercial roofs from 61% to 92%. Snow and altitude, not the panels, decide the margin.
83%
Fibre cement showed a condition issue
A visible condition issue was photographed on 83% of fibre cement roofs, against 51% of profiled metal.
WHO IT IS FOR
Built for Programmes, Not One-Off Roofs
A programme needs one route for every roof, one report format and a turnaround that keeps installation moving.
Contractors on Public-Sector Solar Awards
Schools, NHS, councils and housing: every roof on the award screened before you mobilise.
Funded, PPA and Asset Owners
Arrays on roofs you do not own, for twenty years or more: structural due diligence before you sign.
Multi-Site Estates
Trusts, councils, housing associations, charities and logistics estates: know which roofs can take solar before you tender.
Installers and EPCs with Volume Pipelines
One route for every roof, one report format, and a turnaround that keeps the programme moving.
WHAT YOU GET BACK
A Result for Every Site, in One Register
- A portfolio register (Excel) with a result for every site
- A signed report for every site that needs one, checked and signed by a qualified structural engineer
- Loads to the Eurocodes and UK National Annexes; array wind actions to BRE Digest 489
- For MCS installations, the MIS 3002 position set out clause by clause
- Clear outcomes: suitable, suitable with conditions, or what is needed first
One Portfolio Register
Status, result and report reference for every site in one place, matched to your own site references.
A Named Engineer
One engineer for the programme, with batch turnaround and priority scheduling.
Evidence That Stands Up
Reports written to stand up to insurers, lenders and MCS assessors.
PRICES
Standard Prices, Published Up Front
The first-pass screen is free. Desktop structural roof loading reports are from £130 for a house and from £150 for a commercial building. Site surveys are quoted per site, with a fixed quote usually within 24 hours.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Solar Programmes: Structural Questions
What is a first-pass screen?
An indicative desk screen of every site on your list, from the same screening tool as our free online pre-check. It flags the roofs likely to need more than a standard check. It is not a structural assessment and does not replace a signed report.
Is the first-pass screen really free?
Yes. There is no charge and no obligation. The paid work is the signed report on each site that needs one.
Do you visit every site?
No. We start desk first and visit only where the desk check calls for it, for example where the structure, the fixings or the condition of the roof cannot be confirmed from the information available.
Which areas do you cover?
The whole of the UK and Ireland. Site surveys are scheduled in batches by region to keep travel down.
Can you work to our procurement process?
Yes. We complete supplier questionnaires and send our supplier pack, with insurances, policies and health and safety documents, on request.
Does MCS require a structural engineer on every roof?
No. MIS 3002 requires a structural check by a suitably competent person on every MCS installation, and a qualified structural engineer in named cases, such as a roof pitch under 30 degrees and every ballasted flat roof. Our own standard is a signed engineer's check on every roof. Read the MIS 3002 checklist.
RELATED
Where This Fits
Desktop Structural Roof Loading Reports
The signed report used for most sites on a programme. 48-hour benchmark.
Desktop ReportsStructural Surveys
Measured surveys of the roof structure where the desk check calls for one.
Structural SurveysFrameworks and DPS
How we work in a contractor's supply chain on public-sector frameworks.
Frameworks & DPSSTART A PROGRAMME
Start with
Ten Postcodes.
Send them to contact@solarsurveys.co.uk with “portfolio pre-check” in the subject, or call 0141 628 9009. We aim to return the screen within 48 hours.