Research · Paper 10 · August 2026
Asbestos cement sheeting stops more commercial solar schemes than any other single covering, and the reason is not the one most people expect. It rarely fails on the weight of the array. It fails on wind uplift, and the fixing detail is the part that gives way.
% of asbestos cement roofs in our 575-roof dataset failed wind uplift assessment.
Roofs in that dataset were roofed in asbestos cement.
Of them can be loaded for access, which changes how the survey is carried out.
01 · The mechanism
An array on a roof plane alters the airflow across it and generates suction, concentrated at edges and corners. That suction is resisted by the fixings holding the sheet to the structure beneath.
The published figureAcross 575 UK commercial rooftops assessed between 2024 and 2026, asbestos cement accounted for one roof in ten, and 62% of those failed wind uplift assessment. Both figures are published in full, with method and limitations, on the PV Structural Feasibility Dataset.
Asbestos cement has low tensile capacity and does not deform before failing. The fixings through it are commonly of the same age as the sheet, have corroded, and were detailed for a roof carrying nothing but itself. Neither element was designed for a sustained uplift demand applied at discrete points.
The dead load of modules and mounting is modest, and a calculation confined to it returns a comfortable answer. The governing case is the combination under BS EN 1990, with wind actions to BS EN 1991-1-4 and its UK National Annex and array uplift derived using BRE Digest 489. The uplift is what the fixings must resist, and the fixings are what fails.
A brittle sheet with a corroded fixing does not degrade visibly toward failure in a way that an inspection from the ground will catch. This is a material where condition and capacity are not the same enquiry.
02 · What it does to the survey
The covering will not safely bear a person. The condition of the covering is therefore recorded from the air, and the structural arrangement is recorded from below, in a single attendance. This is a method constraint, not a reduction in what is established.
Their condition where they pass through the sheet governs the answer and cannot be established from either vantage without opening up. Where that is the case, the report should say so rather than infer it — on this material an assumed fixing condition is the assumption most likely to be wrong.
They are frequently the most fragile element of the roof, are often the same profile and colour as the sheet around them, and are not reliably distinguishable from above.
03 · What follows
It ends the scheme as drawn. Revised layout that keeps modules out of the highest-suction zones, a different mounting approach, or replacement of the covering as part of the works are all routes that have been taken. Which is appropriate depends on the building and on what else the roof needs.
A covering that cannot resist array uplift is a covering with an identified condition and fixing problem. That is worth knowing regardless of whether solar proceeds, and it is frequently the first time anybody has established it.
04 · Basis and limitations
05 · Citation
Suggested citation
Raihan, S. (2026) Asbestos Cement and the Uplift Failure. Solar Surveys Research, Paper 05. Solar Surveys Ltd. Available at: https://solarsurveys.co.uk/research/asbestos-cement-and-the-uplift-failure
Published under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. Reproduce, quote and build on this with attribution. Writing about it and want something clarified, or a point expanded? Ask. We would rather it was reported correctly than quickly.
Solar Surveys Research
On-site structural surveys and roof condition assessments for commercial buildings across the UK, signed by a qualified structural engineer.