The roof when buying or selling a house in Pennsylvania

Updated November 10, 2026 · KeystoneProGuide editorial team

Does a Pennsylvania seller have to disclose roof problems?

Yes, if the seller knows about them. Pennsylvania's seller disclosure law requires anyone selling an interest in real property to disclose any material defects known to the seller, on a property disclosure statement delivered to the buyer before the agreement of sale is signed. The law says the form, written by the State Real Estate Commission, must call for disclosures on a list of subjects, and the roof is the third item on that list, after the seller's own expertise in building matters and when the seller last occupied the property.

Two limits are written into the law. The seller does not have to make any specific investigation to complete the form. But the seller may not make representations they know, or have reason to know, are false or misleading, and may not fail to disclose a known material defect.

For a seller, a roof leak you know about belongs on the form. For a buyer, the form tells you what the seller knows, not what an expert would find.

Does a home inspection cover the roof?

Usually as part of the house, but within limits that the law spells out. Pennsylvania's Home Inspection Law defines a home inspection as a noninvasive visual examination of some combination of a home's mechanical, electrical or plumbing systems or its structural and essential components, done for a fee in connection with a sale. Every report must include a conspicuous statement that the inspection is based on the visible and apparent condition of the structure on the day it took place, and that it makes no representation about concealed defects that a competent inspection could not reasonably find.

The report, in other words, speaks only to what could be seen that day. The required statement also says that if the inspector is not a licensed structural engineer or similar professional, you may be advised to seek a professional opinion on any defects mentioned.

Is a roof-only inspection a home inspection?

No, and the law says so in so many words. The definition excludes an examination of a single system or component of a house, and it gives the roof as an example, alongside the electrical and plumbing systems. A separate roof inspection by a roofer therefore falls outside the law's definition of a home inspection. Angi's cost survey puts a roof inspection at around $240 on average.

A roofer who inspects the roof may also offer to do the repairs. The law's ban on that kind of overlap is aimed at home inspectors: it makes it an unfair practice for a home inspector, or the inspector's employer, to perform or offer repairs for a fee on a house it reported on in the past 12 months. When a roofer both finds the problem and quotes the fix, a second quote from another roofer is a sensible check.

Can a home inspector tell you what the roof repair will cost?

Only in a limited way. The law says a home inspector may not give a repair cost estimate, spoken or written, unless the estimate is in the report, names its source, is stated as a range, and is accompanied by a statement that the parties should consider getting an estimate from a contractor who does that kind of repair. For a roof, that contractor is a roofer.

What should a buyer look for on the roof?

The same signs anyone should. The National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA), the trade's association, lists cracked, warped or missing shingles, loose seams, deteriorated flashing and granules collecting in the gutters, and indoors, cracked paint, discolored plasterboard and peeling wallpaper. If the listing or the seller mentions recent hail, the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS), a research organization, says to look first for dents or spatter marks on gutters, downspouts and air conditioning units, and warns that granule loss along the edges of shingles is normal weathering rather than hail damage.

Age matters as a guide. NRCA says most new roofs are designed to give about 20 years of useful service. Ask the seller when the roof was last replaced, and for the paperwork.

What roof paperwork should change hands?

As much as exists. NRCA says a new roof normally carries a manufacturer's warranty on the materials, running from 20 years to a lifetime, and a contractor's workmanship warranty, which is often one or two years. Whether either passes to a new owner depends on its terms, which the sources read do not describe. The Federal Trade Commission says a receipt kept with a warranty proves the date of purchase and that you are the original owner, so the receipt is worth handing over too. Ask for:

1. the manufacturer's warranty certificate;
2. the roofing contract and the contractor's workmanship warranty;
3. any permit and final approval for the work;
4. the receipt or invoice.

Read the transfer terms in each warranty before relying on it.

Does the home improvement law protect a buyer of a new house?

Not for the house itself. The Attorney General's summary of the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act says the construction of a new home is not a home improvement under the law. A roof job on the house after you own it is, once it is priced over $500, so any roofer you hire then must be registered and use a compliant contract. Signs your roof needs work helps you read what you see, roof warranties explains the coverage, and roofers serving the area are on the roofers directory page.

Sources

1. Title 68, Chapter 73: Seller Disclosures, Pennsylvania General Assembly
2. Title 68, Chapter 75: Home Inspections, Pennsylvania General Assembly
3. Resources (frequently asked questions), National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA)
4. How Much Does Roof Replacement Cost? [2026 Data], Angi
5. Is It Hail Damage?, Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS)
6. Warranties, Federal Trade Commission
7. Frequently Asked Questions: Home Improvement Contractor Registration, Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General