Roofer
Also called tinsmith, roof tiler, felt roofer
Roofers cover structures with roofs. They install the weight-bearing elements of a roof, either flat or pitched, then cover it with a weatherproof layer.
What you'd do
Roofers · ILO- Studying drawings, specifications and construction sites to determine materials required
- Covering roof frameworks with slate and pre-fabricated tiles to cover pitched roofs
- Laying a waterproof shield and fixing metallic or synthetic materials to a building’s frame
- Sizing and cutting roofing materials to fit around edges, corners and protuberances such as chimneys
- Using natural materials such as thatching to provide roof coverings
- Creating temporary structures such as scaffolding and ladders
- Mostly outdoors
- On your feet most of the day
- Constant contact with people
- Little freedom to decide
- Usually 40 hours a week
- Deadlines every day
- Some repetitive tasks
Will there be jobs?
Yes, good prospects15 EU countries are short of roofers now, but fewer jobs than in most work will need filling by 2035.
Solid: measured. Dashed: forecast.
What does it pay?
About averagePay depends a lot on the country: from about €1,000 a month (Bulgaria) to €5,500 (Denmark), before tax.
Pick a country at the top of the page to see typical pay there, for people under 30, and compared with all jobs.
Among craft and related trades workers in the EU, women earn 26% less per hour than men. Craft and related trades workers · Eurostat
What do I need to study?
Upper secondary or vocationalUpper secondary or vocational training in building and civil engineering is the usual route.
Pick a country at the top of the page to see where to study and the official course finders.
Will AI change it?
Very littleAI could help with only small parts of the tasks.
Average task score 0.13 on a scale from 0 (AI can't do it) to 1 (AI could do it fully).
See the score for each of the 6 tasks
Based on what AI could technically do when assessed in 2025. It is not a forecast for a future year, and not a forecast of job losses. Scores for roofers. Source: ILO (2025), adapted (credits).