Do Roof Tiles Need Clips?

What a tile clip is

A tile clip is a small, bent piece of corrosion-resistant metal, often stainless steel or galvanised, that hooks over the lower edge of a tile and fixes to the batten with a nail or screw. It stops the tile from lifting in the wind, and from sliding if the nibs have worn. Different clips suit different tiles: some are for plain clay tiles, some for interlocking concrete tiles, and others are shaped for the verge, where the exposure is greatest.

Clips are different from nails. A nail goes through a hole in the tile and holds it by friction and shank. A clip leaves the tile intact and grips an edge, which makes it useful on tiles that have no nail holes or where the holes are already stressed. Many roofs use a mixture of both.

What the standard asks for

BS 5534:2014 is the British Standard for slating and tiling. It sets out how fixings are chosen according to wind loading, the pitch and the position on the roof. Among its requirements, ridge, hip and verge pieces must be held by mechanical fixings, with mortar alone no longer trusted to keep them there. You can read more in our guide to BS 5534 roof tile fixing.

For the main field of tiles, the amount of fixing depends on calculated wind uplift for your location. A site on a hill, with open land around it, sees stronger gusts than a house in a sheltered estate, and a taller house sees more than a bungalow. Older roofs were often laid before these rules, with tiles that rely on weight and nibs alone. That does not mean they will fail, but it does mean a repair is a good chance to improve the fixing.

Where clips matter most

Edges are where wind does most damage. The eaves, the ridge, the hips and the verge are exposed to uplift, and a tile that lifts there lets the wind under the neighbours, which then go in turn. Verge tiles in particular take a pounding, which is why a clip or a mechanical dry-verge system is standard at the gable. Our guide to dry verge systems covers the alternative to mortar.

Clips are also useful when you are carrying out a repair. If you replace a single tile on an old roof, a clip can hold it securely without disturbing the neighbours. Our answer on why roof tiles lift in the wind explains what happens when they are missing.

Clips, nails and the type of tile

The best fixing depends on the tile. Plain clay tiles are typically hung by nibs and nailed in some courses, with extra nails or clips in the exposed courses. Interlocking concrete tiles are usually nailed or clipped according to a fixing schedule from the maker, which sets out how many tiles in each row are fixed for a given wind zone. Slates are nailed, with a tail clip on exposed roofs.

That schedule is worth following. A tile maker's guarantee often depends on the fixings, and a roof that has been laid to the schedule is easier to defend if something goes wrong. A good roofer works from it, not from habit. If your roof was fitted long ago, a modern repair is an opportunity to bring a few key areas up to current practice, such as the eaves course and the tiles beside the verge.

The cost of getting it wrong

A roof that loses tiles in a storm costs more than the repair bill. Once the underlay is exposed, rain gets in, the battens soak and the insulation below can be ruined. Clips are cheap compared to those consequences. Putting a clip on the tiles at the edges, where a storm bites first, is among the least expensive improvements you can make to a roof that is otherwise sound.

Signs your roof needs more fixings

Look for tiles that rattle or lift in the wind, ridge tiles that have shifted, rows of tiles that have slipped down the roof, and a clean line along the verge where tiles have gone. Fragments in the garden after a storm are another clue. In the loft, daylight at the edge of the roof or damp felt at the eaves suggest uplift or slippage.

When we survey a roof, we check the fixings with the tiles still in place, by lifting a few at the verge and the eaves. If the fixings are missing, rusted or too few, we say so and show you photographs of what we found. The fix may be a handful of clips or a more thorough re-fix. Our full tiled-roof service is on our pitched roofing in Basingstoke page.