Roofs structures for low-cost housing cost comparison for various roofing materials

Abstract

The cost of roof covering represents a rather large proportion of the total cost of a low-cost housel) and an even larger part of the cost of a simple shelter comprising main walls, roof support structure and roof covering only2) .The above leads to large. scale application of roof covering materials at the bottom of the cost scale. The main products 3 in this category are ): corrugated galvanised iron sheeting; - corrugated asbestos-cement sheeting; concrete roofing tiles; burnt clay roofing tiles.Until recently the cheapest available material was corrugated galvanised iron sheeting. This material, manufactured locally out of imported raw materials, was cheaper than products made entirely out of local materials (burnt clay and concrete tiles) and than material with low import content manufactured in a neighbouring country (asbestos-cement from Uganda).