Never underrate the load caused by snow and ice on your roof!

Is your roof still safe? Still too little attention is paid to snow loads on roofs. The collapse of Bad Reichenhall's skating rink in 2006 was just the beginning, to be followed by numerous other disasters. The real snow load does by no means depend on snow depth only. The main factors instead are the nature and structure of individual snow layers. The load may vary considerably due to differing consistencies of individual layers like ice, wet- or powdery snow, to which rain and melt water must be added. Extreme weather conditions are on the rise and so are the risks of exceeding roof loads. In particular, premises of older building fabric or structures carrying additional loads like photovoltaic systems are especially vulnerable.