UK Standard
BS 5534 — Slating & Tiling for Pitched Roofs
BS 5534:2014+A2:2018 — Slating and tiling for pitched roofs and vertical cladding. Code of practice
In short: BS 5534 is the British Standard code of practice for pitched roof tiling and slating, covering headlaps, fixing specifications, and battens.
What BS 5534 covers
The current edition is BS 5534:2014+A2:2018, which superseded the withdrawn A1:2015. It gives recommendations for the design, performance and installation of slates, tiles, shingles and shakes on new-build and re-roofing work, and supports compliance with Building Regulations and NHBC Technical Standards.
The A2:2018 revision strengthened the wind-uplift and fixing rules: structural-stability clauses were revised in line with the Eurocodes, and crucially reliance on the tensile strength of mortar bedding to resist wind uplift was withdrawn — which is why modern ridge and verge details are mechanically fixed (dry-fix) rather than mortar-only.
It sets headlap and fixing requirements that vary with roof pitch and calculated wind load, so every roof is fixed to its own wind-uplift calculation rather than a single rule.
The standard explicitly does not cover the structural design of the roof (rafters/trusses) — that sits with the structural design codes. The roof tile calculator handles tile and batten quantities for your area and pitch.
Official source: BSI Knowledge — BS 5534:2014+A2:2018 (Current). Figures on this page are a plain-English summary for estimating purposes — always refer to the published standard for compliance.