Federal OSHA cited roofing contractors 10,644 times across 4,267 inspections in fiscal year 2025 (October 2024 through September 2025), assessing $46,579,631 in penalties, according to OSHA’s Frequently Cited Standards database for NAICS 238160. One standard, fall protection (1926.501), accounts for a third of every roofing citation and well over half of the penalty dollars. This report ranks the standards OSHA writes up most often on roofing jobs, attaches the average penalty behind each, and explains why the same handful of rules keep showing up year after year.
This is a citations dataset, not a fatality count. For who is dying on roofs and why, see our Roofing Safety and Fatality Report. For what those risks cost to insure, see the Roofing Workers’ Compensation Report.
Key findings: OSHA roofing violations in FY2025
Roofing enforcement concentrates in a narrow band of standards. Four rules produce roughly seven in ten citations, and anything involving falls dominates both the counts and the dollars. The figures below come directly from OSHA’s NAICS 238160 citation table for the federal fiscal year ending September 30, 2025.
- 10,644 citations were issued to roofing contractors across 4,267 inspections, averaging about 2.5 citations per inspection.
- Fall protection (1926.501) was cited 3,692 times, or 34.7% of all roofing citations, and carried $27.0 million in penalties, 58% of the roofing total.
- The top four standards, fall protection, ladders, fall-protection training, and eye and face protection, together made up 71.7% of every roofing citation.
- The average penalty per roofing citation was about $4,376, but fall-protection citations averaged roughly $7,314 each, well above the field.
- Fall-related standards as a group (1926.501, .502, .503, and head protection 1926.100) accounted for 5,855 citations and about $32.1 million in penalties.
What are the most-cited OSHA standards in roofing?
The most-cited OSHA standard in roofing is 1926.501, the general duty to have fall protection, with 3,692 citations in FY2025. It is followed by ladders (1926.1053), fall-protection training (1926.503), and eye and face protection (1926.102). The table below ranks the eleven standards OSHA cited most often against roofing contractors, with citation counts, penalty totals, and the mean penalty per citation.
| Rank | Standard | What it covers | Citations | Share of roofing citations | Total penalties | Mean penalty / citation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1926.501 | Duty to have fall protection | 3,692 | 34.7% | $27,004,695 | ~$7,314 |
| 2 | 1926.1053 | Ladders | 1,663 | 15.6% | $6,264,484 | ~$3,767 |
| 3 | 1926.503 | Fall-protection training | 1,340 | 12.6% | $2,822,366 | ~$2,106 |
| 4 | 1926.102 | Eye and face protection | 938 | 8.8% | $3,474,341 | ~$3,704 |
| 5 | 1903.19 | Abatement verification | 489 | 4.6% | $188,090 | ~$385 |
| 6 | 1926.20 | General safety and health provisions | 442 | 4.2% | $1,441,946 | ~$3,262 |
| 7 | 1926.502 | Fall-protection systems criteria and practices | 440 | 4.1% | $1,084,764 | ~$2,465 |
| 8 | 1926.100 | Head protection | 383 | 3.6% | $1,167,875 | ~$3,049 |
| 9 | 1910.1200 | Hazard communication | 242 | 2.3% | $351,845 | ~$1,454 |
| 10 | 1926.451 | Scaffolding, general requirements | 233 | 2.2% | $699,786 | ~$3,003 |
| 11 | 1926.453 | Aerial lifts | 70 | 0.7% | $235,524 | ~$3,365 |
Source: OSHA Frequently Cited OSHA Standards, NAICS 238160 (Roofing Contractors), federal jurisdiction, October 2024 to September 2025. Mean penalty per citation is total penalty divided by citation count and is a mean, not a median; individual citations vary widely by classification and abatement history.
Fall protection (1926.501): the standard behind most roofing penalties
Fall protection under 1926.501 is the single largest source of roofing citations and penalties, cited 3,692 times for $27.0 million in FY2025. The rule requires fall protection for workers exposed to falls of six feet or more in construction. On roofing jobs the citation usually reflects a missing or unused system: no guardrails, no personal fall-arrest harness tied to an anchor, and no safety-net system where one is required.
Nationally, 1926.501 has been OSHA’s most-cited standard across all industries for fifteen consecutive years, with 5,914 total violations in FY2025, per OSHA’s preliminary Top 10 released at the 2025 NSC Safety Congress. Roofing alone supplied 3,692 of those, meaning roofing contractors drove roughly six of every ten fall-protection citations OSHA wrote nationwide. The high average penalty, about $7,314 per citation versus $4,376 across all roofing standards, reflects how often fall exposure is classified as serious or willful rather than other-than-serious.
Ladders and training: the second tier of roofing citations
Ladders (1926.1053) and fall-protection training (1926.503) are the second and third most-cited roofing standards, at 1,663 and 1,340 citations respectively. Ladder citations commonly involve a ladder that does not extend three feet above the landing, side rails used as a walking surface, or a ladder used at the wrong angle. Training citations mean the employer could not show that exposed workers were trained to recognize and minimize fall hazards.
These two rules matter because they are cheaper to fix than to be cited for. A ladder citation averaged about $3,767 and a training citation about $2,106 in FY2025. Documented toolbox talks, a written fall-protection plan, and correctly set ladders address the bulk of these findings. Practical setup guidance sits in our roof safety harness guide and the broader roof safety overview.
How much can OSHA fine a roofing contractor?
For citations issued after January 15, 2026, OSHA’s maximum civil penalties are $16,550 per serious or other-than-serious violation and $165,514 per willful or repeated violation, with failure-to-abate penalties running up to $16,550 per day past the abatement date. OSHA carried the 2025 amounts into 2026 with no inflation adjustment, per its May 2026 penalty memo. The table shows the current federal maximums.
| Violation classification | Maximum penalty (effective after Jan 15, 2026) |
|---|---|
| Serious | $16,550 per violation |
| Other-than-serious | $16,550 per violation |
| Failure to abate | $16,550 per day beyond the abatement date |
| Willful | $165,514 per violation |
| Repeated | $165,514 per violation |
Actual penalties usually land well below the maximum. OSHA applies reductions for employer size, good-faith safety programs, and lack of citation history, which is why the roofing average of about $4,376 per citation sits far under the $16,550 serious cap. State-plan states may set their own schedules, but they must stay at least as stringent as the federal amounts. These figures are penalties as assessed and do not reflect later reductions through informal settlement or contest.
Why the same standards get cited every year
Roofing citations cluster because the work concentrates the exact hazards OSHA inspects for: elevation, ladders as the primary access method, and debris that threatens eyes and heads. The result is a citation profile that barely moves year to year, with fall protection on top and a long tail of low-frequency rules. Understanding that pattern lets a contractor pre-empt most of the risk.
- Write and use a fall-protection plan. A guardrail, harness-and-anchor, or net system for every exposure at or above six feet addresses standards 1926.501 and 1926.502, the source of most penalty dollars.
- Fix ladder setup. Extend ladders three feet above the roof edge, secure them, and use the correct 4-to-1 angle to clear 1926.1053.
- Document training. Keep dated records showing each exposed worker was trained on fall hazards, the direct fix for 1926.503.
- Issue and require PPE. Safety glasses and hard hats on every crew member close out 1926.102 and 1926.100.
- Maintain a hazard-communication program. A written program and accessible safety data sheets handle 1910.1200.
The gear side of this is covered in our roofing safety equipment guide, which walks through the fall-protection and PPE items that map directly to these standards.
Methodology and data notes
Citation counts and penalty totals come from OSHA’s Frequently Cited OSHA Standards tool filtered to NAICS 238160 (Roofing Contractors), federal jurisdiction, for the federal fiscal year running October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2025. National Top 10 context is from OSHA’s preliminary FY2025 Top 10 list announced at the 2025 NSC Safety Congress and Expo. Penalty maximums are from OSHA’s penalties page and its 2026 annual-adjustment memo dated May 21, 2026.
Two limits are worth stating plainly. First, the mean penalty per citation is total assessed penalty divided by citation count; it is an average, not a median, and a small number of high-dollar willful or repeat citations pulls it upward. Second, federal figures exclude the 22 states and territories that run their own OSHA-approved plans, so national roofing enforcement is larger than the federal counts shown here. Where a standard’s official OSHA description was blank in the source table, that row was omitted rather than guessed.
Reviewed by The Roofing Brief Team. Last reviewed July 2026.