Roofing in Cuba

Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean, with a housing stock of about 3.8 million dwellings shaped by Taíno palm-thatch building, Spanish colonial masonry and, since 1959, state housing programmes using precast concrete and sheet roofing. Hurricanes are the main threat to roofs.

Climate and hazards

Cuba has a hot, humid tropical climate with a wet season and frequent hurricanes. Government figures on weather damage show how exposed roofs are: across hurricanes up to and including Irma, the Ministry of Construction (MICONS) recorded 17,789 dwellings that lost their whole roof and 90,024 that lost part of it. Irma alone accounted for 14,964 total and 73,443 partial roof losses, and Sandy for 1,192 total and 13,473 partial losses. Overall, 209,861 dwellings were affected by weather events in the period covered, including 60,975 total collapses.

Roofing history

Taíno. Before the Spanish conquest, the Taíno lived in villages (yucayeques) of large thatched houses built of wooden poles, woven straw and palm leaves. Ordinary family houses (bohíos) were described as large circular buildings around a central plaza; the chief's house (caney) was rectangular. Cuban accounts describe early bohíos as round with conical roofs, later giving way to rectangular plans under gabled roofs, with walls of reeds and palm leaves tied with vines and roofs of woven royal palm fronds (see bohio).

Colonial era. The rectangular bohío influenced rural colonial building, and the type remained common in the countryside into the late 19th century.

After 1959. MICONS states that before 1959 there were about 200,000 bohíos and huts (chozas) in Cuba and that there are now 115,000 fewer. Housing programmes since then relied heavily on precast concrete; Spiroll hollow-core slab capacity of 334.6 km per year is used mainly for roofs and intermediate floors.

Traditional and vernacular roofs

• Bohío: palm-thatched rural house, still most concentrated in eastern Cuba, especially around Baracoa, where it has been revived because it is cheap to build and suits a humid, cyclone-prone island.
• Caney: the larger rectangular Taíno house of the chief; the word is also used for large thatched shelters.

Roofing today

Updated census figures to June 2017 counted 3,824,861 dwellings. MICONS classes 1,956,329 (51%) as Typology I, its most durable category, and 1,868,532 (49%) as Typologies II-V, which have light roofs (cubiertas ligeras). In 2017, 61% of dwellings were rated in good condition and 39% regular or poor. MICONS projected 10-year demand for about 11.7 million m² (126 million ft²) of zinc (galvanised) roofing sheet and 4.7 million m² (50 million ft²) of asbestos-cement roofing sheet.

Codes, standards and regulation

Housing construction policy is set by the Ministry of Construction (MICONS).

Industry

Roofing materials are largely produced or imported through state enterprises; the MICONS housing policy includes investment in fibre-cement and waterproofing production.

Local roofing terms

• Bohío: thatched rural house. Caney: large rectangular thatched house.
• Cubierta ligera: light roof (sheet metal or fibre-cement).
• Techos totales / parciales: MICONS damage categories for total and partial roof loss.

Sources and gaps

No breakdown of roofs by individual material from the 2012 census was found in published sources. Building code details and individual heritage roofs: published information is limited.