Roofing in Nauru

Nauru is a single raised coral island whose modern housing was shaped by the phosphate industry. Metal roofs cover more than nine in ten households, and roof guttering and tanks are a major household water source.

Climate and hazards

The island is hot and humid, and rainwater collected from roofs is an important household water source, as the census tables on tanks and downpipes show.

Roofing history

Settlement is concentrated in districts on the narrow coastal belt around the island, with one village beside Buada Lagoon in the interior. Funded by phosphate royalties, the government once provided housing free, and some Nauruans used their own phosphate income to build larger homes; house styles now resemble those of Western metropolitan countries. The 2011 census still recorded asbestos as a roofing category, alongside tin or aluminium, plastic, concrete and thatch.

Roofing today

The 2021 census counted 2,021 households. By main roof material, 91.3% had metal, iron or aluminium; 5.8% concrete, cement or brick; 1.2% wood; 1.1% asbestos; and only three households traditional materials. Walls were mainly concrete or brick (54.8%), Masonite (16.0%) and wood (12.0%).

Water storage is closely tied to roofs: 58.4% of households had plastic tanks, 18.6% concrete and 18.3% aluminium or galvanised iron, while 3.7% had no storage. Of 1,945 households asked about downpipes, 546 had none and 202 had downpipes disconnected from their tanks.

Codes, standards and regulation

The Building Control Act was passed in 2025, and a national building code was in draft at that time.

Sources and gaps

Information on pre-colonial Nauruan roofing: published information is limited. No domestic roofing manufacturers were identified.

Pre-colonial and early colonial building on Nauru, and any surviving asbestos-removal programmes: published information is limited.