Key:roof:shape
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Description |
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Roof shape type. ![]() |
Group: Buildings |
Used on these elements |
Requires |
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Useful combination |
Status: de facto |
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Tools for this tag |
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Wikidata |
Q1156686 |
The key roof:shape=* is used to describe the shape of a building's roof, or the shape of the roof of a building part.
Tagging
These tags require an area feature tagged was a building=* or building:part=*.
See Simple 3D buildings for more tags used to describe the shape and appearance of buildings.
Common values are shown below, with example diagrams:
Roof shape
You can characterize the roof of a building using a catalogue of well-known roof types.
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roof:shape | flat | skillion | gabled | half-hipped | hipped | pyramidal |
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roof:shape | gambrel | mansard | dome | onion | round | saltbox |
Other common values and problems
Value | Comment |
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saltbox | problematic due to conflicting definitions and meanings of "saltbox" in this context[1]. |
double_saltbox, quadruple_saltbox | As above |
sawtooth | Factory style roofs |
cone,conical | Both used rarely |
side_hipped | Half of a hipped roof, not the same as half-hipped. One vertical gabled side, one 'hip' with three sloped faced. This is common on semi-detached properties where the whole building has a hipped roof but each house has a side_hipped roof |
lean_to | Unclear, probably should be skillion |
shed | Unclear, probably should be gabled or skillion |
gabled_row | Unclear, sometimes used on a sawtooth roof, sometimes a row of gabled terraces |
crosspitched | Cross shaped roof with two gables at 90degrees. AKA Cross gabled roof |



Other roof tags
Key | Comment |
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roof:orientation=along/across | For roofs with a ridge the ridge is assumed to be parallel to the longest side of the building (roof:orientation=along). But it can be tagged explicitly with this tag. |
roof:height=* | The height of the building (i.e. the height of the façade) is calculated as the building's total height=* minus roof:height=*. |
roof:angle=* | Alternatively to roof:height=*, roof height can be indicated implicitly by providing the inclination of the sides (in degrees). |
roof:levels=* | Number of floors within the roof, which are not already counted in building:levels=*. |
roof:direction=* | Direction from back side of roof to front, i.e. the direction towards which the main face of the roof is looking |
Proposed tags
Some roofs (e.g., square buildings) cannot be accurately modeled with the simple techniques described on this page.
Additional roof shapes are suggested in S3DB_Proposals, including advanced approaches for manual modelling (e.g., ProposedRoofLines or parts of OSM-4D/Roof_table).
This section is a wiki template, editable here.