Key:roof:shape - Other languages
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
Related page :
Simple 3D buildings, for more tags used to describe the shape and appearance of buildings.
Area
Common values
Roof shape
You can characterize the roof shape of a building using a catalogue of well-known roof types.
Other common values
| Value
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Comment
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| many
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Marks that building has multiple different roof shapes at once. Such building may have building:part=* carrying own roof:shape values. History described in detail in roof:shape=many
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Other roof tags
| Key
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Comment
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| roof:orientation=along/across
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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.
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| roof:height=*
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The height of the building (i.e. the height of the façade) is calculated as the building's total height=* minus roof:height=*.
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| roof:angle=*
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Alternatively to roof:height=*, roof height can be indicated implicitly by providing the inclination of the sides (in degrees).
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| roof:levels=*
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Number of floors within the roof, which are not already counted in building:levels=*.
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| roof:direction=*
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Direction from back side of roof to front, i.e. the direction towards which the main face of the roof is looking.
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| roof:material=*
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The outermost material of the roof. Useful in conjunction with roof:colour=*.
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| roof:colour=*
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The (dominant) colour of the roof. Useful in conjunction with roof:material=*.
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This section is a wiki template, editable here.
Problems and mistakes
Values with problems
| Value
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Image
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Comment
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| saltbox, double_saltbox, triple_saltbox, quadruple_saltbox
|
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Inconsistent definitions of "saltbox" by some editors/users (through displayed images).
The roof shapes displayed as an image by some editors/users in one case represent a "saltbox" with only one top edge of the roof (which is the usual definition of a building with a saltbox roof, see also  Saltbox house), and in another case a "saltbox" with two top roof edges (which is also called a double_saltbox). See also this mailing list discussion "What is a saltbox?" (Tagging ML, 12 Feb 2020) – with no clear results – and the fairly clear definitions on OSM-4D/Roof table.
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| conical
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Duplicate of cone
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| lean_to
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Unclear, should probably be skillion.
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| shed
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Mono-pitched roofing, also sawtooth
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| gabled_row
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Unclear, sometimes used on a sawtooth roof, sometimes a row of gabled terrace.
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Possible tagging mistakes
See also
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).
roof:shape
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