# Roofing in Peru

> Peruvian roofing: Inca ichu thatch, Uros reed houses, Lima's quincha and earth roofs; today concrete covers 42.8% and metal or fibre-cement 39.2% (2017).

- URL: https://roof.wiki/roofing-in-peru/
- Topic: Roofing Around the World
- Also known as: Peruvian roofing; techos en el Perú
- Regions: Latin America
- First published: 2026-11-02 · Last reviewed: 2026-11-02
- Cite as: "Roofing in Peru." roof.wiki. https://roof.wiki/roofing-in-peru/

## Key facts

- **Dominant material today:** Reinforced concrete, 42.8% (2017)
- **Second material:** Metal or fibre-cement sheet, 39.2%
- **Traditional materials:** Ichu thatch, totora reed, clay tile, quincha with earth
- **Climate driver:** Earthquakes
- **Seismic standard:** Norma E.030

Peru's roofing spans a wide range of conditions: a very dry coastal desert, the high Andes with cold nights and a summer rainy season, and the Amazon rainforest. Its traditions include the grass-thatched stone buildings of the Inca, the reed houses of Lake Titicaca, and the light cane-and-mud *quincha* construction of colonial Lima. Today most homes are roofed with reinforced concrete or with metal and fibre-cement sheet.

## Climate and hazards

- **Earthquakes** along the whole country. Strong earthquakes in the 16th and 17th centuries led Lima's authorities to require lighter upper storeys in 1699, and a 1950 earthquake damaged many historic buildings in Cusco.
- **Dry coastal desert**, where flat roofs covered with earth or matting have long been practical.
- **Andean rain and cold**, which call for steep roofs and good insulation, and **Amazonian heavy rain**.

## Roofing history

**Inca.** The Inca state, which flourished from about 1425 to 1532, built fitted-stone walls but roofed most buildings with grass or reed thatch on poles of wood or cane tied with rope. According to the World History Encyclopedia, the poles were secured to the walls by projecting stone pegs, some gable tops had stone rings for tying down the roof, and roofs in wetter areas were pitched at about 60 degrees. Large public halls (*kallanka*) faced onto plazas. The grass most associated with Andean thatch is *ichu* (*Jarava ichu*), whose name is Quechua for straw. Machu Picchu, founded around 1450, and the Inca capital of Cusco were both inscribed by UNESCO in 1983.

**Grass rope.** Quechua communities still rebuild the Q'eswachaka bridge every year from twisted grass, braiding cords about 70 m (230 ft) long into six main cables. UNESCO inscribed the tradition as Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2013.

**Colonial.** In Cusco, the Spanish kept the Inca street plan and built churches and palaces over Inca walls of cut granite and andesite. In Lima, after earthquakes destroyed many two-storey adobe and brick houses, the viceroy Conde de la Monclova ordered in 1699 that upper floors be rebuilt in *quincha*, a timber frame filled with woven cane and mud plaster. Roofs on these buildings had timber rafters nailed to the top beams of the walls, covered with boards and a layer of soil.

**Modern.** In the 20th century corrugated metal sheet, known as *calamina*, and fibre-cement sheet replaced thatch and tile across much of the Andes, while reinforced concrete became the standard roof in cities.

## Traditional and vernacular roofs

- **Ichu thatch** on Andean houses (see Andean ichu thatch).
- **Uros reed houses** on the floating islands of Lake Titicaca, with walls and roofs of totora reed mats (*kesanas*) on a frame of bamboo or wood.
- **Quincha** upper storeys with earth-covered roofs in Lima and other coastal towns.
- **Caña or estera with torta de barro**: cane or reed matting covered with a layer of mud or cement, a flat roof of the dry coast.
- **Teja** (clay tile) roofs in Andean towns and colonial centres.

## Roofing today

The 2017 national census (INEI) recorded the predominant roof material of 7,698,900 private dwellings with occupants present:

- Reinforced concrete (*concreto armado*): 42.8%
- Metal (*calamina*), fibre-cement or similar sheets: 39.2%
- Clay tile (*tejas*): 7.8%
- Cane or matting with a mud or cement layer: 3.4%
- Straw, palm leaves or similar: 2.9%
- Wood: 2.0%
- Plywood, matting, reed or other: 1.9%

The same census found brick or cement block walls in 55.8% of dwellings and adobe or rammed earth (*tapia*) in 27.9%. Concrete roofs predominate in cities, where they allow further storeys to be added, while sheet roofs dominate in the Andes and the Amazon.

## Codes, standards and regulation

Peru's seismic design standard is Norma E.030; a 2012 comparative review of Latin American codes listed the 2003 edition as then in force.

## Notable roofs

- **Machu Picchu** and **Cusco** (UNESCO 1983): Inca gabled stonework that once carried thatch.
- **Historic Centre of Lima** (UNESCO 1988): adobe ground floors with quincha upper storeys.
- **Chan Chan Archaeological Zone** (UNESCO 1986).
- **Q'eswachaka** grass bridge (UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage 2013).

## Local roofing terms

- *Calamina*: corrugated metal sheet.
- *Teja*: clay tile.
- *Torta de barro*: layer of mud spread on a cane or matting roof.
- *Estera*: woven reed matting.
- *Ichu*: Andean bunchgrass used for thatch.
- *Kesana*: totora reed mat used by the Uros.
- *Quincha*: cane-and-mud infill in a timber frame.

## Sources

1. En el país existen más de diez millones de viviendas particulares censadas — INEI Perú. https://m.inei.gob.pe/prensa/noticias/en-el-pais-existen-mas-de-diez-millones-de-viviendas-particulares-censadas-10893/
2. Inca Architecture — World History Encyclopedia. https://www.worldhistory.org/Inca_Architecture/
3. Jarava ichu — Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jarava_ichu
4. Knowledge, skills and rituals related to the annual renewal of the Q'eswachaka bridge — UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/knowledge-skills-and-rituals-related-to-the-annual-renewal-of-the-qeswachaka-bridge-00594
5. Experimental evaluation of seismic behavior of quincha walls from the Historical Centre of Lima - Peru (15WCEE) — 15th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering. https://www.iitk.ac.in/nicee/wcee/article/WCEE2012_3170.pdf
6. Uros hand made reed floating islands: a proved ancient technique — CIB / IRB (ICONDA). https://www.irbnet.de/daten/iconda/CIB21650.pdf
7. City of Cuzco — UNESCO World Heritage Centre. https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/273
8. List of World Heritage Sites in South America — Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_Heritage_Sites_in_South_America
9. Building codes and relative seismic vulnerability in Latin American countries (15WCEE) — 15th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering. https://www.iitk.ac.in/nicee/wcee/article/WCEE2012_4534.pdf