Roofing in Samoa

Samoa's roofing tradition is built around the fale, an open-sided house whose high domed roof rests on timber posts. The frame was lashed without metal fasteners using ʻafa (coconut-fibre sennit), and thatched with sugarcane leaves or coconut fronds. Corrugated iron is now the majority roof, but thatch remained on about a fifth of buildings recorded in the 2011 census.

Climate and hazards

Samoa has a hot, humid tropical climate with heavy rain and lies in the South Pacific cyclone belt. The open fale suits the heat, letting breezes pass beneath a roof that sheds rain and gives shade. Metal roofs are hotter and noisier and corrode quickly near the sea.

Roofing history

The classic fale is round or oval with no walls. Before contact with Europeans no metal fasteners were used: the frame was lashed with ʻafa, plaited from dried coconut husk fibre, and an ordinary fale used 30,000-50,000 ft (roughly 9-15 km) of it, traditionally prepared by older men or chiefs (matai). Construction was led by master builders, the tufuga fau fale, who belonged to an old guild and were engaged through negotiation and customary exchange. Women made the thatch, overlapping it from the eaves upward in a double layer that lasted about seven years.

Corrugated iron later spread widely. Many fale are now rectangular rather than round, and many small beach fale and village cookhouses (umukuka) have iron roofs.

Traditional and vernacular roofs

• Fale: open-sided house with a domed roof on posts.
• Fale tele ("big house"): the main, usually round, meeting house of a family compound, used for councils, ceremonies, funerals and the bestowal of chiefly titles.
• Pola: woven coconut-frond blinds hung from the roof frame and lowered against sun, wind or rain.

Roofing today

In the 2011 Population and Housing Census data file, 67.6% of buildings with a recorded roof material had corrugated iron, 21.1% thatch, 10.7% a combination of iron and thatch, and 0.4% tarpaulin. These are case counts from the census file rather than published summary tables.

Codes, standards and regulation

Samoa's national building code dates from 1990 and was updated in 2017; building is regulated under the Ministry of Works Act 2002.

Notable roofs

The fale tele of village and family compounds are the principal traditional roofs.

Local roofing terms

• Fale: house. Fale tele: big (meeting) house.
• ʻAfa: coconut-fibre sennit.
• Tufuga fau fale: master house builder.
• Pola: coconut-frond blinds. Umukuka: cookhouse.

Sources and gaps

No information on domestic roofing manufacturers was found in published sources. No individually documented landmark roof was found.

Roof-material results from the 2016 and 2021 censuses: published information is limited.