Insights · Roll forming
What Kenyan roofing makers buy: box profile, corrugated and tile sheet machines, plus ridge cap, gutter, downpipe, purlin and slitting. Gauge and thickness checks, power, import taxes and what to send for a quote.
This guide is for a roofing shop that buys coil and sells formed sheet to builders, hardware stores and contractors, rather than a large coil-coating mill. You already know your customers. The questions are which machines make sense, how thick your sheet is, and what to check before you order from overseas.
Profiles. Kenyan makers sell box profile, corrugated and tile-effect sheet. Mabati Rolling Mills lists Maxcover and Covermax as box profiles, DumuRangi in corrugated and box, and Versatile, Orientile and Elegantile as tile profiles. Royal Mabati lists a Zee Tile. Resellers also sell a "Box Profile IT/4". Names differ from maker to maker, so your own sample sheet is the reference, not a brand name.
Gauge. A Kenyan business directory describes gauge 30 as a common choice for family homes, with gauge 28 thicker and dearer, and ordinary corrugated is also sold in gauge 32. Mabati Rolling Mills lists DumuRangi at gauge 30 (0.25 mm) and Maxcover at gauge 28 to 30. Gauge numbers are not a metric thickness, so always give us the thickness in millimetres.
Standards. In 2022 KEBS suspended three roofing sheet brands for failing KS EAS 11:2019, which covers galvanized roofing sheet. Reports from that case point to low coating mass and sheets narrower than the standard allows. We could not confirm from public sources which of these are compulsory for every product, so ask KEBS or your coil supplier. The machine does not decide coating or base metal. Your coil does. The machine decides cover width, rib height, straightness and cut length.
Demand. Kenya's housing shortfall is commonly put at about two million units. Citizen Digital reported in March 2026 that contractors on Affordable Housing Programme sites are buying more locally made steel, including roofing sheets and structural frames. We have no figure for how many sheets one house uses, so do your own volume count before you size a line.
Every line is built to your drawing. The figures below are catalogue figures from each machine page. Final figures are confirmed on the quotation.
This is the core machine for box profile and corrugated sheet, the two profiles Kenyan buyers ask for most. One machine forms one profile, and the rolls follow the rib height, pitch and cover width of the sheet your market already uses. It takes 0.3 to 0.8 mm material from 914, 925, 1000 or 1250 mm coil, with 18 roll stations (depends on the profile), a 5.5 kW main motor, hydraulic post-cut and a forming speed of 10 to 20 m/min. Sheet length is set on the PLC screen. Compare your sheet with the cover widths listed on the page: trapezoidal and corrugated roof sheet machine.
If you sell corrugated and box profile side by side, this puts both on one frame with one cutting station and one control cabinet. Only one level runs at a time, and you move the coil to the other level when you change product. It is catalogued for 0.3 to 1.0 mm, coil 1000 or 1250 mm, a 7.5 kW main motor and 10 to 15 m/min. See the double layer roof sheet machine.
Several Kenyan makers list tile-effect sheet next to their box profiles. It suits houses where the owner wants a tile look. The wave is formed first, then a hydraulic press puts in the step at each tile row and cuts the sheet. Because the press stops the sheet at each step, speed is 3 to 5 m/min, so plan your output on that figure and not on the plain sheet speed. Catalogued for 0.3 to 0.8 mm and coil 914, 1000, 1220 or 1250 mm. See the glazed tile machine.
A roof needs ridges and valleys as well as sheet, and Kenyan sellers list ridges and valleys alongside their box profile sheet. Making them yourself lets you sell the whole roof from one yard. The machine forms round ridge, trapezoid ridge and V-valley flashing from 300, 456 or 462 mm coil, 0.3 to 0.8 mm, at 10 to 15 m/min with 12 roll stations (depends on the profile). Round ridge can be step pressed to match a glazed tile sheet. See the ridge cap machine.
Rainwater goods can use the same coil colours as the roof, so a shop with a roof sheet line can add gutter and downpipe from the same stock. The gutter machine forms half-round and box gutters from 247, 303, 635 or 645 mm strip at 12 to 15 m/min. The downpipe machine forms round and rectangular pipe from 180, 300 or 342 mm strip at 8 to 10 m/min. Both are catalogued for 0.3 to 0.8 mm. Each profile needs its own roll set. See the gutter machine and the downpipe machine.
Roof sheet on a warehouse, factory or farm building sits on purlins. A shop that sells sheet to steel-frame builders can sell the purlins too. The machine makes C, Z and U purlins in 1.5 to 3 mm steel, web 100 to 300 mm, flange 40 to 80 mm and lip 15 to 20 mm, with bolt holes punched in line. A C/Z purlin line supplied to Kenya is the reference for this machine. See the C/Z/U purlin machine and our purlin buyer guide.
If you stock full-width coil, a simple slitting line cuts it into the narrower strips that gutter, downpipe and similar machines need, and also cuts flat sheet to length. It takes 0.5 to 1.5 mm material in 1250 to 1500 mm coil at 8 to 10 m/min. That is a simple line, not a high-speed slitter, and its thickness range starts at 0.5 mm. See the slitting and cut-to-length line.
Kenyan gauge 30 is listed at about 0.25 mm and gauge 28 at about 0.32 mm. Our trapezoidal and corrugated machine is catalogued from 0.3 mm. If the sheet you sell is thinner than the catalogue range, say so in your first message. Do not assume it will run. We check the exact thickness, steel grade and profile before we quote.
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Taokron roll forming machines are built to your drawing. Taokron (Melbourne) handles drawing review, quotation, pre-shipment inspection, shipping and after-sales support. Lead time is about 60 working days from drawing approval and deposit. Warranty is 12 months from commissioning, with remote video support included and an on-site installation engineer available on request, quoted per order.
Box profile, corrugated and tile-effect sheet. Kenyan makers list them under many brand names, such as Maxcover and Covermax box profiles, Versatile and Orientile tile profiles, Zee Tile and Box Profile IT/4. The same name can mean a slightly different sheet from one maker to the next, so send a sample piece or a dimensioned drawing and we build the rolls to that.
Kenyan sellers list gauge 30 at about 0.25 mm and gauge 28 at about 0.32 mm. The Taokron trapezoidal and corrugated machine is catalogued for 0.3 to 0.8 mm, so gauge 28 sits inside that range and 0.25 mm sheet does not. If you sell gauge 30 at 0.25 mm, tell us the exact thickness before we quote.
No. Coating mass and base metal come from your coil, not from the machine. The machine controls the dimensions: cover width, rib height, straightness and length. Ask KEBS or your coil supplier which standard applies to your product. KEBS has enforced KS EAS 11:2019 on galvanized roofing sheets.
A double layer machine puts two profiles on one frame, one cutting station and one control cabinet, and only one level runs at a time. It suits a shop with limited floor space that sells two profiles, for example corrugated and box profile. If both profiles must run at the same time, two machines are the better fit.
Reference tables list Kenyan mains as 240 V single phase and 415 V three phase at 50 Hz. Supply at a workshop can differ, so measure on site and send us the voltage, phase and frequency.
Standard VAT in Kenya is 16%. Import duty follows the EAC Common External Tariff, which has rate bands from 0 to 35%, and other import charges apply as well. Rates change with each Finance Act and the correct rate depends on how the machine is classified at customs, so ask your clearing agent to confirm the total landed taxes before you sign.
Send a sample sheet or drawing, thickness and coil width. Ryan Tao replies within 12 hours with a configuration, lead time and price.
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Describe your job and what you are trying to make. A Taokron mechanical engineer replies within 12 hours, not a salesperson.
Guide: Roof Sheet Roll Forming Machines in Kenya: What Local Roofing Makers Buy
Roofing lines in the Taokron range: trapezoidal and corrugated sheet, double layer sheet, glazed tile, ridge cap, gutter, downpipe, C/Z/U purlin, slitting and cut-to-length and all roll forming machines.
