COLORSTEEL Roofing Cost NZ 2026: Price per m2 Guide

Quick answerThere is no public COLORSTEEL price list for homeowners. Installed, the Made 4 Tradies rates guide (September 2026) puts long-run steel re-roofing at $80 to $135 per square metre nationally and Auckland re-roofing at $95 to $150 per square metre. The steel itself is the smaller share: the rest is underlay, flashings, labour, removal and access, and the coating grade your exposure zone needs.

Auckland house with a pre-painted longrun steel roof

People searching for a COLORSTEEL price list usually want one of two numbers: what the sheets cost, or what a finished roof costs. They are very different. Roofing steel is sold through roll-formers and merchants to the trade, and the installed price per square metre bundles in everything else that makes a roof weathertight.

This guide sets out the published 2026 price ranges, explains what long run roofing is and how the profiles differ, compares COLORSTEEL with ZINCALUME and ColorCote, and shows how your distance from the sea changes both the product and the warranty. If you already know you want COLORSTEEL longrun roofing, the last section covers what Auckland's coastal suburbs need.

How much does COLORSTEEL roofing cost per square metre?

Published 2026 figures put installed long-run steel at roughly $80 to $135 per square metre across New Zealand, with Auckland re-roofing at $95 to $150 per square metre. Those ranges come from the Made 4 Tradies roofer rates guide, updated September 2026. The guide does not say whether GST is included, so check that line on every quote you compare.

COLORSTEEL's own website lists products, colours and warranties but no prices. For a sense of the raw material, Bunnings NZ listed a pre-painted 0.40 mm corrugate from another brand at $30.35 per linear metre in October 2026, sold by special order. That is not COLORSTEEL and it is only the sheet, but it shows why the per square metre figure is mostly about everything else. On a Cheeky's Roofers quote the steel, underlay, flashings, removal and access are listed as separate lines, so you can see that split for yourself.

The table below collects the published figures in one place. They are other people's numbers, not our prices, and they move with steel and labour costs. For the full picture on a whole house, see our re-roofing cost guide.

Item	Published figure	Source and date
Long-run steel re-roofing, national	$80 to $135 per m2	Made 4 Tradies, Sept 2026
Re-roofing, Auckland	$95 to $150 per m2	Made 4 Tradies, Sept 2026
Scaffolding or edge protection, typical home	$1,500 to $3,500 or more per project	Made 4 Tradies, Sept 2026
Pre-painted 0.40 mm corrugate sheet (not COLORSTEEL), retail	$30.35 per linear metre	Bunnings NZ listing, Oct 2026

What is long run roofing?

Long run roofing is profiled steel sheet roll-formed to the full length of each roof plane, so most runs have no end laps for water to track back through. It is fixed to purlins over a roofing underlay, with ridging, barges, aprons and valleys folded from matching steel to close every edge.

COLORSTEEL is one brand of the pre-painted steel that long run roofing is made from. The name covers the coated coil made by New Zealand Steel, not the profile or the installer. That matters when you compare quotes: two quotes can both say longrun but specify different coatings, thicknesses and fixings, and those details decide the price and the warranty.

Corrugate or trapezoidal profile: which is better?

Neither is better everywhere: corrugate suits most pitched roofs and traditional homes, while trapezoidal carries more water and is the choice for low pitches and long runs. The deciding factor is usually the pitch, not the look.

E2/AS1, the Building Code's Acceptable Solution for weathertightness, sets the minimum pitch for standard corrugate at 8 degrees and for trapezoidal profiles at 4 degrees, or 3 degrees where the crest is 27 mm or taller. Price per square metre is broadly similar between the two in the published ranges. On villas and bungalows corrugate keeps the original character, which is often the deciding factor in heritage streets. On a tile to metal re-roof of a 1970s or 1980s home, a trapezoidal profile gives a crisper modern line, and the choice is mostly taste once the pitch allows both.

Get a COLORSTEEL price for your address

Cheeky's Roofers measures your roof, checks your exposure zone and gives you an itemised written quote showing the steel, profile and warranty.

0800 766 342 Book Online Get a quote

ZINCALUME vs COLORSTEEL: what is the difference?

ZINCALUME is New Zealand Steel's unpainted steel with an aluminium and zinc alloy coating, and COLORSTEEL is New Zealand Steel's pre-painted product with a paint system over a metallic-coated base. Both are made by New Zealand Steel, so the real difference is the paint layer and the metallic coating underneath it.

COLORSTEEL MAXAM is built on a magnesium-enhanced aluminium, zinc and magnesium coating that New Zealand Steel calls Activate, then primed and finished in polyester paint. ZINCALUME is the silver, unpainted option, and New Zealand Steel's own guidance points people who want a painted finish to COLORSTEEL specified for their environment category. ZINCALUME is generally used in moderate inland and coastal settings, on farm buildings and where the look of bare metal is wanted. It also has compatibility rules, for example no runoff onto unpainted galvanised gutters and no direct contact with lead.

Colorcote vs COLORSTEEL: what is the difference?

They are competing brands of pre-painted roofing made by different companies: COLORSTEEL by New Zealand Steel, and ColorCote by a subsidiary of Fletcher Steel. Both offer a range graded by how harsh the environment is, so the fair comparison is product against product at your address, not brand against brand.

ColorCote lists three tiers: ZinaCore for moderate conditions, MagnaFlow for more demanding coastal sites, and AlumiGard, built on marine-grade aluminium, for the harshest marine and industrial sites. COLORSTEEL's current range has two: MAXAM for most New Zealand environments including many coastal sites, and ALTIMATE, also on a marine-grade aluminium substrate, for extremely severe marine and breaking surf sites. The colour ranges differ too, so pick the product first and then choose the colour from that range. Our COLORSTEEL colour guide covers how colour affects heat and looks.

How long does a COLORSTEEL roof last?

A COLORSTEEL roof should outlast the Building Code minimum of 15 years by a long way, and the manufacturer's warranty tells you roughly how far for your site. COLORSTEEL publishes perforation warranties for roofing by environment category, from 50 years in a mild inland setting down to 20 years for MAXAM in a very severe coastal one.

The categories are set by distance from the coast, and the bands for the west coast reach further inland than those for the east coast. Roofing is assumed to be rain-washed, but sheltered areas under eaves and around gutters get no rain washing and need manual cleaning to keep the warranty valid.

COLORSTEEL category	Distance from sea (east / west)	MAXAM roofing warranty	ALTIMATE roofing warranty
Mild	5 km+ / 5 km+	50 years	50 years
Moderate	500 m to 5 km / 1 to 5 km	40 years	40 years
Severe	100 to 500 m / 500 m to 1 km	30 years	30 years
Very Severe	25 to 100 m / 50 to 500 m	20 years	30 years
Extremely Severe	0 to 25 m / 0 to 50 m	Not recommended	25 years

Which grade do Auckland's coastal suburbs need?

Most Auckland homes are well served by MAXAM, but a waterfront or clifftop house can fall into a category where MAXAM is not recommended or its warranty is much shorter. COLORSTEEL asks that any site within 100 metres of salt water be confirmed with them before the product is chosen.

Large parts of Takapuna and Browns Bay sit within about 500 metres of the coast, which BRANZ maps as the highest sea spray zone in NZS 3604, and easterlies off the Hauraki Gulf push salt and rain hard at flashings. Up the Hibiscus Coast, Orewa homes near breaking surf can reach the most severe categories. Inland suburbs such as Mt Roskill usually sit in a milder band, though every address is still checked.

Cheeky's Roofers works out the environment category for your exact address and names the product, thickness and fixings in the written quote, along with the washing the warranty needs. Across the North Shore that check often decides between MAXAM and ALTIMATE. When you are ready for real numbers, book a free measure and we will price the grade your site actually needs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do two COLORSTEEL quotes differ so much?

Usually because they are not pricing the same roof. Check the product and thickness, profile, underlay, flashing details, fixings for your exposure zone, scaffolding, removal of the old roof and how rotten timber will be charged. An itemised quote makes those differences easy to spot.

Does a thicker steel cost more?

Yes. COLORSTEEL MAXAM is made in 0.40 mm and 0.55 mm base metal thicknesses, and the thicker sheet costs more per metre. It is mainly specified where spans, foot traffic or wind loads call for it, so ask why a quote uses one or the other.

Can I buy COLORSTEEL direct and have it installed?

Roofing steel is roll-formed to length and usually bought through roofers, roll-formers and merchants. Supplying your own can complicate the warranty, because it depends on the right product for the environment and correct installation and maintenance.

Does GST apply to roofing quotes?

A GST-registered roofer charges 15 percent GST. Some published price guides do not say whether their figures include it, so confirm whether each quote you are comparing is GST inclusive or exclusive before you compare totals.

Do I have to wash a COLORSTEEL roof?

The roof itself is expected to be rain-washed, but COLORSTEEL's warranty requires manual washing of areas that rain does not reach, such as under eaves and around gutters. Intervals run from yearly to monthly depending on the environment category and the component.