Destructive testing consists of the physical cutting into the roof system, this type of testing may be conducted to not only verify the presence of moisture, but also to determine roof system composition and individual component condition of both existing roofs and new roof applications.

Cut tests most often involve coring the entire roof system.  Cored roof system samples can be analyzed in several ways including but not limited to moisture content, bitumen content, bitumen type, bitumen condition and tensile strength.

A moisture probe using an electrical test meter is a less intrusive destructive test and is effective in confirming moisture content within a roof system.

Non-Destructive testing consists of scanning the roof using either infra-red or capacitance technologies.