Double Glazing Problem

GTG

I had upvc double glazing and a residential door fitted to my property recently. The property is on the second floor of a small block of 12 flats with a communal entrance, there is one floor above mine.

The local company who supplied the products sent out their representative to measure up and give me a price. I accepted the price of the products.The company is very big and as they have a good reputation it was my intention to have them do the installation. The representative informed me that because of the height involved that under health and safety regulations they would have to erect scaffolding which probably cost more than the windows and the installation combined. He said that they had approved subcontractors that he could get in touch with who could get around this problem. He mentioned something about them having a mobile platform. Anyway the upshot of all this is that he obtained quotes on my behalf and I accepted and agreed on one of the subcontractors. The subcontractor came out, measured up, I agreed that he would get the products on his account and that I would pay him on the day of installation for the products and his labour.

All went well and the installation was completed to my satisfaction in one day.

I had my building notice in with the local authority the statutory 48 hours before the installation and made an appointment for the building control officer to inspect the next working day. The BCO came out and approved the windows but said that he did not think that he could approve the door. He pointed out that the other front doors except one (which was also a upvc door) were fire doors. He said that the fire doors were there so that if a fire broke out in one of the flats it would contain it to allow people to escape via the communal stairs and hallway. There is no fire escape stairs on the building. He left saying he would go back to his office and consult the regulations and that I should contact the supplying company to see if the door had any fire restraining properties and that he doubted this.

Firstly I contacted the installer who said he did not know about the doors technical details and that he only fitted what he was asked to fit and that I should contact the product supplier.

The supplying representative said that the door fitted was not fireproof and that he had done hundreds of doors in buildings like mine. He also said that there was a upvc front door on the floor below so he thought it would be OK. (The door below was fitted long before April 2002)

As a layman I was unaware that the front doors in the block of flats were fire doors and should be replaced like for like. With hindsight and the knowledge I have now obtained the front doors are "screaming out" I'm a fire door e.g. they are made of a hardwood, have a reinforced half glass in them and a sort of return arm/spring on the rear.

I feel sure that it's reasonable that both the supplier and installer should have not supplied or fitted respectively in this situation.

I am very distraught waiting for the building control officers decision in the knowledge that should a fire occur in the building I could be putting peoples lives at risk.

Any help on this one would be most appreciated.

Sumostar

Hi

The supplier is probably going to try and wriggle out of this by saying that he supplied the door that you chose. You might try saying that the door is unfit for the purpose, and so falls under the Sale of Goods Act.

Haggis_n_Neeps

GTG
Fire door with self-closer will be required between your property and the common stairway - its for your and the other residents safety.
There are other solutions available that may meet the objectives of the building regulations; but these would be more expensive than just replacing the door with a fire door. (e.g. residential sprinklers!!).

I am not sure if you said I want 'that' type of door (the uPVC one) to the company or they just assumed that you wanted a uPVC door. There may be a legal point about the company having a duty of care to point out to you that the door that you wanted (or that they suggested) was not fit for purpose. Try trading standards or Citizens Advice on that one for further free info.

If you cant get the company to replace the new door that you have without you paying & thinking a bit out of the box :idea: , would it be possible to fit a door just inside your flat thus forming a small entance lobby? If so, this may allow you to keep the nice new uPVC door as the security door and the new internal self-closing fire door would form the fire barrier between you and the common stair area.

GTG

Thanks for the replies guys, good point about the sale of goods act Sumostar.

Haggis_N Neeps, the supplier asked me if I wanted a PVCu door fitted and I said yes then he asked me what design did I want. I think it's reasonable to expect the supplier a FENSA registered company to have identified that the door in question was a fire door and should only replaced like for like. The installer is also FENSA registered so he should have known also.

There is not the room to install an internal fire door, good thinking though.