No Fensa Cert

mantamark

My fiance had some double glazing fitted to her flat in 2003, this was done by a company that is no longer trading, and they did not issue a fensa certificate.

Now its time to sell, and the buyer's solicitors say they want a certificate, and they have been in touch with fensa, who say no cert was issued for that address.

The glass has BS numbers & "toughened" on some windows (ones near floor level), so we are hoping its not knock off glass.

We have been told by our solicitors that we can go through our local council & pay £120 for someone to come out & inspect it.

Ideally we dont want to have to fork out that much as we are busy paying solicitors, mortgages etc!

Anyone got any advice?

Kiran

Is there anything wrong with the windows? The other party's solicitors are being picky. 2 options, tell them to sod off or decide if you think they would pull out without one. £120 is probably money well spent if it will cost you the sale but that doesn't seem too logical to me

mantamark

Our solicitors said it was odd as they wouldnt accept andemnity (spelling!!) insurance (Dont even know what that is!!)

They said you could risk saying you wont get it done, but they might pull out.

To me, i dont see why you would need it? nothing wrong with any of the windows, all lock fine, got keys, toughened glass where needed & they are nice & clean.

Might tell them to go fish, but if they say no, i may offer to pay half of the cost.

andrew-b

They may have been members of CertAss rather than FENSA so you could try approaching them instead.

Hampster_2

I had to do this when I sold my house. Basically spent £1,500 on a new front door, but as I didn't have a certificate, I also had to pay out for indeminty insurance (£100).

This is basically an insurance against anything being wrong with the installation (in my case the door).

Goes against the grain - but if it means that you can sell, then take the hit...

theonlywayisup

mantamark wrote: »

Our solicitors said it was odd as they wouldnt accept andemnity (spelling!!) insurance (Dont even know what that is!!)

They said you could risk saying you wont get it done, but they might pull out.

To me, i dont see why you would need it? nothing wrong with any of the windows, all lock fine, got keys, toughened glass where needed & they are nice & clean.

Might tell them to go fish, but if they say no, i may offer to pay half of the cost.

Your solicitors are quite right, it is very odd they won't accept an indemnity. Most vendors will pay this without question, but in the past we have done a 50/50 deal.

http://www.diyconveyance.co.uk/do-i-need-indemnity-insurance.html

McAzrael

Certass didn't exist in 2003 and only got their licence in 2006 (along with BSI). Back in 2003 FENSA were the only self-cert show in town. Have you double checked it wasn't assessed back then by building control?

never_enough

When was the date that you HAD to have a certificate? We don't have any for our house & previous owner had had some dg put in. It wasnt even mentioned by our solicitor about 5 years ago.

McAzrael

April 2002, although there was a six month grace period for orders placed before April, and a longer period for work started before April. I remember it well.

mantamark

Hmmm.

So is this required by law? Who enforces it?

I dont see the big deal, they are surely safer than windows that are like 80 years old?

Is it worth saying we wont pay it? Wont buildings insurance cover it if anything goes wrong?

Cheers for the help, very confused!

iamcornholio

The OP is wrong. The windows were definitely fitted in early 2002, just before this type of work came under building control.

If it has been already mentioned to the Solicitors that the installation was in 2003, then this was obviously a mistake (confusion due to the sale). Just give them the approximate 2002 date.

In context, if the windows are fitted well, secure and operable, then there is absolutely no problem for a buyer. So don't worry about a slight memory lapse

;-)