Window company gone bust!

Labradoodle11_2

I am due to move house and my solicitor has requested a FENSA certificate for the windows and doors that I had replaced 3 years ago. I wasn't able to find one and subsequently discovered that we were never issued with one. I have also been on the FENSA website and discovered that the work has never been registered with them. So to get round the certificate business I have paid my local council £200 to inspect them.

It turns out the one of the windows does not have safety glass in it and requires replacing and we need some vents installing into downstairs windows.

I have tried to contact the company who did the installation and they no longer exist. The owner of the company has moved home and I haven't got a clue where he is. I am making arrangements with another company to come and rectify the work. The owner provided me a document which purports to be a 10 year guarantee for the products and any poor workmanship.

Could I make a claim against him through the small claims court for the cost of the new work or is it my fault that I didn't ask for the FENSA certificate in the first place?

Debt_Free_Chick

Labradoodle11 wrote:

Could I make a claim against him through the small claims court for the cost of the new work or is it my fault that I didn't ask for the FENSA certificate in the first place?

Afraid not - I assume that you didn't insist on the FENSA certificate before completion and that the property was sold "as is" i.e. the seller did not claim that the work was FENSA registered.

Guarantees do expire when the company goes out of business. Somtimes the trade association (FENSA) take over the guarantee, but only if the work was registered in the first place.

Write it off as a lesson learned and simple "Home Maintenance".

Sorry not to be more positive.

wacko911

If you used a credit card for at least £100 of the cost, then you could argue with the credit card company the goods/services supplied were not fit for thier intended purpose and claim your money back. But if its billy bob builder, fly by night, I doubt he took credit cards.

spunkeyrich

When you come to sell you will be asked about the windows and any guarentee if they have been replaced. Tick the box that says No. Alot of people dont have window guarantees as they are done by friends or 'cash' Nothing much to worry about.

Its up to a purchaser to satisfy themselves that they are accepting your home on those conditions.

Also, you will find alot of companies go into business for a few years including double glazing firms, damp and wall tie experts, then offer 10/20 guarantees then close thier businesses and start up somewhere else under a different name so they dont have to honour those guarantees. This practice needs to stop.

rich

Richard_Webster

As a conveyancing solicitor (http://www.rwco.co.uk) I get asked to produce guarantees from double glazing companies.

This is usually a standard question raised by the buyer' s solicitors who ask it because the buyer's surveyor often advises that the guarantees should be obtained and checked. Quite often there is no guarantee, we say this, and the buyer's solicitor tells his client this and explains that even if there was it wouldn't be worth anything because the company has probably gone out of business! I wish surveyors would add riders to their advice to the effect that many double glazing guarantees are not worth much!

Double glazing companies effectively have to provide a FENSA certificate to show that the Building Regulations have been complied with. Most people treat double glazing as double glazing which is usually OK even if done by a dodgy company that went into liquidation and started up agin with a similar name. The average buyer isn't that concerned about FENSA certificates but his solicitor will be, because of the highly theoretical possibility of action being taken because the windows don't comply with the regulations. I'd just have offered a Building Regulation Indemnity Policy and although there are problems with these - see my post today at http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=356316
- most buyers take a practical view and are happy with this.