2nd hand doors/windows and FENSA

Kernel_Sanders

Is it possible to buy these products and still get a FENSA certificate? Do fitters generally have a problem with this and if not, how would you know if the item you're buying is up to modern standards?

Doozergirl

Window compaies have to pay for their FENSA registration to show that the product they are selling you conforms to Building Regulations. They won't be fitting someone elses product for you.

Your option is to apply, yourself, to your Local authority for Building Control Approval. BCA is the better standard than FENSA because someone is actually checking.

The windows do need to comply though!

Furts

Every window and every door is bespoke, made to suit an opening. Which means the chances of getting secondhand items that fit are unlikely. OK one can counter this by saying all building in recent generations has been modular - standard brick unit openings for height and width. But against this one has two factor a couple of negatives. Upvc will degrade over time, it can get more brittle, and sealed units degrade over time, so failure occurs. Then old sealed units will not meet current energy saving requirements so they cannot be built into new openings. Which means you will not get a Buildings Regulations approval.

Secondhand windows and doors are fine for garden sheds, and such like, but nobody with sense is likely to be fitting them into their own home. Conversely new windows are cheap, mass produced commodities, so why fit secondhand?