FENSA lacking - can of worms?

hazyjo

Definitely forget the council. I'm with everyone else. Either ignore it or get the seller to sort an indemnity policy. Easy - and extremely common. I've had to do it on most sales.


You will prob find the guarantee is for the homeowner, not transferrable to anyone new buying the property anyway.

Doozergirl

You should be able to remove the units yourself, measure it, get it made and replace it.

£225 is a bit too much for the simplicity of it, IMO, but yes, leading will add to the cost. There are a couple of glazing merchants in Bromsgrove.

FreeBear

Replacement windows fall under the remit of building regulations which is the responsibility of the home owner to ensure compliance. Regardless of who installed the windows, the local council should have been notified and they will have a record of it.

Don't bother with FENSA, go to the local council and see what notification (if any) they have received. If no notice is on record, then the correct course of action would have been to secure an indemnity policy from the seller - A bit late now, and it is something your solicitor should have checked.

System

FreeBear wrote: »

Don't bother with FENSA, go to the local council and see what notification (if any) they have received. If no notice is on record, then the correct course of action would have been to secure an indemnity policy from the seller - A bit late now, and it is something your solicitor should have checked.

you can't get indemnity if you inform the local authority, if you notify the authority it will immediately remove the option.

Carrot007

dunroving wrote: »

I now see from markings on windows they were installed in 2015 (no clues yet by whom).

The glass panels which have the date on them could have been replaced.


Most of mine say 2004. Some say 2017. The windows themselves were fitted 2004/5.


Though if they are all the same date (within a few months) that is a good indication!

dunroving

Carrot007 wrote: »

The glass panels which have the date on them could have been replaced.

Most of mine say 2004. Some say 2017. The windows themselves were fitted 2004/5.

Though if they are all the same date (within a few months) that is a good indication!

You are exactly correct!

I had a second person in, who specialises in replacing panes (he used to be an installer of PVC windows but now runs his own business).

He said the date is date of installation (maybe manufacture?) of the pane - as you have said, he said the frames were definitely older (he could tell by fittings). It looks like various panes were replaced at various times - all upstairs ones in 2015, all downstairs ones in 2004 (I think; haven't gone round checking all of them yet).

He also pointed out that whoever installed the 2015 replacement panes didn't replace the seals, and they were degrading (hence maybe why the one was misting up, and why there are signs of water leakage between frame and pane).

For replacing the two panes and realigning two doors, he quoted £160, so I put an order in there and then. One of the doors is the same door the other bloke said needed a complete new lock mechanism (i.e, whole door lock, not just barrel mechanism), and said that would be £200 by itself.

I've heard some stories about the previous owners who were in their 80s when they both passed away last year. From what I was told, I wouldn't be surprised if they were taken for a ride by whoever replaced the panes in 2015.

Larac

anselld wrote: »

In practical terms FENSA is a worthless piece of paper. Spend the £150 getting the glazing units replaced and you should still have some change.

I replaced 10 windows around 10 years ago for £400 and have had no issue. Once you have the frames in, the sealed units are easy to replace. The likes of Anglia are not keen to discuss just replacing the sealed units and found you need to speak to a small local company to help.

Linton

As I found out when I had a similar problem when selling...

If you replace the glazing but not the frame you don’t need building regs/FENSA. If you replace the frame but not the glazing you don’t need them either. But if you replace both you do.

But like others have said it is all simply handled with indemnity insurance, which is cheaper than solicitors arguing about the issue. Note that the nsurance only covers any come back from the council, it doesn’t protect the windows in any way.

maisie_cat

I also wouldn't bother, if they were installed incorrectly it would have been obvious by now and replacement glass is not that expensive. If you do want to check there are 3 ways to get window installations certified so just check all 3.

Doozergirl

maisie_cat wrote: »

I also wouldn't bother, if they were installed incorrectly it would have been obvious by now and replacement glass is not that expensive. If you do want to check there are 3 ways to get window installations certified so just check all 3.

It isn't even the installation that's checked. It's only the type of glass and openings.