Double glazing salesman lied

emeraldwater0

Hi, I need some advice please. In March this year I had some windows replaced in my home. I invited 3 companies round to quote and asked the same questions of each one, including whether I would get a Fensa certificate or equivalent and I wrote down their answers. 2 of the companies told me that I would get a Fensa certificate, only 1 of those 2 brought a sample window to show me and seemed to be the most professional (though not the cheapest), so I went with them. During the installation I asked when the Fensa cert would come and was told it would come in the post within 6-8 weeks, So far it hasn't come so, yesterday, I checked on the Fensa website and discovered that this company is not registered with Fensa. So now I have a dilemma. I understand that, if I contact the council to ask about building regs approval: a) it will cost me hundreds of pounds; b) I might discover that the company never notified the council that the work was being done and c) I will not then be able to get an indemnity insurance policy because I will have notified the council. Whilst I am not thinking of selling in the near future I want to make sure that everything will be securely in place for when I do want to sell, or, more importantly to me, when my daughter wants to sell after I die. Please advise me on my best course of action. Thank you.

FreeBear

You've checked the FENSA web site, so now try CERTASS who also do the same thing. The installer should indicate which of the two schemes they are members of.

Having the correct paperwork in place is important for a number of reasons - Easing the process of selling the house is one, validating any guarantee is another. Write to the company and ask when you can expect to receive the certificates and (insurance backed) guarantee. If they can not provide either within a reasonable time frame,  I'd be looking at involving Trading Standards and also Building Control. Any costs incurred in getting B.C. approval, I would certainly be chasing the company for the money, even going as far as taking them to court (do you have legal cover on the household insurance ?). But court action is some way off... With this current "crisis", there will be delays, so a dose of patience is called for.

emeraldwater0

Thanks for this, Freebear. I did as you suggested and checked CERTASS website and it seems that they are not registered with them either. This house is my first purchase since becoming widowed and I feel very out on a limb here and unsure of what to do now. Do double glazing companies have to be registered with either FENSA or CERTASS? If I go to my LA for building regs and can't get them, what happens then?

tonyh66

If you are replacing windows like for like you generally do not need LA approval, unless it's a listed property. If you are not planning to sell its not a huge problem, fensa certificates aren't worth the paper etc, your daughter can plead ignorance when the time comes, hopefully long after any guarantee period has expired.

Doozergirl

tonyh66 said:

If you are replacing windows like for like you generally do not need LA approval, unless it's a listed property. If you are not planning to sell its not a huge problem, fensa certificates aren't worth the paper etc, your daughter can plead ignorance when the time comes, hopefully long after any guarantee period has expired.

Replacing windows requires building control approval.  FENSA and CERTASS are self-certification schemes, saying that the supplier works to building regulations.  They are not guarantees.  

It seems you're offering advice without understanding the difference between Building Control and Planning.  

OP, no, suppliers do not need to be registered with either, but building control should be involved instead. 

In all likelihood, your windows are compliant because I can't imagine many double glazing manufacturers not meeting regs.   There are further regulations for fire escape sized openings in new houses and extensions, but for existing homes you just shouldn't make the escape factor any worse than it was before (although it makes common sense to improve it if you can).  

You can call building control to check your windows, if you want to.   They'll just look at the coding on the glass.   Was there any building work associated with the replacement or was it a straight swap?    Are you satisfied that the original house structure includes suitable lintels over the openings?  

DOH_a

tonyh66 said:

If you are replacing windows like for like you generally do not need LA approval, unless it's a listed property. If you are not planning to sell its not a huge problem, fensa certificates aren't worth the paper etc, your daughter can plead ignorance when the time comes, hopefully long after any guarantee period has expired.

Oh gawd 😔

mwarby

Doozergirl said:

You can call building control to check your windows, if you want to.   They'll just look at the coding on the glass.   Was there any building work associated with the replacement or was it a straight swap?    Are you satisfied that the original house structure includes suitable lintels over the openings?  

Would there not be a risk that building control would seek to charge for such a check, no doubt there would be a way to claim this back from the installer, but you'd lose any goodwill that might have existed

DOH_a

If the installer hasn’t been able to self-certify, then Building Control would do this for you, which would involve an application and fee. Not knowing where you are, but replacement windows can be dealt with via a Building Notice application of which the fee would be that for the installation of ‘up to’ 10 windows/doors. It’s a minimal fee to be honest and means you get that added piece of mind the replacements have been carried out correctly.

Risteard

It's also possible that they are registered but aren't listed on the website. An actual call to FENSA would be more appropriate than jumping to conclusions.

It's also possible that the registration is under a different name, e.g. a company name as opposed to a trading name.

And it should be obvious that the certification could be grossly delayed owing to the ridiculous shutting down of all businesses without any evidence to support the move.

FreeBear

Doozergirl said: You can call building control to check your windows, if you want to.   They'll just look at the coding on the glass.   Was there any building work associated with the replacement or was it a straight swap?    Are you satisfied that the original house structure includes suitable lintels over the openings?  

A building regulation certificate shouldn't cost more than £300 or so, but the OP shouldn't need to contact Building Control as the installers should have done that. If they are so negligent in missing out that very important step, did they check for adequate support (lintels) over each window. Anything built prior to the 1970s should be checked, as a lot of buildings relied on wood or steel frames to provide structural support to the outer leaf.