Fensa Certficate

ktgleb

Hey Everyone, 
Wondering if anyone can advise on the following, were near to exchange of our maisonette and our solicitors have asked for a Fensa certificate. We have only lived here 2 years and did not receive one from previous sellers and was not an issue at all when we exchanged and completed. after some research this only came in 2002 I just wanted to know where we stand.
We have been offered indemnity insurance at a cost of 180 pound, not sure how much usually this is costing. I have looked on the Fensa website and there are no logs of the windows and doors being registered. what is the best thing we should do, we are already paying out for contingent insurance and do not want to over pay on all these ridiculous insurance policies!!! If we can look into our own insurance is this an option? Any advise is welcome.
Thank you!!!

GoogleMeNow

You could check also on the Certass website as it is another window certification scheme.  Duplicate certificates are around £25.

How long have the windows been in situ?  If you think they were installed before 2002, then say that. You would not be expected to provide a certificate or indemnity policy if the windows are that old.  If the windows are newer, then unless they were included in other building works and covered by a building regulations certificate, you will need to offer the indemnity policy - £180 seems hefty though.  The building regulations indemnity policy covers FENSA, Certass, Gas Safe and electrical certificates so one policy can cover quite a few items.

FreeBear

GoogleMeNow said: You could check also on the Certass website as it is another window certification scheme.

There are a total of seven Competent Person Schemes that cover the installation of windows & doors. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/competent-person-scheme-current-schemes-and-how-schemes-are-authorised - Don't know which ones would have been active back in 2002. It is quite possible that there were others operating at the time. If the windows had been fitted by an approved contractor, then the local council should have a record. But contacting the council would most likely invalidate any indemnity policy. Check to see what records are available on the local council planning portal.

canaldumidi

Indemnity insurance will pay out if the council enforces a breach of building regulations.

Since enforcement must happen within 12 months of installation, it serves no useful purpose except to satisfy a twitchy buyer (or their lender).

ktgleb

Thank you so much for the information!!!
We are also being asked to pay contingent insurance do we need both it is a top floor maisonette if that information is required? its madness we need to pay for 2 insurance policies on a place in a few months we will no longer own?
is there an insurance that covers both indemnity and contingent?/

user1977

You still haven't told us when the windows were installed - not clear whether anything was even required in the first place.

ktgleb

user1977 said:

You still haven't told us when the windows were installed - not clear whether anything was even required in the first place.

if im honest with you i have no idea, but we have lived here three years and the owners before us were here for 5 and neither got them installed

user1977

ktgleb said:

user1977 said:

You still haven't told us when the windows were installed - not clear whether anything was even required in the first place.

if im honest with you i have no idea, but we have lived here three years and the owners before us were here for 5 and neither got them installed

Are they even replacement windows? How old is the building? If they are the original windows there's no need for a separate certificate - we've had other people here having to argue this with daft solicitors.

Drawingaline

Ours were put in pre fensa in our old house. The frames were dated on the inside (so when the window was open they showed a series of numbers dating to the year 2000) so we assumed they went in around 2000/2001 at the same time the conservatory was built. 

We had an issue trying to explain that there was no fensa cert available for the back door as we had replaced it later on. So the door in question no longer existed and we had a fensa cert for the replacement. That seemed tricky for buyers solicitor to grasp 🙄 it was showing on the fensa site, we simply refused to pay for the actual certificate for it as we gave in the physical one for the new door.