FENSA certificate for selling our house?

80stoyfan

Hi,
Me and my partner are wanting to sell our rental property and are looking into the whole selling process. My partner has stumbled across FENSA certificates and how all windows after 2002 need one. We had the windows replaced at the property a few years ago and never received one and didn't know about them to ask...what are they and do you need one to rent a property out or sell a property? Thanks.

MysteryMe

If the installer was not registered with a certification scheme such as FENSA or CERTASS, and not all of them are, you can apply for a regularisation certificate from local building control. It will cost around £300.  

Slinky

80stoyfan said:

Hi,
Me and my partner are wanting to sell our rental property and are looking into the whole selling process. My partner has stumbled across FENSA certificates and how all windows after 2002 need one. We had the windows replaced at the property a few years ago and never received one and didn't know about them to ask...what are they and do you need one to rent a property out or sell a property? Thanks.

Try looking on the Fensa website for your address, if they were the certifier, you can download the certificate for about £10 IIRC.

Mr.Generous

You dont need a certificate to rent out, and when selling just put "Not available" and the buyer can choose what to do.

Lorian

The buyer could just ask you to buy a fensa Indemnity insurance. That happens a lot, just expect them to expect you to pay for it, it's not a lot of money in the grand scheme if things. 

eddddy

80stoyfan said:

We had the windows replaced at the property a few years ago and never received one and didn't know about them to ask...what are they and do you need one to rent a property out or sell a property?

This generates a long list of questions / comments...

• Are you saying you had all the windows replaced in your property - were they timber replaced by uPVC? Was it by a window replacement company?

• Replacing windows generally requires building regs approval.

• FENSA registered installers or CERTASS registered installers can sign-off their own building regs approval

• Any legitimate window installation company would be FENSA or CERTASS (or equivalent) registered - they would almost certainly be 'cowboys' if they weren't registered.

• (Or did you get a general builder or or mate or similar to fit them?)

So if you don't have FENSA, CERTASS, Building Regs certification (or equivalent) - the big question is "Was it a botched installation by incompetent people?" 

For example...

• Were lintels required, and if so were they installed?

• Were any existing openings enlarged, or any new openings created?

• (There might also be questions about whether they provide adequate means of escape in a fire)

• (... and ventilation)

• And more generally, if they were installed by 'cowboys', what is the quality of installation and expected life-span etc.

If your eventual buyer arranges a survey (or if the buyer is knowledgeable), these are the types of issues that could be raised.

daveyjp

FENSA certs sit firmly within the world of red tape which needs confining to history.

eddddy

daveyjp said:

FENSA certs sit firmly within the world of red tape which needs confining to history.

There are building regulation requirements for replacing windows.

The FENSA scheme allows window installers to self-certify that their work meets building regulation requirements


So are you saying that..

• Building regulations are red tape which need confining to history?

• Or, self-certification is red tape.  And council building inspectors should inspect window replacements, instead?

Or something else?