Should we foot the bill for a faulty rooflight? 😩

Okell

Fairer_Trades said:

Okell said:

Was this a consumer purchase under the Consumer Rights Act 2015?

“Consumer” means an individual acting for purposes that are wholly or mainly outside that individual's trade, business, craft or profession.

And has the seller - who I understand also to be the manufacturer - accepted that it is "faulty" in some way?

Thanks Okell, it was a consumer purchase it was bought it for my own property.

They have said that they would "like to replace it under warranty" - do you think this counts as accepting it is faulty?

I haven't brought up CRA yet and tbh my quote or invoice doesn't actually mention a warranty. An earlier quote does say "claims in respect of seals on double glazed units (DGUs) are limited to a period of 5 years" but it not the seal that has gone, it's the sealant they used round the edge. over time it has perished and shrunk and now just hangs loose! 

Sounds like Alderbank has more knowledge than me re rooflights.

Fairer_Trades

Alderbank said:

Fairer_Trades said:

I haven't brought up CRA yet and tbh my quote or invoice doesn't actually mention a warranty. An earlier quote does say "claims in respect of seals on double glazed units (DGUs) are limited to a period of 5 years" but it not the seal that has gone, it's the sealant they used round the edge. over time it has perished and shrunk and now just hangs loose! 

That's a fairly safe bet for the rooflight company.

The seals on DG units refer to the adhesive foil strip applied around the glazing panes when they are manufactured. All DG in the UK must now be made to BS EN 1279 and has an expected life of 10-25 years, so they are not risking much by guaranteeing the seals for 5 years.

Who actually applied this sealant which has perished? If it was applied by the manufacturers are there any requirements about overpainting in the installation instructions? Two years sounds a very short time to fail unless for example it should have been painted over after installation with a UV block.

Thanks for all you input Alderbank!

The sealant was applied by the manufacturer to seal between the DG panel and the aluminium frame. There was no instruction to over paint or treat. 

Please ignore the gross flys, but i hope this image shows what i'm on about :-)  This is just one corner; it's coming away in a lot of other places too. It almost looks like two different sealants were used at this corner but i don't know if this is enough to prove fault and go via the CRA to reclaim my costs.

Any advice would be greatly appreicated. Thanks!

Alderbank

I'm sure the seller is aware that it would be much cheaper to do a kerbside swap than to remove and reinstall the lantern in situ as he would have to do under the CRA. He is therefore offering the swap with no questions asked about the cause of the damage. If pressed, I think he would say that it is a goodwill gesture with no admission of liability.

Realistically it is quite possible that when the unit was being winched and installed that it was distorted slightly and that slight distortion, coupled with thermal and wind pressure stresses over the following months, has eventually resulted in the small leak now apparent.

As before, in your position I would bring in a suitably qualified engineer to examine the job to say whether he can report with reasonable certainty that the leak was caused because of a manufacturing error already present when the part was deposited at kerbside. That is what you would need to bring a successful claim if you had to go to court because I believe the seller would counter the claim to say your installers had not handled and installed with reasonable care and skill. Unfortunately the onus is on you to prove that was not the case.

I would though also ask the engineer whether the minor leak could be repaired, maybe with a suitable membrane and a polymer sealant, and if so what that would cost.
If presented with that as a resolution, without the cost and risk to both sides of going to court, the seller might agree to pay the bill.