Call to licence all replacement window fitters

Martindales is calling for every single contractor and operator in the glazing sector to be licensed - before somebody dies because of poor fitment.

The UK's leading supplier of replacement doors and windows to the insurance industry is calling for every single contractor and operator in the glazing sector to be licensed - before somebody dies because of poor fitment.

Phil Martindale, founder and Managing Director of Martindales, says at least two thirds of replacement window and door fitters are "cowboys" - and some new businesses setting up do not know that the glazing equivalent of the MOT, "Document L", even exists.

"Incorrectly fitted doors or windows can involve glass or heights - or both.

Doors and windows are being fitted incorrectly by these cowboys, and in some cases dangerously under-specified glass is being fitted in doors and windows in homes where toddlers are charging around.

The consequences hardly bear thinking about.

"But these cowboys are not always easy to spot - and I would put them in to two categories.

Firstly, the fitter whose unlettered van looks like a skip, with no proper racks; he's a mess, covered in bling and mastic, no overalls, poorly prepared with no dust sheets - and certainly offers no sort of customer service.

"Then there's the second category: good people who are skilful with their hands, who are largely honest but blissfully ignorant of the regulations relating to the installation of replacement windows or doors.

"The first category has cowboy written all over, the second is potentially the silent killer.

The best they can provide is a window or door that might do the insulation job it was supposed to - but the worst could be anything from a huge devaluation of the house because more and more house sales are dependent upon the right documentation, through to the installation of an incorrectly specified piece of glass that somebody could too easily break or even fall through".

The UK's Building Regulations state that windows must comply with rules laid out in a joint government and industry self assessment scheme: FENSA - the Fenestration Self Assessment Scheme.

This relates primarily to levels of insulation, but also to the type and quality of glass and frames.

Some installers are affiliated to the FENSA scheme and therefore provide installation to the required standard and achieve "Dcoument L" standard, but many do not.

Those who are not often take advantage, because installations by non-FENSA members should be checked and assessed by the local authority, but it is down to the householder to arrange this.

"It's human nature - many do not.

This leaves the door wide open for anybody to wake up one morning and set up in replacement window installation business.

A few hundred quid on a van, get credit from a supplier, and they're off - and we know there are lads fitting the thick end of GBP30,000 worth of unregulated replacement windows a month," said Phil Martindale.

"We need two things - urgently.

The building industry has stated it self that there is so much replacement window installation going on that it needed self-assessment.

That to me says there's a problem.

"We, the replacement door and window industry, need to educate the consumer and householder - who may after all buy replacement windows only once in a lifetime - with regard to the standards demanded by FENSA.

"Secondly, we must move towards a licensing system for replacement door and window specialists; the licence is granted only after the completion of a recognised training course, the establishment of a credit rating, the confirmation that the people behind the business are financially stable - very similar the gas installation industry's CORGI scheme, members of which are only admitted after a college course.".

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