Windows installing - FENSA or building control?

[WoolyMammoth55]

Hi all,

We're having 5 replacement double-glazed units installed and my contractor has ordered them from a 3rd party supplier who he says gives the best supply prices.

We now need to get them installed and I need to decide between finding a FENSA installer (which our guys say will be £££) or getting them installed non-FENSA and then certified by building regs.

I'm struggling to find the cost of the building regs application online and wondered if anyone has done either of these things recently and can offer advice?

Going to a FENSA installer sounds simplest to me but the local firms I'm contacting aren't happy that it's install only and don't seem wildly keen to quote...

Grateful for any advice! Thanks all

If you go on your local authority website and go to the building control pages they should have their fees available to view. Our council has all their fees online, in my area it would be £120 to check up to 5 windows. If you can’t see then I suggest you just give them a call on Monday to ask, there quite happy to run through fees etc.

I work for a FENSA installer. If they are replacement windows as in taking old put putting new in then you will require a FENSA certificate. If it is an extension with new windows/openings then it comes under building control and your builder must register it. It not necessarily more expensive to use a FENSA registered installer the builder is talking rubbish. When you want to move you will need to provide a FENSA certificate, CERTASS or details of building registration.

Just to add the reason the FENSA installers are not keen to quoted for installation I said because windows are made to measure and require a proper survey, if the windows don’t fit properly or there are issues afterwards they are left with the problem because they’ve registered it with FENSA for you and if it’s inspected and poorly fitted due to mismeasurement etc they get the blame. We would not install windows in this way either