pistonbroke Posted March 5, 2014 Author Share Posted March 5, 2014 Thanks chaps for the input . On your good advice we have phoned the building inspector and arranging for him to visit , think he said the cost is £81 as said above , but he did mention something about the doors also need certificating if they are over 50% glass area , which they all are . My concern now is if they happen to fail inspection ! Does this mean they will all need to be ripped out and replaced . not being familiar with building regs so no idea what they mean by installed correctly , do they mean fitted upside down or back to front or something ? All I can say is that talking to the guy when he fitted them he seemed to me to know his job , I saw the work done and from my eyes it all seemed OK so would be very surprised if they were rejected, but got to admit it is a bit of a worry . Just to add we had the property refurbished with a view to letting so the windows had to have openings that allowed evacuation in the event of fire , not sure if there was anything else special about them but one thing , being a bungalow there are no lintels fitted just 2 coarses of brick above each window , every property on this estate was built the same . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephenh Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Smokey, all I can say is that's a lot quicker than it used to be in east staffs., 2 or 3 years ago. It used to be 2 or 3 months then unless you knew the building control officer well and "twisted his arm". Hence we just wrote lots of indemnity insurance policies, mainly with Guaranteed Conveyancing Solutions (GCS) Ltd. for a quarter of the building control officers fee! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark (smokey mow) Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 If that’s true then that really is appalling service.We operate now, as with the two other councils I have worked for to a policy of always seeing people on the same day they telephone to request the visit. I’m typically in the office from 8am and receiving calls until 10am at which point I’ll then head out on the road to make the visits. Therefore no more than half a day will have elapsed before the majority of people will have been visited.Legally the legislation requires the builder/home owner to give and at least two clear calendar days notice. After which they can cover over/concrete etc the work regardless of whether the Council have visited by that time or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SootySport Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 I had all this when I sold my last house, it came down to Do you want to buy this house? Yes or No. When pressed the buyers legal bods admitted it was not illegal to sell without a Fensa certificate. The same goes for work carried out on Gasafe controlled appliances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhouse Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Piston broke - I'm sure you sent me an email back in 2001 saying how pleased you were with the double glazing you'd just installed in advance of a major refurbishment you had planned for a few years hence. If I could only find the email your troubles would be over... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pistonbroke Posted March 5, 2014 Author Share Posted March 5, 2014 Brian , What a good idea ! thanks for the reminder , but in truth hid would never go with it , much to honest by far , comes from spending the whole of her working life in the teaching profession and being totally isolated from the real world Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iain m Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 I spoke to my Solicitor regarding not having a FENSA certificate he informs me they suggest the easiest route is to issue an indemnity policy. House value £200k £45 £300k £73 £400k £116 £500k £159. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pistonbroke Posted March 6, 2014 Author Share Posted March 6, 2014 Wondered what all the fuss was about . A search found this on the Fensa website What has to be certified? Where a window or windows is/are completely replaced (as opposed to repaired) in existing dwellings, they must comply with Approved Documents Parts L1B and K4 (England) or N (Wales) (safety in relation to impact). In addition, the building should not end up with a worse level of compliance with respect to other applicable parts of the Building Regulations, which includes Parts A (Structure), B (means of escape in case of fire), C (Moisture Penetration, F (ventilation), J (combustion appliances and fuel storage systems), M (access for the disabled) and Regulation 7 (Workmanship and Materials). The Building Regulations for replacement windows state that "The situation must be made no worse than the outgoing windows". For example if the outgoing windows contained trickle vents the new placement windows must include them. Windows and doors in critical locations ie windows below 800mm from floor level and doors where the glass comes within 1500mm of the floor level to the start of the glass must contain safety glass (toughened or laminated) and must include the relevant safety mark clearly visible to comply with Approved Document N. Compliance with the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 is also essential. FENSA does not apply to conservatories, porches, commercial premises or new build properties or extensions. In all of these instances you are required to go through the Local Authority Building Control process. If your property is a flat then planning permission may be required before replacing your windows, therefore it is advisable to check this with the Planning Department of your Local Authority. If planning permission is required a FENSA registered company can register the installation for certification purposes. If you live in a property that is a Listed Building and wish to replace your windows this would fall under the jurisdiction of the relevant Local Authority therefore planning permission would be required and the installation cannot be registered with FENSA. Doors with less than 50% glazing do not require registration. FENSA also does not apply to caravans or holiday chalets. Seems we have to pay a building inspector to come out just to check there is a label etched on each window Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iain m Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 I appreciate gas and electricity must be delt with by professionals but apparently the main thrust of the expensive course the FENSA fitters attend is centred around drilling into the centre of a brick and not the joint. As for replacing outgoing windows with trickle vents must be replaced with new windows with trickle vents this is not the case and is why so many old and new houses suffer from horrendous condensation. It's another con like Energy Performance Certificates where a pre-war house with metal frames and single glazing and gas central heating will score higher than a modern house with UPVC frames and double because it's got electric central heating. The houses in my Mothers road had very poor ratings, when we sold it we replaced all the lights bulbs with the free energy glow worm bulbs we all tried for a couple of days and gave up as they were rubbish and we doubled the rating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pistonbroke Posted March 11, 2014 Author Share Posted March 11, 2014 Chap arrived yesterday , very polite ,( was almost convinced he knew what he was doing) , took him all of 3 mins to check the doors and windows , all was OK . as we already knew ! No certificate can be issued yet as the office can't find the cheque we sent a week ago , and / or, it hasn't yet gone through the system , No one seems to know what the problem is , we are now waiting for some one to call us back with some news , meanwhile the house sale grinds to a full stop until it can be sorted If these people were self employed they would be bankrupt within a week ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Man On The Clapham Omnibus Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 If these people were self employed they would be bankrupt within a week ! No, you are quite wrong according to the civil service; they all could command huge salaries in the private sector and that's why they need such good pensions to compensate. I have to say that those I've met couldn't run a bath let alone a company! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark (smokey mow) Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 No, you are quite wrong according to the civil service; they all could command huge salaries in the private sector and that's why they need such good pensions to compensate. I have to say that those I've met couldn't run a bath let alone a company!I'm perfectly capable of running a bath thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Colonial Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 No, you are quite wrong according to the civil service; they all could command huge salaries in the private sector and that's why they need such good pensions to compensate. I have to say that those I've met couldn't run a bath let alone a company! I'm perfectly capable of running a bath thanks What does it rev to? Let's keep it civil (geddit?) lads, every sector of life has competent and incompetent people working in it. Besides, have you seen how fast Mark can take out or reinstall an engine? Scary! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark (smokey mow) Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 Cheers Scott, but the damage has already been done. I'm damned if I'm going to give up my evenings offering help and assistance if all I get is insulted for my troubles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Colonial Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 Can't say as I blame you Mark, I understand, believe you me! Don't think you were being insulted personally at all, but I get where you're coming from. Similarly, I gave up trying to defend America and some Americans years ago, just not worth the aggro - life's way too short. I just do the best I can now. Can't blame a MemSec for trying to defuse things, I hope. Time for a drink, old friend, I'm off to grab a beer, suggest you do the same, it will all look better afterwards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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