In an article from Richard Bate (Technical Director of Build Check) in the latest Glass & Glazing Products magazine he points out that:
There are currently 360 companies offering 1461 different windows to either ‘A’, ‘B’ or ‘C’ bands. That is a 20% increase since March this year but at the current rate it will take over nine years for every fabricator to attain its ratings. We have less than three months and there is no extra time in this fixture.
Indeed, I’ve calculated that there are now only 49 working days for all the fabricators and installers of windows and doors in the UK to be ready to comply with the new building regulations.
I had a chat with a supplier to the PVC window industry recently who contacted 46 fabricators to see how they were preparing for October 1st. They were specifically talking to smaller fabricators who were making between 6 and 20 frames per week. Of the 46 fabricators, not one of them intended to be complying with the new regulations in October.
Not one of them!
It seems to me that there is a small, yet significant uninformed section of our industry that is not interested in Window Energy Ratings and has no intention of getting involved. They’re more interested in earning a living today, than worrying about the implications of the new regulations which are written into law.
As a fabricator who has made the investment in WERs I’m interested to know how this will be properly policed when clearly a significant portion of our industry has no intention of complying.
