FENSA self-certification scheme for window replacement

FENSA is the Fenestration Self-Assessment Scheme for companies that install windows and doors in dwellings.

Since April 2002, all replacement glazing has come within the scope of the Building Regulations. That means anyone who installs replacement windows or doors has to comply with strict new thermal performance standards. (Just replacing glass is exempt)

One of the main reasons for the change is the need to reduce energy loss. The Building Regulations have controlled glazing in new buildings for many years but they represent only a very small percentage of our total building stock. It is also essential to improve the performance of the much larger numbers of existing buildings if we are to meet increasingly stringent national and global energy saving targets.

When the time comes to sell your property, your purchaser’s surveyors will ask for evidence that any replacement glazing installed after April 2002 complies with the new Building Regulations. There are two ways to prove compliance:

• A certificate showing that the work has been done by an installer who is registered under the FENSA Scheme or
• A certificate from the Local Authority saying that the installation had a satisfactory final inspection by the Building Control Department of the Local Authority