Hi?

We brought the flat in 06 and the previous owner purchased it in 05. After we moved in, we found there are problems with two of our double glazed windows (one of them won't close, one of them has been jammed and won't open). The freehold owned by a housing association replaced them back in 04 as part of improvement scheme. After months and months of chasing, they just confirmed to me that they don't have a fensa certificate and the company installed it has gone out of business. The freehold told us to get the certificate from the local authority and take the matter to the manufacturer ourselves. After we checked through the purchase paperwork, our solicitor asked the vendor solicitor to confirm " In the event that the property benefits from replacement windows/doors please specifically confirm when these were installed and provide us with a copy of the guarantees. If replaced after April 02 please forward a copy of the FENSA certificate/building regulations along with confirmation that the originals will be forwarded to us on completion". The vendor’s solicitor states "NO" at the time. This is clearly not the case as now with the confirmation from the freeholder the window was replaced in 04. However, the vendor’s solicitor has failed to answer this correctly and my solicitor has not sought for any further verification from the freeholder at the time.

However, I wonder if anyone could point me to the right direction to pursue this matter with all parties involved to get the windows repaired/replaced and obtain FENSA certificate for future selling of the property.

Thanks in advance

Hi --- As you state the business that installed the units has gone bust and not issued a certificate for their work, then you will not get these windows repaired or certified for free. Therefore it would be cheaper, quicker and less hassle doing this yourself without involving Solicitors at all.

Your council local building control inspector will issue a backdated compliance certificate once successfully inspected....... costing around £70 ish per visit, but you would need to get the windows to safely function as intended before his visit, if they are to issue a retrospective notice of compliance for your future buyers.

Hi Conmankiller, thanks for your reply. Our issue is if we have to replace the window, we have to source out a particular appearance windows & obtain consent from the freeholder to carry out replacement work which means we won't be able to go for cheaper priced windows. We feel this should has been at the vendor's cost if we were told the faulty windows & the consequences regarding the lack of FENSA certificate & indemity insurance policy by the solicitor. Clearly, the vendor has decided not to tell us about the faulty windows at the time.-VERY NAUGHTY!

My questions are:

Is it legal to replace double glazed windows without the FENSA certificate or the building regulation approval after 2002 as the freeeholder has not got any paper works relates to the window replacement in 2004?

Our solicitor did not advise us the need for the FENSA certificate or the indemity insurance policy at the time of the purchase. Is this a normal practice or has the solicitor breached the duty of care to us in this case? As it is a leasehold flat, if the leaseholders wish to replace the windows, surely they need to obtain the consent from the freeholder first. therefore, should our solicitor have asked the question with the freeholder as well?

The vendor solicitor answer was not clear and misleading, it did not fully confirm if the property had placement windows or not.

We know that the less hassle way is to get this all sort it at our own cost. However, it took us 6 months chasing to obtain the informaiton (ie. the year the windows was replace, the name of the company installed windows & confirmation there is no FENSA certificate or building regulation approval) from the freeholder so far. It just does not sound right to have faulty window installed & arranged by housing association (the freeholder) as their IMPROVEMENT SCHEME and they don't think it is their responsibility for the QUALITY of the replacement & to COMPLY with the relevant govement regulation (ie. FENSA certificate or building regulation approval).

Is it legal to replace double glazed windows without the FENSA certificate or the building regulation approval after 2002 as the freeeholder has not got any paper works relates to the window replacement in 2004?

Hi --- April 2002 when the regulations were changed, they then required by law any replacement or new installation to comply with the relevant BS accreditation. Some firms who had the necessary training could self certify by issuing a FENSA certificate for their own work. Other smaller firms or private individuals had to rely on the building inspector issuing a compliance notice stating the work was up to standard.

The problem now is the firm that fitted the windows for the housing association has gone out of business and failed to issue a FENSA cert to the association, therefore you now have little chance of getting this certificate from the original company.

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The freeholder of the building is responsible for the fixtures and fittings which includes windows & doors etc, therefore your housing association had the legal obligation to make sure these windows complied to building standards and should have ensured a certificate was issued when the work was carried out by the original company or it was passed by the local building control......the vendors Solicitor should firstly have made your Solicitor aware of the new installation and the subsequent lack of the necessary certificates ....and offered an indemnity policy in place of the certificates. Your Solicitor should then have sought your permission whether you were happy to proceed with an indemnity policy taking the place of the missing certificate instead.

It sounds like your Solicitor has done his job correctly and asked the right questions, which have not been replied to correctly by the association or their Solicitors.{they were duty bound to disclose the truth when asked)

I would contact your Solicitor and ask him to insist that this work is at least carried out by the association getting it inspected and passed by building control, failing which your Solicitor may consider that the full truth was not disclosed at the point of sale to the purchaser (namely you) which failing their full co-operation to remedy this problem he may consider the opinion that the association or their Solicitors have tried to deceive himself and you the purchaser as to the true status of the property.

I'm interested in your reply to this post as we've recently refurbished our sash windows at some expense - the freeholder claimed that this was not his responsibility. To your knowledge, are windows always regarded as fixtures and fittings and therefore always the responsibility of the freeholder? This would make sense to me, as maintaining the structure of the building is beneficial to the freeholder as well as the leaseholder.