What Is All The F Fuss About

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The requirement to fit trickle vents in virtually all replacement windows is causing quite a stir amongst installers but I don’t know what the fuss is about writes David Thornton, Chairman of The Window Company (Contracts).

The requirements come under Part F of the revised Building Regulations. I have heard there are lots of installers complaining about how unpopular they are with homeowners – but I don’t see the evidence of it.

It’s completely at odds with our experience – especially in the social housing sector. The majority of residents in homes where we are fitting windows understand exactly why they are necessary, and we actually get very little pushback. If we do, our fitters are fully briefed to explain the benefits of background ventilation – and the likely cost of remedials.

I was surprised then to see the figure shared recently by Dean Bradley of Glazpart (a trickle vent supplier) that, of 55 sites audited by the government during the consultation on the new Building Regs, only 2 were fully compliant even with the 2006 version of Approved Document F.

Invalidate certification

No wonder that there will now be an Installation and Commissioning checklist that must be completed and handed over to the homeowner after a window installation that includes sign off on the background ventilation. Knowingly making a false declaration on that will invalidate either FENSA or CERTASS certification.

As I see it, there’s nowhere really to go in terms of non-compliance. The rules state that a replacement installation should make the ventilation ‘no worse’ and the fact is that if you replace any double gasketed PVC-U window with a ‘like for like replacement’, it will increase the air tightness simply because the original will have deteriorated in performance over time.

My understanding is that it won’t be enough to take a photograph to justify not fitting a trickle vent either – effectively, you’d have to complete a before and after air tightness test and that would be completely unviable.

Compulsory

I think it will become increasingly difficult during the course of this year for installers to buy frames that aren’t routed for trickle vents. Certainly, fabricators we have spoken to plan to make inclusion of trickle vents the default option on their ordering systems. As soon as they effectively become compulsory, where’s the incentive for fabricators to encourage the breaking of the rules?

Benefits of ventilation

Obviously, there are relatively few physical inspections carried out to police the Building Regs, but that shouldn’t be a reason for installers to ignore them. Maybe what’s needed is a better communications programme to persuade homeowners of the benefits of trickle vents and in a post-Covid world, reinforce the importance of bringing fresh air into their homes?

Picture: Colour matched trickle vents installed by The Window Company (Contracts).

www.thewinco.co.uk

Article written by Cathryn Ellis
16th February 2022

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