Installed UK-wide
House windows
Replacement double- and triple-glazed windows for houses and flats, in uPVC or aluminium, fitted across the UK. They suit homes with failed seals, rotting frames or draughts, and flats over shops where the windows belong to the same building as the shopfront. We survey every opening and quote in writing.
Consents this work tends to involve
- Planning permissionOccasionally
Replacement windows on a house that look similar to the existing ones are normally permitted development. Flats, Article 4 areas and new bay windows are the exceptions.
- Listed building consentSometimes
Listed buildings need consent, and councils frequently refuse uPVC in place of historic windows.
- Building regulationsUsually needed
A replacement window is building-regulations work: energy performance, safety glass, ventilation and, upstairs, a way out in a fire.
An installer’s general guide; your council decides.
Do I need permission to replace my windows?
On a house, normally not, provided the new windows look similar to the old — that is the test the Planning Portal gives. A new bay window counts as an extension. Upstairs windows in a side wall must be obscure-glazed and either fixed shut or opening only more than 1.7 metres above the floor.
Flats and maisonettes have no householder permitted development rights, so a change of material or style there can need planning permission, although councils generally accept a genuine like-for-like replacement without one. In a conservation area, check for an Article 4 direction first: councils use them precisely to stop timber sashes being swapped for uPVC.
What does building control check on a new window?
Four things. Energy performance, under Approved Document L. Safety glass in critical locations — low panes, and glass in or beside doors — under Approved Document K. Ventilation: under Approved Document F a replacement window should not leave the room less ventilated than before, which usually means trickle vents. And escape: an upstairs window that served as an emergency exit must still open wide enough, under Approved Document B.
The work is either self-certified by an installer registered with a competent person scheme or notified to building control. Ask which before you agree a price, and keep the certificate.
Should the windows above a shop match the shopfront?
From the street, the upper windows and the shopfront are seen as one building. Shopfront guides commonly ask that a new front relate to the floors above it, and the same logic runs the other way. Picking a frame colour and glazing pattern that sit with the shopfront costs almost nothing extra and makes the building look deliberate rather than patched.
Standards and regulations
| Reference | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Approved Document L | Thermal performance of replacement windows in homes. |
| Approved Document F | Background ventilation when windows are replaced. |
| Approved Document K | Safety glass in critical locations. |
| BS 6375 | Performance of windows and doors: weathertightness, operation and strength. |
Questions
Double or triple glazing?
Related
- uPVC doors — Front, back and flat entrance doors in uPVC — for homes and the back of the shop.
- Composite doors — Heavy, reinforced front doors in period styles, for houses and flats over shops.
- Commercial aluminium windows — Windows for the floors above the shop, chosen to match the street as well as the U-value.