Certification Scheme For Tradespeople Gives Homeowners Peace Of Mind

October 29, 2009

Manchester, UK (WiredPRNews.com), October 20 2009, Customers of double glazing and replacement window and door companies are being urged to look out for a regulation scheme which is aimed at bringing more peace of mind to homeowners and buyers.

LocalQuoter, a company which puts customers in touch with reputable local tradespeople who are all specialists in a particular sector in the home improvement field, believes that the Certass (Certification and Self Assessment) scheme offers valuable guarantees covering the quality of manufacture and installation of new windows and doors.

It is designed to ensure that all work complies with building regulations, which means that homeowners will be able to produce a certificate which will satisfy the conditions required under Home Improvement Pack (HIPs) regulations should they wish to sell on their home after completion of the work.

Glazing companies working under Certass also sign up to an insurance scheme, which assures customers that, should their installer go out of business, any repairs required under guarantee will be carried out by another Certass member.

LocalQuoter believes that this is a valuable safeguard for homeowners, and will prove especially useful when they want to sell their home, as the information has to be included in the Home Information Pack offered to prospective buyers.

Approval by Certass Glazing will allow member contractors to self-certify work, which means Certass Glazing will be in a position to issue Building Regulation Completion Certificates to homeowners.

Every prospective member of CERTASS glazing will first have to be vetted by the scheme’s officials, who can also carry out random inspections of their members’ work to ensure that they are complying with regulations.

Certass Glazing members will have to apply to rejoin the scheme every year runs from the date of initial approval, so each contractor’s annual period will be unique.

The Certass scheme runs alongside the similar accreditation process operated by FENSA, which in turn covers 9,000 registered window and door manufacturers and installers.

“At LocalQuoter, we offer our customers the double reassurance that companies we recommend meet the requirements laid down by both CERTASS and FENSA,” said Les Yates of LocalQuoter.

“As we take the awarding of these self-certification powers, and of membership of the FENSA scheme into account when we assess a tradesperson’s suitability for a particular job on behalf of our clients, this strengthens the safeguards we can offer to our customers concerning an individual company’s reputation in the industry.

“So this means that clients can be sure that they really are being referred to the best person or company for the job in their area, as judged by experts in their particular industry.”

A full list of CERTASS-accredited window installation and replacement companies, sorted by postcode, is available on the CERTASS website.

ENDS