A little while back in the year I wrote about a company called Build Check and how they had been reporting that they estimate that around 80% of our industry still wasn’t CE Marking compliant. At the time, the news came as a shock to some, but no surprise to others. Our industry has always been slow to change, so for me, whilst the figure of 80% was high, it didn’t shock me.

Now, six months on, they report that things haven’t got any better.

“Still a significant number who have not started the process”

That is quite scary isn’t it?

This was the quote from Technical Director of Build Check Richard Bate: “Certainly there is still a significant number who have not started the process. But the biggest problem for companies is how to keep up to date with CE Marking legislation.”

I want to carry out a little experiment. Anonymously, are any of you out there prepared to leave a comment on this post saying that you or your company isn’t CE compliant? I would guess that in public not many of you would be prepared to say that you’re not. But if the figures from Build Check are to be trusted, then four out of five of your are not.

We could outrage. We could start blaming this body and that body for not helping our industry to adapt to these changes. But what good would that do? What we need to be concerning ourselves with is the new consumer rights law that was passed a couple of months ago. It is that, and a great big loophole that coupled with non-CE marked windows and doors that could spell big trouble.

Not fit for purpose

In the new consumer rights directive enforced on the UK in the summer, it stated that consumers could demand their full contact value back if it could be proved that their installation was not fit for purpose.

So, if a window or a door isn’t CE marked, can it be said that they are not fit for purpose? I would say it could be argued. After all, that CE mark is supposed to be proof that that window and door is actually legal and fit for purpose. If this is indeed the case, then that opens up a huge potential can of worms for such a large proportion of the industry.

Does this then mean that potentially 80% of the windows and doors being fitted right now aren’t fit for purpose? Does this open up 80% of the industry to potential demands from customers for their money back? Possible, but not likely. But if the industry really doesn’t get itself into gear, we face a growing and very serious problem.

Figures into perspective

I do question these figures from Build Check. Who have they asked? How many have they asked? Is this advice they are offering on their website free or is it something we have to pay for? I’m not saying their figures are wrong, but some break down of the figures, perhaps via the comments section on here might help shed some more detailed light on matter.

Whether we like it or not, we have to abide by CE laws. This is going to grow into a serious, expensive and profound problem if the industry does not get it’s act together.

All comments welcome in the section below.