Here’s something a bit ridiculous that seems to have been missed in all the fine print of the Green Deal. I was reading in this month’s Windows Active on page 100 the article from Colin St. John, General Manager at Freefoam and was very surprised to hear that according to the article, the Government is insisting that all home improvements products carry a 20-25 year guarantee – to match the length of the terms of the loan taken out!

Come on! The industry already think ten year guarantees are already too long, why would we want a guarantee that lasts a quarter of a century?!

A guarantee this long is going to put a real financial strain on any business that takes part in the Green Deal. Imagine having to fund repairs, replacement parts and other remedial work until 2037! Companies are going to be way out of pocket and unfairly at that. This is a classic case of the Government imparting their thoughts as what they see best, rather than sitting down and really thinking about what the consequences of this action should be.

No other industry offers the guarantees we do. Cars at the most offer 7 years, white good are between 1-3 years. For windows and doors to have a 10 or maybe 15 year guarantee is already too long I think. To extend this to 25 is just plain ridiculous. The Government really needs to step back a minute and analyze what they are asking.

This isn’t a question of companies not being able to say that their products won’t last 25 years because I’m very confident that most high quality PVCu products will last longer than that. It’s the principle of forcing these companies to take out such a long guarantee which is the issue.