Monday July 22nd will go down as a very important day indeed. No I’m not talking about the Royal Baby, although that is something culturally and historically very important. No, I’m talking about the BFRC finally confirming that they are now releasing an A+ rating. I want to thank one of my Twitter pals for making the following letter available:

BFRC A+

Quick tip, to see a larger version, click the letter, a larger version should pop up!

So, the BFRC seem to have listened and understood the calls from the industry to start differentiating between the low end of the A rated windows and the higher ones. In fact the subject of an extra A rating was something I wrote about back in March: https://www.doubleglazingblogger.com/2013/03/higher-a-ratings/

The eagle eyed of you will have noticed that the BFRC are charging an extra £50 to those that are paying the minimum amount. I can hear the cries of robbery already, and to be fair, given the costs that most have paid, any extra charge seems rather Scroog-ish. But then again, we’re all probably used to have to pay much to gain very little.

However, I do believe that the extra banding is important. With glass technology and efficiency improving at a very quick rate, the top ratings have to have their integrity protected. This means that the higher A ratings need to be shown more clearly and differently. It will also make it easier for installers to demonstrate to customers that their A rated windows are of a higher quality than their competitors.

What I do think this will do is to spark a keener race to be top of the pile. There is a lot of advertising potential for suppliers and installers who can reach the new A+ rating. It may spur a new thrust from suppliers to improve the spec of their products. Remember, anything A+9 or less is now not the top band. There will be many who won’t like the idea of being second on the list and will want to make it back to the top of that certificate.

So, all in all, this was expected, it was necessary and I think from a consumer point of view, it protects the integrity of A ratings as well as making it more clear for people to see exactly how good different A rated windows are. I’m just a little disappointed about the £50 charge!