January 2024

News Roundup
DGCOS TO OFFER 6 AND
2-YEAR REG OPTIONS
To support the changing market, The Double
Glazing & Conservatory Ombudsman
Scheme (DGCOS) is introducing shorter
six and two-year registration options
for members, in addition to its current
standard of 10 years, allowing members
to offer more relevant protection on
installations and replacements.
Faisal Hussain, DGCOS Chief Executive, said:
“Did you know that under Competent Person
Scheme requirements installers must provide
six years’ financial protection for consumers
when replacing windows and doors? And,
that some Competent Person Schemes also
only require six years’ consumer protection
too? As an industry, we have always offered
10 years as standard, and this could be an
unnecessary expense.
"We want to give our members the option
to provide either a new standard six-year
registration or a 10-year ‘added value’
registration. Consumers would still have
free access to all our services under the six
and two year options, which includes our
advice line, mediation and access to the
Ombudsman.
“The new two-year registration level is
specifically designed for smaller jobs such
as replacement handles, locks or individual
units, where a 10-year guarantee is neither
needed nor required.
“By offering different registration levels,
we are reducing the financial burden on
installers at a time when companies have to
compete for every penny earned, and when
costs are increasing.
“As I have spoken about before, overdelivering
on consumer rights by having 10
year guarantees in place adds to the wider
cost for all of us across the industry. More
information will be provided when the new
registration options go live, which is expected
to be in 2024.” installers.dgcos.org.uk
AFFORDABLE MARKS 30 YEARS OF SUCCESS
One of the largest trade manufacturers in the
UK, Affordable Windows Group, is celebrating
three decades in the industry.
Emerging from a national window installation
company set up in the 1970s, Affordable Window
Systems began as a dedicated supply-only
fabricator catering to local trade businesses. The
company's initial success then led to supplying
customers further afield in Kent, Surrey, Essex
and Scotland.
Over the last 30 years there have been many
significant developments, the first being a network
of modern trade outlets, which fall under the 21st
Century Window Centres brand. Following this,
Affordable Aluminium began manufacturing the
Smarts range of windows, doors and bi-folds, along
with the Reynaers CP 130 Lift and Slide patio door.
More recently, the popular Timberlook range has
brought heritage flush sash PVC-U windows and
doors to the market.
VBH SCOOPS MEDWAY BUSINESS AWARD
Hardware manufacturer VBH has been
successful at the recent Medway Business
Awards, winning the Product Innovation category.
The award was given for VBH’s work with its
greenteQ 'smart' products, initially with the
Q-Smart fingerprint/app operated door handle,
and with the more recent development of the
greenteQ iQ range of security window locks and
multipoint door locks.
On a visit to VBH House in September, VBH says the
judges were impressed by how greenteQ iQ locks
can be quickly upgraded by the simple addition of
a sensor to work with Kubu to link windows and
entrance doors to a smart home network.
Benefits to the end-user include a quick check on
the open/closed and locked/unlocked statuses of
windows and doors via the Kubu app, security and
comfort alerts etc. Products fitted with greenteQ
iQ locks can also be linked to other elements of
the network, such as heating, lighting etc.
The Medway award comes hot on the heels of the
greenteQ iQ security window lock receiving the
For more news and the latest updates, visit www.total-installer.co.uk
Reflecting on the company's anniversary, Sales
Director Phil Myers said: "Of course, 30 years
of history is great, but it's the future we are
now concentrating on. Collaborations with
Tommy Trinder, the Ultraframe Hup! System and
continuing our development of Timberlook and our
aluminium systems, including Smarts Heritage
windows and doors, are the main focus now. We
need to concentrate on what the public and our
trade customers want to order and not simply
what we want to sell – that's always been the
Affordable difference." www.timberlook.com
Best Window Component award at the National
Fenestration Awards in October 2023.
Gary Gleeson, Marketing Manager at VBH
(GB), said: “Installers who offer the greenteQ
iQ/Kubu concept are reaping the rewards of
homeowners' hearty appetite for upgrading their
new installation from the ordinary to the extraordinary.
If greenteQ iQ locks are fitted to windows
and doors as standard, it is a very simple and
inexpensive process to link them to a smart
network at any time if the customer wishes. VBH
has been very successful in recent years, and one
of the keys to that success is the constant stream
of new innovations that we are bringing to market,
including our new ‘smart’ products.”
sales@vbhgb.com
14 TI JANUARY 2024 PRACTICAL CONTENT FOR THE GLAZING INSTALLER & HOME IMPROVEMENT SPECIALIST