The timber window industry has hit out at damaging coverage of the new Building Regulations in the London Evening Standard.
A full-page feature in the newspaper about the impact of Part ‘L’ of the regulations claimed that it was difficult to make a replacement wooden sash window that complied with the new insulation requirements. The article on April 3 suggested the reason was that the gap between the panes of double glazed units was too large for a timber sash window to bear.
The British Woodworking Federation (BWF) was the first to rebut the article’s claims, stating that anything that could be made with plastic, steel or aluminium could be made with timber.
BWF director Kevin Cubbage said:
‘You can obtain doubled-glazed sliding sash windows in timber that comply with the new regulations just as easily as in any other material.
‘We have to deal with this sort of misinformation on a day-to-day basis. It is damaging because it leads people to conclude that they can’t replace their old timber sash windows with timber replacements.’
Duncan Wright, managing director of Spalding-based George Barnsdale & Sons, one of the many manufacturers of Part ‘L’ compliant timber sash windows, said: ‘We produce factory-glazed, and factory-finished double glazed timber sash windows that are all compliant. And we have growing demand for them.’
At the time of going to press the Evening Standard was unable to comment about the article’s assertions.
