What the guarantee is
Every rooflight installation we carry out comes with a 10-year workmanship guarantee: if the way we fitted it fails within ten years, we come back and put it right at no cost to you.
The guarantee runs from the day the job is signed off as complete, and it is written into your quote so you can read it before you agree to anything. It applies to every skylight installation and replacement we do, from a single roof window in a loft to a three-metre roof lantern over a kitchen extension. There is no separate form to fill in and nothing extra to buy.
It is a promise from us, backed by us. It is not an insurance-backed guarantee, and we say so plainly because the two are easy to confuse. An insurance-backed scheme pays out through a third party if the installer stops trading. Ours is our own commitment to stand behind our work, set out in writing and honoured by the people who did the job.
What it covers
The guarantee covers the installation: the part of the job that depends on how well we built it, not on how the factory made the glass.
That means everything we construct or fix on your roof and inside the room, including:
- the weathering of the opening: flashings, upstands, kerbs, membranes and the seal between the unit and the roof covering;
- the timber work we add or alter, such as trimmers around a cut opening in the rafters or the kerb on a flat roof;
- the fixing of the unit to its kerb or frame, so it sits true, square and secure;
- the internal finish we provide, such as the plasterboard lining, reveal and making good around the opening;
- the wiring and connection of motors and sensors that we install on an electric opening rooflight.
If rain finds its way in through a flashing we dressed, if a kerb we built moves, or if a lining we fitted cracks away from its reveal because of how it was fixed, that is ours to put right. So is a motor that stops because of a connection we made.
How it sits alongside the manufacturer warranty
Two promises protect a new rooflight: ours for the workmanship, and the manufacturer's for the product itself.
The unit you choose, whether a VELUX roof window, a frameless flat rooflight or an aluminium lantern, carries its own product warranty from the company that made it. That warranty covers faults in manufacture, such as a sealed glass unit that mists between the panes or a hinge that fails. The length and terms vary by maker and by part, and we give you the details for your unit with the paperwork at handover.
| Problem | Who it falls to |
|---|---|
| Water in at a flashing we fitted | Our guarantee |
| Lining or reveal we fitted comes loose | Our guarantee |
| Misting between the panes | Maker's warranty |
| Motor fault from our wiring | Our guarantee |
| Motor fault inside the unit | Maker's warranty |
You should not have to work out which is which. Tell us what you are seeing and we will look at it. If the cause is in the product, we will help you raise it with the manufacturer and give them the installation details they ask for. When a replacement part arrives under their warranty, we can fit it for you.
What it does not cover
The guarantee protects the work we did, so it stops at things we did not do and things that happen to the roof afterwards.
It does not extend to faults in the manufactured product, which sit with the maker's warranty described above. It does not cover damage from outside causes: a storm that brings down a branch, a ladder dropped on the glass, a blocked gutter or outlet on a flat roof that lets water pond against an upstand. It does not cover alterations by others, such as a roofer re-covering the roof around our flashings, or someone moving the wiring or cutting into the lining after we have left.
Ordinary wear and the care any glazing needs also fall outside it. Glass needs cleaning, outlets need clearing, and blinds and seals age with sunlight. None of this affects your legal rights: under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 a service must be carried out with reasonable care and skill, and the guarantee sits on top of that, not in place of it.
How to make a claim
Claiming is a message, not a form: tell us what you have noticed, and we arrange a visit to look at it.
- Get in touch through the contact page or message us on WhatsApp, with your address and roughly when the work was done.
- Describe what you are seeing and, if you can do so safely from inside, send a photo or two. A picture of a water mark on a lining or of misting in the glass tells us a lot before we arrive.
- We arrange a visit to inspect the installation and find the cause.
- If the cause is our workmanship, we put it right at no charge. If it is the product, we help you with the manufacturer's claim. If it is something else, we tell you what we found and what we would suggest.
Tell us early. A small problem found in its first week is simpler to deal with than one left through a winter, and the sooner we see it, the less the room around it is affected.
Why we give it
A guarantee is only worth the care that went into the work behind it, so ours starts at the survey, not at the end of the job.
Before we quote, we plan the light: which way the slope faces, where the sun will land through the day and the year, and what glass and shading that position needs. You can read how that works on how we plan the light. The plan is written into your quote along with the position, size, glass and price, so everything is agreed before the roof is opened. We then fit to current Building Regulations, handle the Building Control notification where the work is notifiable, and plaster and make good inside. The guarantee is the last step of that same process, and it covers new installations and replacement of misted or failed rooflights alike.
If you are comparing firms, ask each one for their guarantee in writing, and ask exactly what it covers and who stands behind it. You can see what typically drives the price of the work on our costs page. When you are ready, book a light survey and we will show you where the light will land, and put the guarantee in writing with your quote.
