Dear Nathan

The Association of Composite Door Manufacturers (www.acdm.co.uk) welcomes the launch of Door Energy Ratings but condemns the controversy surrounding their introduction.

DERs will provide an ideal purchasing guide for homeowners but the controversy surrounding the introduction of the scheme should have been avoided. Window Energy Ratings are proving to be an excellent marketing tool for the glazing industry and an invaluable guide for consumers and we expect Door Energy Ratings to perform the same job for residential doors. For this the British Fenestration Ratings Council must be commended.

Sadly however the launch of the scheme has been marred by opportunism by one supplier and, in turn, a rather soft approach by BFRC in dealing with it, commercially disadvantaging those companies that have taken a responsible approach. With the success of promoting energy ratings for fenestration products comes a responsibility to administer the schemes with integrity and impartiality, and with the launch of the door scheme, these principles have not been applied.

DERs will allow homeowners a simple and effective device – the ‘rainbow chart’ – by which they can check at a glance the relative performance of residential doors they may be considering. At a stroke this will simplify the process for our end-customers, though it is essential that the industry has confidence in the integrity of the scheme’s operation. But any assurances from the BFRC that the controversy and confusion surrounding the launch would be addressed now seem to hold about as much water as those given to Neville Chamberlain in 1938, especially in the light of further announcements by one company.

ACDM has established minimum standards for membership, based upon actual product performance. Therefore only those composite door manufacturers who have achieved PAS 23 and PAS 24 with a UKAS test house, with third party certification, may be eligible for membership, and the association will consider energy ratings as a requirement. However, this will be only when there is confidence in the providers of such schemes. We would additionally urge the Department for Communities and Local Government to ensure that manufacturers have a choice of scheme operators before DERs are even considered as an appropriate means of demonstrating compliance with Approved Document L.

Yours sincerely

Ben Penson
Chairman of the Association of Composite Door Manufacturers

 

 


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