GGF launches two major
Good Practice updates
19th April 2016

The Glass and Glazing Federation has used the FIT Show to release updated versions of its two major Good Practice guides to Conservatories in the UK and Replacement Windows and Doors in England and Wales.

The Windows and Doors document, launched by GGF Technical Officer Michael Sulston, is an update of the 2011 version and is in response to the recent revision of the British Standard BS 8213-4: 2016 Windows and Doors –Part 4: Code of practice for the survey and installation of windows and external doorsets. The Conservatory Guide, launched by GGF Technical Officer Russell Day and GGF Conservatory Association Chairman Mark Hanson, includes the latest up to date information reflecting the changes in the legislative and regulatory landscape.

The Windows and Doors Guide has been re-designed and edited by a Technical Working Party of the GGF Window and Door Technical Committee. As well as complementing the British Standard, it reflects the feedback received from GGF members, along with the expertise of specialists covering all the elements of window surveying and installation including; window design, glazing components and hardware for both windows and doorsets. The GGF has also added important and helpful Good Practice Notes throughout the guide. (Due to its protocols, the British Standards Institute cannot include such notes within its publications).

This new revised edition also includes:

• Updates relating to fixing techniques
• Clearer insight on the requirements for enhanced security
• The latest versions of the Approved Documents relating to the Building Regulations
• The latest recommendations in the handling and removal of asbestos
• Enhanced and clearer graphic illustrations, tables and diagrams

The history of the Conservatory Guide goes back to February 2007 when the Conservatory Association, through its technical working party, produced this publication to provide a Good Practice Guide for companies selling, designing, specifying and installing Conservatories. This was revised in January 2012 as regulations and legal requirements changed.

The recent changes include;

• Extending the permitted development rights in England and Wales and included additional Annexes to the guide addressing the issues relating to:

• Building near to Sewers and Lateral drains owned by local Water Companies (found in Annex B of the new Guide). The GGF has also worked with Water UK, the Association representing water companies in England and Wales, to develop a procedure that will be adopted by all Water Companies to streamline the process of obtaining agreement to build near to the Water Companies assets.

• Guidance for renovating an existing conservatory when replacing a glazed conservatory roof with a solid roof and the possible effects on the existing exempt nature of the conservatory (found in Annex C of the new Guide).

The two documents, fully titled ‘Guide to Good Practice in the specification, installation and use of replacement windows and doors within England and Wales’ and ‘Guide to Good Practice in the Specification and Installation of Conservatories within the UK’ will be available at:

http://shop.ggfmembers.com/