"Safety" glass

[steelseries85]

Hi all, me again!

House builder is Taylor Wimpey - they've recently contacted me (about a month before completion) and said that some of the windows in my home need "safety glass" installed to comply with building regulations.

I wasn't told about them at all during the sale, and they weren't present on the showhomes or material. I can't find any reference to them in any of my documentation from the homebuilder. I personally think they look awful, and serve absolutely zero purpose.

Any idea on where I'd stand in fighting this? They say it's building regs so I have a feeling they will just insist it's mandatory and there's nothing I can do....

[Admin]

This is an afterthought bodge job; probably after the NHBC inspection deemed it a 2red item" preventing you moving in. 
It is because I presume, the height of the open window is less than the 800mm required height above finished floor level.
Building regulation Part L K2 3.2. And the drop on the outside is high.
The photo shows a worse case!

Alternatively it could be because the window does not have toughened or laminated glass. If this is the case the glazing should be changed.

I wouldn't  accept it and neither should you!

 

 

[steelseries85]

Thank you very much for your advice. Using your reference to building regs and knowledge of the NHBC inspection process - I was able to determine that they installed the safety glass just to get it to pass inspection.

However after much pushing - they've agreed and completed work to change the front windows of the house to top opening windows that have safety glass in the bottom panes.

Cheers again.