Window & Door Contractors near you

Frame and glass are chosen together, and the rating that matters describes the two of them as a system rather than the glass alone. On the coast, corrosion resistance of the frame finish and the hardware is as important as the glazing, because salt air finds the fasteners first.

Australia rates the whole window, not the glass on its own. Part 13.3 of the ABCB Housing Provisions requires Total System U-Values and Total System SHGCs to be assessed for the combined effect of the glass and the frame, measured as specified in the Australian Fenestration Rating Council's technical protocols. The U-Value describes how readily heat is conducted through the assembly; the solar heat gain coefficient describes how much of the sun's heat the assembly lets through.

The Window Energy Rating Scheme rates the energy performance of windows, skylights and glazed doors, and it is worth knowing how a figure gets onto a label. WERS is managed by the Australian Glass and Window Association, and a window maker who wants a rating has to get it from a rating organisation accredited by the Australian Fenestration Rating Council rather than measure its own product. AGWA then maintains the WERSLink window library that Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme software draws on, so the number an energy assessor uses for your house is the same number the manufacturer published. In practice this means a rated window carries figures you can compare directly between products instead of relying on a salesperson's description.

Which figures you want depends on where you live. The external glazing provisions apply across the NCC climate zones with different requirements for the summer and winter calculations, and shading is part of the calculation rather than an afterthought. In most of Australia the harder problem is keeping summer sun out, which makes solar heat gain and external shading of west and north facing glass the first lever, with the U-Value mattering more as you move into the cooler southern zones and the alpine areas.

Windows and framed external glazed doors in an external wall must comply with AS 2047 for resistance to water penetration, and that covers windows, framed sliding and swinging glazed doors including French and bi-fold doors, adjustable louvres, shopfronts and one-piece framed window walls. Skylights, roof lights, non-vertical windows, fixed louvres and revolving doors sit outside it. Water penetration testing under the standard applies a static pressure of either 300 pascals or thirty per cent of the serviceability wind pressure, whichever is higher.

A tested window still leaks if it is installed badly. The Housing Provisions require that structural building loads must not be transferred to the window assembly, with a minimum ten millimetre gap between the top of the window and any loadbearing framing or masonry above, and packing to the sides and bottom that is fixed straight and kept clear of flashing materials. The window has to be square, plumb and packed so that the frame is not distorted, because a racked frame will not seal no matter how good the product is.

Ask how the head, jamb and sill flashings will be detailed and how the new unit ties into the existing wall wrap or masonry, particularly where an aluminium sill meets masonry. Ask too whether the quote is for replacing the sash and glass within the existing frame or a full frame replacement, and what happens if rot or corrosion is found in the reveal once the old unit comes out.

On designated bushfire prone land, a house and its associated decks must be designed and constructed to reduce the risk of ignition from a bushfire, with the deemed-to-satisfy route being construction to AS 3959 at the bushfire attack level assessed for the site. Bushfire attack levels run from BAL-Low up to BAL-FZ, and as the level rises AS 3959 constrains glazing type, framing material, screening and the gaps around openings, because ember entry through gaps and failed glass is a principal way houses are lost. Have the bushfire attack level established before ordering windows, not afterwards.

In cyclonic areas, meaning wind regions C and D determined under AS/NZS 1170.2, the NCC's design provisions for cyclonic areas require that doors, windows, vents and the like in walls bounding a strengthened area be protected against windborne debris with permanently installed screens, to a standard that resists the impact loading in AS/NZS 1170.2 without complete penetration. That is a structural requirement, not an upgrade option.

Licensing runs on the usual state lines: a licensed or registered contractor is required above the contract value threshold set in your state, and glazing and window installation may be a separate class. LokalMatch is built for exactly this comparison stage: you describe the windows or doors once, with the opening sizes, the storey, and whether the site is bushfire prone or cyclonic, and matched installers come to you. Installers pay for those requests. LokalMatch does not install anything, does not set prices and does not vet, rank or recommend any installer, so checking the licence and the product certification remains yours to do.

Window and door replacement carried out under a residential building contract falls under the same statutory protections as other building work. Above the relevant state threshold the contractor must hold the statutory cover: home building compensation in New South Wales, the Home Warranty Scheme in Queensland, domestic building insurance in Victoria, and building indemnity insurance in South Australia. In several states that cover must exist before any money, including a deposit, is taken from you, and states also cap how much of the contract price can be demanded as a deposit, so ask what the cap is in yours.

The Australian Consumer Law sits over the top. The installation must be carried out with acceptable care and skill, be fit for the purpose you made known and be supplied within a reasonable time. The windows themselves are goods, with their own consumer guarantees, which is why it is worth writing down who handles a failure of the product as opposed to the installation.

Keep the order confirmation showing the exact product and glass type, the AFRC or scheme performance figures you selected on, any bushfire attack level assessment or cyclonic certification, and the manufacturer's warranty. If a unit fails in five years, those documents are what identify what was actually installed.

The Bureau of Meteorology puts Australian summer in December, January and February, and winter in June, July and August. That inversion matters for glazing decisions: it is the low western sun of a January afternoon that overheats a room, and the north-facing glass that is welcome in July is a liability in January without shading. External shading, which the glazing provisions account for directly, beats internal blinds because it stops the heat before it reaches the glass.

Winter brings the opposite complaint. Condensation forms on cold glass in the cooler zones from June to August, and where it runs down onto timber reveals and sills it causes the rot that shows up years later. Extraction in bathrooms and kitchens, and some ventilation on dry days, does more than wiping the glass.

Then the seasonal checks. Before the northern wet and cyclone season, confirm that debris screens and shutters are sound and hardware is working. Before the bush fire season, check the seals and gaps around window and door frames and the condition of screens, since sealing gaps against ember entry is standard preparation advice. Before winter in the south, check drainage slots in sills and clear them, because a blocked sill drain is a very common cause of water appearing indoors.