An ever changing world…
The building industry as a whole, including fenestration, is having a good time and much of that can be put down to a growing economy with confidence in the markets and consumers feeling confident enough to spend. Perhaps the markets know more than anyone else or why would they be prepared to offer a 5 year fixed mortgage deal at 1.99%. Is it because of competition or confidence in the UK economy over the next 5 years? The big question is what happens post 15 May?
There are warnings that a change of government, and a different set of coalition partners, will send the markets into a downward spiral and the pound will come under pressure. It seems there is much to think about and particularly how the next few weeks may influence our industry.
On top of all that, we are alerted to ever changing legislation such as the Consumer Rights Act which was granted Royal Assent and became law on 26 March. The Act is a major part of the government’s reform of UK consumer law and is predicted to boost the economy by £4 billion over the next decade by streamlining complicated law from 8 pieces of legislation into one place. It will also introduce a range of new rights for consumers when it comes into force on 1 October 2015 including a 30-day time period to return faulty goods and replacement rights for faulty digital content.
Brian Smith, GGF Home Improvement Director commented: “The new Consumer Rights Act will have far reaching consequences for all companies in our industry and I’d urge every company to be well prepared for the impact. The GGF is doing everything in its power to ensure its Members are given the support and information needed to cope with this new law. We have just over five months for consumer facing companies to fully adjust before the law is enforced in October.”
A change in a consumers right to reject within 30 days in the case of faulty goods, rather than a ‘reasonable period’, will create problems for the domestic replacement glazing industry when consumers try to reject windows and doors which have been installed. It’s time to brush up on your law.
