Windows

With the latest Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) guidance placing greater focus on Falls Between Levels, now is the time for housing providers to review their opening window safety measures and assess what the updated guidance means, and is having a restrictor fitted adequate.

The HHSRS provides a useful reminder that housing safety is about identifying and managing risk, rather than simply ticking off products or features. HHSRS covers 21 potential hazards, including Falls Between Levels: falls from one level to another, such as through a window where guarding or edge protection is too low or defective.

More than half of social housing providers do not feel fully prepared for the introduction of Awaab’s Law, according to a new white paper from Shelforce. 
Titled Navigating Awaab’s Law: Compliance, clarity and the critical role of education, the report reveals significant gaps in readiness, confidence and understanding across the sector, despite the legislation representing one of the most important regulatory shifts in decades. 

The performance capabilities offered by today’s advanced window and door systems, glass, and hardware help create warmer, safer, more energy-efficient, and more secure homes. But for all of these great products to deliver on their promise, the fasteners needed to hold windows and doors together and ensure they stay securely in place during their lifetime must be equally well designed and made.

Fasteners, though often not detailed in window and door specifications, are being increasingly scrutinised by specifiers to identify potential weaknesses. Our team can assist by recommending suitable metal grades to meet project specifications and local environmental conditions.

Daniel Cheddie, founder and owner of Stronghold® Anchor, discusses removing the cost of scaffolding from high-rise maintenance and safety works.

Across the social housing sector, one challenge is becoming increasingly familiar. How do local authorities and housing associations deliver urgent safety-critical works in high-rise buildings when budgets are shrinking, access is difficult and residents rightly expect minimal disruption?

Local authorities and housing associations across the UK face mounting pressure to deliver safe, compliant refurbishment and new build programmes, often within severely constrained budgets and challenging timescales.

Nowhere is this more evident than in high-rise projects, where replacing windows at height has traditionally meant extensive scaffolding, increased risk and significant disruption to residents.

Howard Trotter, Business Manager at Shelforce, has worked closely with local authorities for many years, explains why full-system testing and demonstrable test evidence are now essential for local-authority refurbishments.

As local authorities and housing associations continue to navigate one of the most tightly regulated eras our sector has ever seen, one principle is becoming non-negotiable; products going into people’s homes must be proven to perform, not assumed to perform.

Howard Trotter, Business Manager at Birmingham-based window and door manufacturer Shelforce, took to the stage at this year’s Glazing Summit 2025 to speak on one of the industry’s most pressing challenges – skills and recruitment.
Held at the Coventry Building Society Arena, the Glazing Summit brought together leaders from across the fenestration sector, with Howard joining the ‘Skills: Apprentices in Action’ panel alongside Ultraframe’s Andrew Thompson and GGF’s John Mannell. The discussion focused on apprenticeships, attracting new talent, and increasing diversity across the industry.