Of all the things in your new build home, doors and windows are probably the parts you interact with the most. You open and close them daily. You feel the draught if they aren’t sealed properly. You see the misalignment if a hinge has dropped, hear the rattle if a fastener is loose, and notice every scratch on the glass when the morning sun catches it. They are also one of the most common areas where new build defects turn up.

What many homeowners don’t realise is that there is a detailed industry standard governing exactly how these components should be specified, made and installed. It’s called NHBC Standards Chapter 6.7, and it covers everything from the perimeter gap around a PVC-U frame to how high the protective covering on a door frame should reach during construction.

We’ve recently published a full guide to Chapter 6.7 in our knowledge base, breaking it down section by section. Here’s a quick summary of what it covers and why it matters to you as a new build buyer…

Chapter 6.7 is the NHBC’s rulebook for doors, windows and glazing in new build homes. It runs to thirteen main sections and a good many sub-sections, dealing with weathertightness, thermal performance, security, ironmongery, glazing systems, materials, storage, and installation.

In other words, it covers the full life of a door or window in a new build, from the moment the components arrive on site, through how they should be stored, fitted, sealed and finished, to the protection that should still be in place when you walk through the door for the first time on completion day.

Some of the requirements are quite technical and really only matter to the people specifying or building the home. Others have a direct impact on your day-to-day life. The perimeter gap allowed around a frame, the sealant used between the frame and the wall, the depth of the rebate around your double glazing, and the projection of your sills all affect whether your home stays warm, dry and quiet.

Other parts of the chapter cover the things you can quickly check yourself. Do your windows close cleanly without binding? Do the locks turn easily? Are the keyholes aligned? Are the hinges neatly housed flush with the surface? Are the window boards level and securely fixed? Has the sealant around the frames been applied tidily, without gaps? These are not unreasonable expectations. They are the standard your builder should be meeting.

Why it matters at handover

When defects appear in new build doors and windows, they tend to be the things that bother homeowners most. A draught around a poorly sealed frame, a window that has to be slammed to latch, a misted-up double-glazed unit, or a damaged threshold are all the kind of niggles that turn a brand-new home from a joy into a daily frustration. None of them are catastrophic on their own, but together they can really sour the experience of moving in.

The good news is that all of these issues are covered by Chapter 6.7. If your home has been built to the standard, none of them should be present at handover. If they are, the standard gives you and your inspector firm ground to stand on when you ask the developer to put things right.

Where snagging fits in

A snagging inspection is one of the most reliable ways to make sure your doors, windows and glazing have been installed to the correct standard. Our inspectors check operation, fit, finish, sealing, alignment, ironmongery and glazing across doors and windows in the property, and on a standard inspection we use thermal imaging to look for cold spots and insulation gaps around frames. A snagging inspection is not a substitute for structural engineering or factory testing, but it does cover the vast majority of the issues that homeowners actually run into in practice.

Read the full guide

If you’d like the full breakdown of NHBC Chapter 6.7, including what should be expected for weathertightness, coupled assemblies, glazing, ironmongery, timber and non-timber frames, fixings, and completed work, you can read our complete knowledge base article here:

NHBC Standards Chapter 6.7: Doors, Windows and Glazing

And if you’re approaching completion on your new build and would like an independent, expert eye to confirm the standards have been met, please get in touch to book your snagging inspection.