What a ten-year window guarantee actually covers
Profile, hardware and installation are three different warranties from three different parties. Knowing which is which is the difference between a claim and an argument.
"Ten-year guarantee" appears on almost every uPVC quotation in India. It is worth understanding what it attaches to, because on a window there are at least three separate things that could fail and they are not all covered by the same party.
The three layers
1. The profile. This is the uPVC extrusion itself — the frame and sash sections. Winkraft fabricates on ENCRAFT India profiles, which carry a 10 year guarantee on white uPVC profiles. The guarantee is against the things uPVC is supposed to resist: yellowing, warping, rotting, corroding. That guarantee comes from the profile manufacturer.
2. The hardware. Hinges, locks, handles, rollers, balances. These are moving parts with their own wear characteristics and their own warranty terms, usually shorter than the profile.
3. The fabrication and installation. The welding, the reinforcement, the sealing, the fixing into the opening. This is the fabricator's own workmanship, and it is where most real-world problems originate.
A quotation that says "10 year guarantee" without saying which of these three it means is not telling you much.
What the certification actually establishes
ENCRAFT holds ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015, both certified by TÜV NORD, with test certification from SKZ and the Shriram Institute for Industrial Research, and RoHS / lead-free marks on the material.
These do not guarantee your window. What they establish is that the profile is made under an audited quality system and the material is what it is claimed to be — which is a reasonable thing to want to know, given how much of a uPVC window's performance is decided before it reaches the fabricator.
The questions worth asking any supplier
- Whose profile is it, and does the profile guarantee come in writing from that manufacturer?
- Is the hardware fastened into steel reinforcement, or into the uPVC?
- What installation standard do you work to? (BS8213-4 is the one to look for.)
- Who comes back if the seal leaks in the second monsoon — you, or the profile company?
That last question is the one that separates a fabricator from a trader. A trader will point at the profile manufacturer. A manufacturer that installs with its own site teams has nobody to point at.
What you should do
Guarantees reward maintenance. Nothing about uPVC needs much of it, but two things help:
- Clean the drainage slots at the bottom of the outer frame once a year, before the monsoon. Blocked drainage is the single most common cause of water appearing where it should not.
- Have the hinges and locking points adjusted if a sash starts to drag. On Casement Windows and Casement Doors the 3D hinges are fully adjustable, so this is a five-minute job if it is done early.
If you are comparing quotations and cannot tell what is covered, send them over. We will tell you what each one is actually offering, including where ours is not the cheapest.