Over the past few years, I have seen a steep upturn in the number of calls we receive to service European Aluminum window and door systems from customers that have had the product drop shipped to Canada from Europe and the Middle East. The main reason we get contacted because the company that sold the product is either no longer in existence or has just stopped responding to requests for service, but on occasion, we also see instances where the customer has made direct purchases abroad to try to save themselves some money.
As minimalism in window and door framing becomes more popular, it’s not hard to understand why this phenomenon exists; more homeowners want the look of aluminum, but most of them have limited amounts of money to spend. The window and door package is always a big line item in the overall construction budget, so if a builder or homeowner is looking for a place to make some deep cuts, fenestration is a logical place to start. This has created a market for a lot of people with connections to window and door manufacturers abroad to supply pre-manufactured product, drop shipped to Canada.
One significant problem with this practice is that most of the fenestration products I see drop shipped are not certified for use in Canada, meaning they have not been tested to our standards and therefore there is no way to prove that the product meets our performance requirements, as is required by code. In their publication, “Canadian Code Compliance Advisory for Imported Windows, Doors and Skylights”, Fenestration Canada cautions:
“Architects, specifiers, home builders and the general public should not assume that imported products offered for sale in Canada have been tested, labeled and properly qualified to comply with Canadian code requirements. Untested, unlabeled, or improperly labeled products do not conform with codes and local authorities may require their removal”.
https://www.fenestrationcanada.ca/_files/ugd/82a570_9ca6e6baa1ba4aa1a755761c7e569463.pdf
While there certainly are some bona fide fenestration companies legitimately importing windows and doors, I believe others are being supplied by opportunistic companies and individuals that are jumping in on the rush of North American demand for the fenestration products that are ubiquitous in Europe. I like to think that most of these individuals aren’t aware they are breaking the law, but I’m almost sure some of them are and they just don’t care. Afterall, the worst that can happen to them is they are forced to go out of business and or end up in a lawsuit, and neither of those outcomes seem to have a high probability in my experience.
If anyone has any direct knowledge of a situation where enforcement of our fenestration codes was applied to drop-shipped products, I would be grateful to hear from you.
The argument I generally hear from customers that make purchases overseas is that the windows and doors are of the same name brand as ones fabricated locally and therefore, they must be as good. While there is truth in this logic, fenestration products tested to North American standards consider all the components used in fabrication of the systems, including very specific profiles, glazing, hardware, gaskets, and other parts that directly contribute to the performances achieved in the testing. I’ve personally seen drop shipped products that have been fabricated using one “system provider’s” profiles bastardized with lower quality hardware and gaskets and I know of instances where products claimed to be from a particular manufacture was completely false.
While these cheaper options may look the same as products tested locally, many times they are not. When the problems with the window and door products persist, customers inevitably reach out to the name brand’s local factory representatives only to discover that they do not support products manufactured outside of their country and local fabricator’s will have no sympathy for them either.
The other big problem we encounter with drop-shipped windows and doors happens in the design and planning phase. Frequently, these vendors have limited experience in fenestration and/or frequently don’t understand the nuances between European window and door systems, and typical Canadian building practices. This lack of understanding only reveals itself after the product is installed and usually only after someone is living with the associated problems.
High performance European window and door systems function within a few millimeters of tolerance and most of the purchasers we see have gone with aluminum to go big in sizes. In many parts of Europe, residential buildings are built with masonry and steel that are quite stable materials post construction, but in North America we use a lot of wood. While we purchase wood within a certain range of moisture content, the reality is that during construction wood can be exposed inconsistently to a lot of water during the framing stage.
While framing lumber will dry out over time, the result of the drying is large, framed openings that are changing after the windows and doors are installed. This is not usually a problem for fixed windows, but when you have a 24’ x 12′ lift-slide, or worse a folding door system in that opening, you have problems that can’t be remedied without complete removal and reinstallation, with no guarantee that the problem won’t persist. When this happens, it isn’t difficult to understand why the drop-shippers go dark.
Bottom line, consumers looking to get these great “deals” on their windows and doors, especially from drop-shipping companies, should approach with a large degree of caution and be suspicious of any selling price that stands out as very low. Stuff costs money, so one should always be mindful that if any price is substantially lower than the others, it’s likely not happening in the margins and you are more likely just buying less for less.
I always recommend anyone buying windows and doors do their homework on the quality of the vendor or take the advice of someone they trust that already has (usually their contractor). It is also good practice to conduct an apples-to-apples comparison between quotations which isn’t always easy to do, especially for a lay person. If in doubt, look for help from someone experienced in doing so as the little extra effort put in on the shopping phase can potentially save even more time and frustration chasing the vendor and ultimately save costs in the end.
