Our 10-year workmanship guarantee

Every rooflight and skylight we install or replace comes with a 10-year workmanship guarantee, given to you in writing when the job is finished. It is our promise about our own work: the way the unit was set into your roof, weathered, flashed and finished inside. Should any of that work prove faulty during the decade that follows, we return and make it good without charge.

This page sets out what that installation guarantee covers, what sits with the manufacturer instead, what falls outside it, and how to use it. The written guarantee you receive with your job is the document that applies; this page explains it in plain terms.

A skylight workmanship guarantee only means something if it covers the parts of the job where things actually go wrong. Ours covers the work our team carried out on your property, including:

• Setting the unit square, level and secure in the opening
• Flashing kits, soakers and lead dressed to the roof covering
• Kerbs and upstands we built, and the covering we weathered up them
• Slates or tiles we cut, re-laid or replaced around the frame
• Trimming timbers we fitted to carry the opening
• Linings, insulation and plaster we fitted inside

The problem a guarantee like this really exists for is water getting in round the frame. If that happens because of how we fitted or weathered it, it is covered. So is a lining that cracks away from the frame because it was not fixed properly, or a slate we laid that slips.

The guarantee runs for ten years from the date the work is completed, which is written on your guarantee certificate. It covers the specific work listed on your quote and invoice.

The rooflight or roof window itself comes with its own product warranty from the company that made it. That warranty is separate from ours and comes from the maker, on the maker's terms, and its length depends on the product and the part. It is the warranty that covers faults in the product, such as:

• a sealed glass unit that mists between the panes because its seal has failed
• a motor, rain sensor or control unit that stops working
• a hinge, handle or opening mechanism that fails in normal use
• a frame finish that peels or a gasket that perishes early

We do not leave you to deal with that on your own. When we hand over, you get the maker's paperwork along with ours. If a product fault appears, tell us and we will help you identify it, contact the maker and, where the maker's terms allow, arrange the replacement part or unit to be fitted. Whether any labour for that is covered depends on the maker's warranty, and we will tell you before any charge is made.

Like any workmanship guarantee, ours does not cover problems that our work did not cause. That includes:

• Damage. Impact from falling branches or objects, accidental damage, vandalism, fire, or damage from someone walking on a unit not rated for foot traffic.
• Alterations or work by others. If someone else later alters the unit, its flashing, the roof covering around it or the structure, the parts they touched are no longer our responsibility.
• Normal wear. Ageing of seals, finishes and moving parts through ordinary use and weathering over time.
• Weather beyond design limits. Storm damage from wind or rain beyond what the roof and the product are designed to withstand.
• Parts of the roof we did not work on. The rest of a roof covering, gutters, chimneys and other areas outside our work.
• Condensation from inside the room. Moisture that forms on the inside of the glass because of humidity in the room, as opposed to water coming in from outside. Our guide to rooflight condensation explains the difference.
• Lack of basic care. Blocked flat roof outlets or gutters that cause water to pond against a kerb, for example.

Keeping the glass clean, clearing leaves from flat roofs and gutters, and following the maker's care notes for any opening or electric unit is all most rooflights need.

If you think something we fitted is not right, let us know early. The sooner we know, the less chance of damage spreading.

1. Get in touch. Email info@docksideskylightsliverpool.co.uk, call us, or use WhatsApp. Give your name, address and roughly when the work was done.
2. Send a photo or two. A photo taken from inside helps us come prepared, and so does one from outside if you can get it safely from the ground or a window. Please do not go on the roof yourself.
3. We arrange a visit. We come and look at the work, find the cause and tell you whether it falls under our guarantee or the maker's warranty.
4. We put it right. If it is our workmanship, we put it right at no charge and confirm in writing when it is done.

Our aims for response are these. We aim to reply to every guarantee claim promptly. Where water is coming in, we aim to visit as quickly as we safely can, and to make the area weathertight first if the permanent work needs materials ordering. For other claims we aim to arrange a visit soon, at a time that suits you. These are aims rather than fixed promises, because weather and safe access to a roof can affect when work can be done, but we will always tell you when to expect us.

If we look and find the problem is not covered, we explain why in writing and, if you want, quote to deal with it.

This guarantee is in addition to your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, not instead of them. The law already says our work must be carried out with reasonable care and skill, and that any product we supply has to be up to standard, suitable for its job and match its description. Nothing in our guarantee reduces those rights.

If you are ever unhappy with how a claim is handled, our complaints procedure sets out how to raise it and what happens next. The full terms of the work we carry out are in our terms and conditions.

Ask for a survey