It's then you reach out to a local window expert and ask for help. He looks at the situation and finds that the certificates of compliance are not independent i.e. Australian NATA or its equivalent, Chinese CNAS and will not satisfy compliance.
Then he looks deeper and the certificates are not even for those products but for different windows altogether. Now what?
There are a few issues here.
If your inspector doesn't notice, you may get this past him.
- The consequences if he misses this however could be a home insurance nightmare "if" something happens requiring you to claim on insurance.
The windows do not comply.
- You may need to have a door and a window tested by a local laboratory, Cost likely over $10,000. And they may not pass...
The glass may not comply.
- Toughened glass is imperative in the correct locations, the window is marked "TOUGHENED", but is it.? The only alternative is to break one of the panes to check that it breaks in the right way and then assume the others are the same.
Other considerations.
Your windows don't have an energy rating.
- You thought you had an energy rating but the certification is for the wrong window, and in an case the only true energy ratings are in WERS and subject to AGWA audit for authenticity. Best you can claim would be a generic energy rating... and this will cost you money in other insulation even if it satisfies your permit.
Your build is delayed
- You end up with delays even if you can get the windows accredited but even more so if they have to be replaced with new compliant ones. Cost?
My advice... think hard about importing windows. If you don't know what you are doing or don't understand what I am on about, keep thinking hard until you hear yourself saying - "let's not do this, let's buy from Ed"
If you do need advice, call or email.
Ed