The Window & Glass Association (the Association) is calling for urgent ministerial intervention after the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) raised concerns over non-compliant imported aluminium window and door products currently circulating in the market.
The MBIE Building Performance alert, issued to Building Consent Authorities (BCAs) in June, said concerns have been raised that supporting documentation for some imported aluminium windows and doors may not provide sufficient assurance of compliance with the New Zealand Building Code.
In some instances, some certification documentation may have been altered or misrepresented without the knowledge of the issuing body.
The Association chief executive Brett Francis says non-compliant and fraudulently certified window and door products are a growing and serious building safety issue, and the New Zealand Government is failing to address it.
“Windows and doors are not decorative extras — they are a critical part of the building envelope. They must perform structurally, resist water penetration, support durability, and contribute to warm, dry, energy-efficient homes,” Francis says.
“If the documentation cannot prove the product complies, that product should not be going into New Zealand homes.”
Francis says this issue is undermining public safety, and it is frustrating to see the Government not heeding the warning signs from the industry.
“The Association first raised these concerns on non-compliant window and door products late last year with the Government. Since then, the Government’s response has failed to match the urgency and seriousness of the concerns raised by industry.
“We have already provided MBIE with a list of 20 companies we believe require investigation, but progress to date has been far too slow. Now MBIE has come out eight months later to warn BCAs about the same types of products and documentation risks we raised last year. The Government cannot claim it was not warned.
“What we need now is action at the pace this issue deserves. The Building and Construction Minister should be asking MBIE a simple question — If the risk is serious enough to warn BCAs, why is enforcement not moving faster? It’s the unsuspecting homeowners that are ultimately paying the price for the inaction from the Government.”
Francis says MBIE’s concerns come at a worrying time when the New Zealand Government is already conducting a rare global safeguard investigation into aluminium extrusion imports, and across the Tasman, the Australian Anti-Dumping Commission is investigating the alleged dumping of aluminium windows and doors exported to Australia from China.
At the same time, testing undertaken in Australia through an accredited independent laboratory found that seven out of eight imported window samples failed to meet basic performance requirements.
“These industry issues are interconnected, and the problem stems from Government agencies not acting quickly enough on a known and growing risk. We need the New Zealand Government to take action now before the issue gets even worse.
“New Zealanders deserve homes that are safe, durable, weathertight and energy efficient. They also deserve confidence that the products being installed in those homes have been properly tested, properly certified and honestly represented.”
The Window & Glass Association is urging the Government, MBIE and the Commerce Commission to:
• accelerate investigations into companies already referred to MBIE by the Association,
• publicly set out what action is being taken in response to MBIE’s alert,
• investigate suppliers and products where compliance documentation is incomplete, unclear, inconsistent or potentially altered,
• require verification of overseas test reports relied on for New Zealand Building Code compliance,
• coordinate MBIE product assurance work, Commerce Commission market conduct enforcement, and trade remedies investigations so compliance and fair trade are not treated in isolation,
• provide thorough training and clear guidance to Building Consent Authorities on red flags in window and door documentation,
• conduct targeted audits and spot checks across imported and locally assembled window and door systems using imported profiles,
• refer evidence of fraudulent, altered or misleading certification to the Serious Fraud Office and Commerce Commission and other appropriate enforcement agencies,
• treat windows and doors as high-risk building envelope products under overseas building product recognition settings, and
• immediately meet with the Association and industry representatives who have raised these concerns.
“This issue comes down to one core concern — imported window and door products are entering the market with compliance documentation that is incomplete, misleading or potentially fraudulent,” Francis says.
“Without reliable proof of compliance with the New Zealand Building Code, those products should not be installed in New Zealand homes. Homeowners should not be left carrying the risk of weak enforcement.”
