Windows, doors and glazing
Crittall metal windows are bowing on a 1930s semi. Has the survey decided they must all be replaced?
No. The survey has not decided they must all be replaced. Crittall metal windows are bowing on a 1930s semi, and the visit recorded that bowing where it saw it. Bowing can be distortion of the steel, failed hinges or local corrosion, and those do not all end in a new window. Other frames in the house may differ. The report describes the windows it found to be bowing. It has not ordered a full replacement and has not issued a building-regulations certificate.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
Crittall is a steel window type common to that period. A bowed sash may still be overhauled, or it may be beyond repair, and a home survey does not make that frame-by-frame specification. Approved Document A is structural guidance for building work. It is not a decision, written on this visit, that every metal window in the semi must go. Replacing windows can raise ventilation and installation questions the papers would have to answer later. This note does not start that scheme.
Ask a specialist in metal windows to say which bowed frames can be repaired and which cannot, and keep that advice separate from the survey. Do not tell a lender the report requires every Crittall light to be replaced. It does not. The solicitor can ask the seller what work has already been done to the set. The home survey has recorded bowing. The decision to replace all of them has not been made.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which Crittall windows are described as bowing?
- What is said about frames that were not bowing?
- Does the report specify replacement of the whole set?
What are the typical next steps?
- Limit the finding to the bowing that was seen.
- Ask a metal-window specialist before any whole-house scheme.
- Do not brief the survey as an order to replace every frame.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
Does rust on one sill mean every Crittall frame has failed?
No. Rust on one sill is that sill. The survey recorded bowing on the metal windows it described, and it has not decided they must all be replaced. Corrosion and bowing can be local. A specialist can sort frame from frame. The report has not condemned the set, and it has not issued a certificate for replacements.
Does the note choose a new window system?
No. The survey has not chosen a replacement system and has not decided replacement is required for every window. Approved Document A is structural guidance, and this visit does not issue a building-regulations certificate for new windows. The finding is bowing of Crittall frames. What happens next is outside the note.