Windows, doors and glazing

Does a Scottish Home Report include an English competent-person certificate for the windows?

No. A Home Report is a single survey and valuation, a property questionnaire and an energy report. It does not attach an English FENSA-style certificate. Window condition is whatever the chartered surveyor could see and wrote in the single survey. Approval for replacement windows in Scotland is a building-standards question for a Scottish solicitor, not a line you should import from England.

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?

mygov.scot describes the Home Report the seller provides. The single survey is a visual inspection. It can note rotten frames or failed seals in the same plain way as any visual survey. It does not become a building warrant, and it does not list competent-person schemes used in England and Wales.

If you are buying in England or Wales, do not ask a Scottish relative’s paperwork to stand in. The routes differ. In every country the condition of the frame is still the survey sentence, and the approval is still the solicitor’s check. This page does not quote a fee for either.

What should you ask your surveyor?

Does the single survey describe the frames, or only the energy rating of the glazing?
Were any windows not inspected?
Who is checking building standards for this flat or house: you, or your solicitor?

What are the typical next steps?

Read the single survey’s window lines before you read the energy report. They answer different questions.
Ask a Scottish solicitor what approval a replacement in that building needed.
Do not email an English scheme and expect them to certify a Scottish tenement window.

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

Is the energy report a window survey?

No. It is about energy performance. A poor rating is not rot, and a good rating is not a sound cill.

Can you still commission your own survey in Scotland?

Yes. The Home Report is the one the seller must provide in most sales. It does not ban another inspection.