South Africa has some exceptional window and door manufacturers, fabricators and installers. We have access to good aluminium systems, quality glass, sophisticated hardware and increasingly capable manufacturing technology.
And yet, as an industry, we still have a quality problem.
Too often, windows and doors are treated as one of the final commodities to be priced on a building rather than as engineered building components. The conversation becomes about price per square metre long before anyone asks the more important questions: Will it perform? Will it remain square? Will it drain correctly? Will the hardware carry the load? Will it keep the weather out? And will it still operate as intended five or ten years from now?
The problem becomes more serious as architecture changes.
Panels are getting larger. Sightlines are getting smaller. Glass is getting heavier. Openings are getting wider and taller. Architects and homeowners want fewer visual interruptions and increasingly seamless connections between interior and exterior spaces.
There is nothing wrong with that. In fact, it is exactly where modern fenestration should be heading.
But there is a dangerous assumption that because something can be drawn, quoted and manufactured, it will necessarily perform.
It won’t.
A sliding door carrying several hundred kilograms of glass is an engineered system. So is a large opening window subjected to significant wind pressure. Drainage paths, profile stiffness, corner connections, glass specification, rollers, gaskets, hardware, thermal breaks, manufacturing tolerances and installation all become increasingly important as systems are pushed further.
And yet many failures we see in the market are surprisingly basic.
Poorly assembled corners. Inconsistent gasket compression. Damaged or badly manufactured profiles. Inadequate drainage. Incorrect glass. Hardware operating beyond its intended limits. Frames installed out of square. Large doors that rattle, leak or become progressively harder to operate.
Often, none of these problems are caused by a fundamentally bad system.
They are caused by a breakdown in discipline.
That is perhaps the real quality problem facing South African fenestration.
Quality cannot be inspected into a product at the end of the manufacturing process. It needs to exist throughout the chain.
The system designer must understand the application. The extruder must maintain tolerances. The powder coater must deliver a consistent finish. The fabricator must manufacture accurately. The glass must be correctly specified. The installer must understand how the product is designed to function. And in the end, somebody needs to take responsibility for the completed opening.
Our industry also needs to become more comfortable saying no.
No, a system should not be selected simply because it is cheaper.
No, one window or door system cannot be expected to suit every opening, every panel size and every wind load requirement.
The correct approach is to match the system to the architecture, the size of the opening and the performance required. A slimmer sightline does not necessarily mean a weaker product. In many cases, a deeper and better engineered profile can provide significantly greater resistance to wind load and deflection while achieving a far more refined aesthetic.
Good fenestration design is therefore not about choosing between “thick” and “thin”. It is about understanding how the profile is engineered, where the loads are carried and whether the complete system is appropriate for the application.
Sometimes good engineering means choosing a completely different system to achieve both the aesthetic and the performance the project demands.
We also need better testing and greater transparency around performance. Water penetration, air leakage, structural performance and operating forces should become part of the everyday fenestration conversation, particularly on high-end residential and commercial projects.
The hidden cost of cheap windows and doors
The cheapest window is rarely the cheapest window once it has leaked, distorted, failed or had to be replaced.
- Water ingress: poor sills and drainage let water reach floors, walls and finishes, with damp and repair costs to follow.
- Hardware failures: undersized rollers, weak gaskets and poor tracks lead to doors that stick, rattle or need constant maintenance.
- Site delays: poor tolerances mean adjustments on site, rework and extra labour.
Fixing these problems later costs far more than getting the system right at the start.
South African fenestration does not have a shortage of talent or technology. What we need is a higher collective standard for what we are prepared to manufacture, install and put our names behind.
Beautiful fenestration should look effortless.
Achieving that takes anything but.
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- Why 6063 Aluminium Matters for Windows and Doors
- Flush Sills and Stormwater
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IKON Aluminium South Africa is a specialist window and door manufacturer, and every system is designed and manufactured in South Africa. Contact our team.