How we chose
We started from the glazing firms Google Maps shows across Telford, from Wellington and Hadley to Donnington and Hortonwood. Scheme memberships were sourced from the FENSA and CERTASS registers, each firm's own site and platforms such as TrustMark [4] [5] [7]. Each business must first meet our basic checks: it is who it says it is across two independent sources, it is trading today and can be reached, and anything it must hold by law is in place, with no mandatory registration applying to glaziers. Seven names were researched and six met all three. We looked first at what customers say, then proof of competence, then a trading history of two years or more and stated cover, then pricing clarity and website detail. All evidence is dated early September 2026.
How to hire
Match the person to the job first. A glazier owns broken panes, misted sealed units, boarding-up, cut-to-size glass, mirrors and splashbacks, and repairs to locks, hinges and handles. Full window and door replacements belong with a window firm that can self-certify the work, and where the frame is sound a repair-first glazier saves you paying for frames you do not need. When you first enquire, say which panes failed, whether the frames stay, and whether the property needs securing tonight or can wait for a planned visit.
A typical job runs the same course from first contact to sign-off. The first call or form sets the scope: photos with rough measurements, which frames stay, and whether the property needs securing tonight or can wait for a planned visit. The survey follows at the property and ends with a written quote and a fitting date. On the day, a straightforward window swap can take as little as an hour, with three or four windows in a day the usual pace [12]. The last paragraph below covers sign-off.
Know which jobs need Building Regulations cover. Replacing external windows and doors in an existing home must meet the regulations, and a FENSA or CERTASS member self-certifies the job and registers it with the council for you [4] [5] [6]. Without such a member you pay for a council building-control inspection yourself, which FENSA puts at a few hundred pounds, and the installer should agree in the quote to put right anything the inspector flags [4]. Straight repairs, a new pane in the old frame or a fresh lock, sit outside these schemes and need no certificate [5]. If your job is a full replacement, say so in your enquiry and ask which certification route comes with it.
Check membership before you book. Type the company name, postcode or membership number into the FENSA search and check the name that comes back matches the business you are hiring, rather than taking a badge on a van at face value [4]. TrustMark runs its own find-a-tradesperson search for the trade you need, and its members have passed checks on trading practices as well as competence [7]. Ask for public liability insurance detail and, for larger jobs, a recent local reference you could verify. A firm with no checkable membership can still do sound repair work, but get its insurance and terms in writing first.
Telford and Wrekin adds local wrinkles to the checks above. The borough holds eight conservation areas, including Wellington town centre and the Severn Gorge, where replacements must respect the area's historic character [10]. Inside the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site an Article 4 direction means replacement windows and doors facing a road, waterway or open space need planning permission first [9]. And where your installer cannot self-certify, the council's building control team takes the application instead, with a completion certificate for the file [11]. Say where the property sits when you enquire, from Gorge lanes to terraces in Wellington, Dawley or Madeley and estates around Lawley, and say what van access and parking look like.
Get three itemised written quotes on the same written scope, so you compare like with like [7]. Each quote should name the glass size and type, with safety glass agreed wherever panes sit low, large or in doors, plus labour, access equipment, removal of the old glass, VAT and payment stages. A deposit for made-to-measure units is normal, while full payment before completion is not [8]. Treat an outlier, far above or below the rest, as a question rather than a bargain, and ask what is included or excluded.
For emergencies, securing the property comes before perfect glass. Ask the call-out fee and the out-of-hours terms before anyone sets out, since night and weekend work costs more, and send photos with rough measurements so the van carries the right boards and glass. Tell your home insurer about a break-in promptly and keep the boarding invoice, since many policies ask for proof the property was made safe. A firm that boards up tonight and returns to glaze once the unit is made is offering the standard two-visit pattern, not stalling you.
On the day, check the glazier measures twice, protects the sills and flooring, and takes the broken glass away. For full replacements, leave with the compliance certificate registered with the council, which you will need when you sell, plus the invoice and the installer's own written terms [4]. For repairs, keep the itemised invoice with the glass specification and any aftercare promise. File everything with your house papers, and use the correction link on the page if any detail here has changed [8].
Pricing
As of autumn 2026, national cost guides put a single replacement pane, supplied and fitted, at £55–£300 with an average near £100, while a professional supplying and replacing one double-glazed pane typically lands around £110–£120 [1]. Replacing a misted sealed unit averages £250 per unit, usually falling between £225 and £275, with opening sashes costing more than fixed panes [2]. A whole new uPVC casement window runs £500–£1,250 fitted, and glazing a three-bedroom house lands near £8,000–£15,000, with Telford typically sitting below London and South East prices [3].
Size moves the price most: a small fixed pane costs a fraction of a large bay opener, and openers, period detailing, special coatings and hard-to-reach upper floors each add labour and access equipment [2]. Ordering several failed units together can cut the per-unit figure, since firms often discount multiple replacements on one visit [2]. Emergency boarding and night call-outs cost extra over planned daytime work, so ask the out-of-hours terms before anyone sets out.
Smaller repair jobs move on different factors. A lock, hinge or handle repair turns on the mechanism type and whether parts still exist for an older frame, plus the call-out and the time on site. Emergency boarding turns on timing above all: night and weekend terms, the size of the opening, and whether the return visit to glaze sits in the same quote or comes as a second one.
Fitting-day extras deserve their own line in the budget. A Checkatrade fitting guide updated in 2024 puts removing an old window at £25–£30, waste disposal near £150 a ton, and cutting a brand-new opening with a lintel at £300–£1,000 [13]. A replacement roof window lands between £550 and £1,500 in the same guide, with scaffolding where needed at £40–£150 a day [13]. None of the firms in this round publishes rates: use these guides as context, not as a price.
Ask whether every figure includes VAT, since published guide ranges for sealed units exclude it, and get the scope in writing before work starts: glass size and type, labour, locks or hinges, removal of the old glass, access charges and the call-out fee [2]. Firms in this round all offer quotes or quote forms but publish almost no example rates, so treat any single fixed price for a large job with no breakdown as a question, not an answer. Get three written quotes and a written contract, as TrustMark advises, and keep every quote, invoice and certificate together [7].
Red flags
Quotes a full replacement without visiting or asking for photos, measurements and the age of the frames.
Cannot name a FENSA or CERTASS route or another compliance path for replacement windows and doors [4] [5].
Gives one fixed price for a large job with no breakdown of glass, labour, access and VAT [2].
Asks for full payment in cash before starting, with no written quote or terms [8].
Recommends full-frame replacement for a misted unit without explaining why a unit-only repair will not do.
Starts cutting or fitting with no written scope, price or start date agreed.
Leaves broken glass and old units behind with no disposal line on the quote [2].
Will not put the installer's own cover terms and aftercare route in writing before taking a deposit.
Offers a discount for cash agreed on the doorstep, with no written quote or receipt to follow.
Will not say when the made-to-measure unit will be ready, or when the return visit happens after boarding-up.
Corrections and business responses
Tell us what needs checking, or ask to claim a listing and reply to an assessment.