Pane management: Lawsuit claims window safety labels may be inaccurate

CORRECTION: In Monday's Business Review, a photograph that accompanied only the online version of a story about the accuracy of window safety ratings should not have been published. The company identified in the photo at www.Charleston.net is not associated with a lawsuit that The Muhler Co. Inc. filed against Silver Line Building Products Corp. over the ratings. The Post and Courier regrets the error.

Tougher standards for windows along the coast are meant to protect them from hurricane-force winds and debris, giving homeowners greater peace of mind.

But according to the claims in an unfolding legal battle, some local homeowners may have a false sense of security.

The Muhler Co. Inc., a North Charleston company that sells and installs windows, is suing a competitor over what Muhler alleges is mislabeling of window safety ratings.

Muhler alleges in court filings that workers at Silver Line Building Products Corp. of North Brunswick, N.J., put stickers on some of that company's windows showing they were rated at a stronger level than they were tested for, and selling them at a discounted price to homeowners and big building companies. The lawsuit also names Andersen Corp., a Minnesota-based window company that owns Silver Line.

In their formal responses to the lawsuit, Andersen and Silver Line deny any wrongdoing. Andersen also distanced itself from its subsidiary, stating in court documents that 'Andersen does not participate in the design, manufacture, testing, labeling (including DP labeling), supply, distribution, marketing, advertising or sales of Silver Line windows.'

'We think the allegations are untrue,' said North Carolina attorney John Morrow, who is representing Silver Line and Andersen. He declined to comment on specific allegations in the lawsuit.

Mislabeling by any company would mean that homes where they're installed could fall short of local building regulations. One expert in this field says the problem is widespread in areas where window regulations are strict.

Though the lawsuit is directed at Silver Line and Andersen, Muhler executives say several local companies are guilty of mislabeling windows. As a result, Muhler said, it has lost significant business.

'It's hurting us, the guy who is complying with the rules. It's hurting builders and it's hurting homeowners,' said Muhler President Henry Muhler Hay III.

The issue dates back to 2004, when state lawmakers adopted the newest batch of building code regulations set by the International Codes Council. The new rules called for stronger windows in coastal areas that could experience high-speed winds.

The regulations meant that most windows installed in Charleston County houses needed to have a design pressure, or DP, rating of 50. Farther away from the coast and in most of Berkeley and Dorchester counties, homes needed windows rated at DP 35.

What Muhler alleges in its lawsuit is that Silver Line labeled its windows at the higher rating when they only qualifed for a lower rating, enabling them to offer seemingly high-rated windows at lower prices.

The amount of money a company can save by mislabeling a window varies with the size of the job. For example, Hay said his company lost a bid on a local residential building project after bidding about $150 per window. A second company submitted a bid of about $20 less per window, and a third said it could supply windows for $110 each, Hay said, attributing the lower prices to incorrect labeling.

Hay said the mislabeling issue has taken his company out of the general residential building market. It has had to focus instead on commercial projects and higher-end homes, he said.

The lawsuit alleges that Muhler has lost more than $75,000 because of mislabeling by Silver Line.

Paul Dominick, a Charleston lawyer who is representing Muhler, pointed out that the issue has insurance implications, too, since homeowner policies are written with the assumption that the homes are built to code.

'It's not the right thing to do,' said Val Brushaber

, first vice president of the door council for the American Architectural Manufacturer's Association. The association is the largest U.S. group that tests windows and certifies their durability.

Brushaber said she has watched the coastal regions of the Southeast cope with mislabeling of windows for several years, and she suspects the problem is worse in areas that are dealing with a slowed real estate market, where competition has heated up between window companies.

'Everybody's fighting for business,' she said.

The association tests and certifies windows at 38 laboratories across the country. Workers test a random sample of windows to make sure they live up to their carefully engineered design's promise, said technical director John Lewis.

'We've found that it's the only way to predict the performance of the product,' he said. 'When you have areas that are subject to hurricanes, it's important for someone to be able to put in a window and have some degree of certainty that it can withstand hurricane forces.'

The association puts rectangular yellow stickers bearing the DP rating on windows that are made by certified companies. The stickers are meant to be permanent, so workers put them in a discreet spot on each window.

Building inspectors who watch over construction projects in the Lowcountry look for the appropriate window rating during routine checks. But if a company-generated label prominently states on the window that it has a DP 50 rating, inspectors can be misled.

'Even though you may have this going on, by the time the building inspector gets there and sees the label on the window, that's pretty much what he's looking for,' said Mount Pleasant building official Lee Cave.

The issue gets more complicated when home plans call for windows that have several different DP ratings, he added.

For the city of Charleston, director of public service Laura Cabiness

, said that city building inspectors hadn't encountered window mislabeling issues before.

The lawsuit marked the first time North Charleston building director Darbis Briggman

had heard of allegations that suppliers falsified window ratings. But it wasn't the first time his office had dealt with the issue of window mislabeling.

About five years ago, North Charleston inspectors caught several contractors changing labels to indicate that windows they were installing were impact-resistant. The difference in price between a standard window and an impact-resistant one is substantial, he said.

Building officials confronted the contractors and haven't encountered the issue since, Briggman said.

Reach Katy Stech at 937-5549 or kstech@postandcourier.com.