The development of various window films over the past several decades has been a game-changer for building owners. It started with the creation of solar control window films, which reduce solar heat gain through building windows, making for a more comfortable and energy-efficient environment.
Security window films have made buildings safer, while privacy/decorative films have added to the aesthetic enhancement of modern offices.
Yet building owners often are unaware or ignore the fact that solar control and security window films have warranties of 10 to 15 years, with 10 being the most common. For solar control films, the issue is that they can lose their effectiveness over time. Security window film warranty expiration is, potentially, a more serious issue. If the film is out of warranty and a catastrophic event occurs during which building occupants are injured or worse, potential liability issues fall squarely on the building owner.
For decorative and privacy window films, the issue is general wear and tear of the film that happens in everyday office life, such as furniture bumping into office glass. Once the warranty expires, tenants will have to replace the damaged film at their own cost.
Increasingly popular anti-bird strike films, which prevent birds from flying into building windows, have shorter warranty periods as they are installed on the glass exterior. Because of weather exposure, especially in northern climates, these films can wear out even faster. If the anti-bird strike film loses its effectiveness and bird fatalities increase, they can be subject to pressure from environmental groups, which also results in bad press.
Building owners will want to be more attentive of warranty expiration dates on any window films installed in their buildings. If the films are approaching the end of its warranty period it’s advisable to find a qualified window film removal company. Generally, experienced window film installation companies can handle the task. That can be an especially effective decision if building owners want to replace the old film with new window film as the same window film installation/removal company can handle both tasks.
Window film removal, especially solar control and security window films, is an issue building owners should be pro-active about as liability concerns can be a significant problem.