Delivery times for external blinds: when to order them so they are ready on time?
At NEVA, we manufacture external blinds including all accessories within 10 working days of an order being placed by the installation company. As a final customer, however, you must also add the time associated with the approval of quotations, surveying or installation. Therefore, the average time from the initial enquiry about the shading to its final installation is 4 – 9 weeks, depending on the installation method or the readiness of the construction.
First surveying: 3 days or even 2 weeks
When placing an enquiry about external blinds, send the installation company the construction drawings (or at least the dimensions of the window openings), on the basis of which the company will give you a preliminary estimate for the blinds including installation .
Once the preliminary offer is approved, the installer will arrive on site for an initial site survey. You will usually wait a few days for this and two scenarios can arise:
- the construction is in order and the company will survey it in a few hours (in half a day at most),
- or the construction is not yet ready — typically, for example, there is no scaffolding for access to the upper floors, or the lining is crooked or the windows are incorrectly fitted in relation to the façade (this happens with flush mounting).
“Accurate surveying is absolutely key and unfortunately we often see that the building is not ready for surveying. Therefore, we tell the client or the construction company what still needs to be done, and we come back for the first surveying only afterwards,” says Dagmar Surá, director of SOLAR-TECHNIK, according to whom the date of the first surveying can be postponed by a week.
After the surveying, the installation company will prepare a final quotation and wait for you to approve it.
After price approval: everything goes into production and there is a waiting time of 10 days
Once you approve the final quotation, the installation company immediately commissions the production of everything. In the case of flush mounting, the company orders only the components — the under-plaster plates for the guide rails (ISO-PANELs), brackets and purenite boxes, and in the case of the visible type of installation, it also orders the production of external blinds. At NEVA we will then produce this order in 10 working days.
In the meantime, you can arrange an installation date with the installation company. “As soon as we commission the components or shading for production, we immediately arrange an installation date with the client. We do not want to delay the construction or store the products unnecessarily at our site. Most often we carry out the installation a day or two after NEVA delivers everything to us,” says Surá.
However, it may happen that a delay occurs on the client’s side, then the installation date is postponed.
For flush mounting: another 3 – 4 weeks
This stage awaits you only for concealed installation of flush-mounted shading. The company will come and install the ISO-PANELs and anchor the purenite box on the rough construction after the components are made. Again, this installation will take a few hours to half a day, depending on the number of windows and access to them.
Only now can you completely finish the façade, which usually takes another week. Then the installer will come for a final measurement of the finished façade (which will take about 2 – 3 hours) and immediately order the external blinds from NEVA. You will then wait for these another 10 working days.
Final installation is completed in a day
In the final stage, the installation company will come to the site and install the shading. Here again, expect the installation to take several hours.
“I advise clients not to skimp on the installation of blinds and not to do it on their own or with the help of unproven companies. I’ve seen dozens of buildings in my life where the preparation was done and then the blinds didn’t work properly. It’s quite a lot of money involved and I don’t think it makes sense to save a few thousand on professional surveying, preparation and installation,” concludes Surá.
Indicative schedule for the installation of external blinds
| Flush mounting | Mounting under cover plate | Projecting installation on the façade | |
| First enquiry + preparation and approval of the quotation | 2 days | 2 days | 2 days |
| First surveying: | 3 – 7 days | 3 days | 3 days |
| Final approval of the quotation on the client’s side | 2 days | 2 days | 2 days |
| Production of blinds/components at NEVA | 10 days | 10 days | 10 days |
| Delay between production completion and installation date | 2 days | 2 days | 2 days |
| Installation preparations + second surveying | 5 – 12 days | – | – |
| Production of blinds at NEVA | 10 days | – | – |
| Final installation | 1 day | 1 day | 1 day |
| Total | 35 – 46 days | 20 days | 20 days |
The schedule is rather approximate — especially with flush-mounted installations there are more variables that can affect the time required. “In typical new buildings, where everything is perfectly prepared, we can complete the installation in about 6 weeks,” concludes Surá.
If you are interested in external blinds, please contact one of our dealers.
