Sourcing custom aluminium windows for the US market
Sourcing custom aluminium windows for the US means building the specification around three things: the listing path your jurisdiction requires (Miami-Dade NOA for the hurricane coast, state energy code for inland), the glass schedule, and the documentation trail your AHJ will ask for. The factory work is the easy part; the paperwork and the port logistics decide whether the project lands on schedule.
Start from the jurisdiction, not the catalogue
A window schedule that works in Savannah may be the wrong product in Palm Beach. The dividing line is the wind zone: inside the HVHZ bands and on the coast, units are impact-rated and carry the Miami-Dade / FBC listing path; inland, the specification is driven by energy code (NFRC values), acoustic needs and budget. Ask your client for the address and the zoning before anything else — the same model number can quote two different products.
The listing path, in order
First, third-party testing: the configured model goes through a PGT-accredited (or equivalent) laboratory for the missile and pressure-cycle criteria. Second, the Miami-Dade NOA — Notice of Acceptance — which is the document the building official in the coastal counties asks for. Third, where the energy code reaches the position, NFRC registration for the U-factor and SHGC of the configured IGU. The sequence matters because the lab test is run on the exact build you will ship, not a catalogue unit.
What a complete RFQ looks like
- A window schedule — sizes, positions, glass per position, hardware side. Even a rough one starts the 24-hour clock.
- Finish: RAL or anodised, with the salt-spray schedule if coastal.
- Destination port: Savannah, Miami, Los Angeles or Houston — we consolidate to the one your drayage runs from.
- Timeline: the order date and the on-site date. Impact-rated schedules carry a longer production lead than standard, and the lab step sits before production, not after it.
Ports, containers and the last mile
Factory-assembled sashes pack to roughly the same container count as flat-processed units, but they cut site labour: the frame arrives glazed, hung and gasketed, so the installer sets a finished unit instead of building one in the weather. Loading reports per bay and the packing list per crate go out with the shipment, which is what the site agent needs to claim the container and start setting.
Questions
Only where the code allows: typically secondary positions, above the 12 ft debris zone on some elevations, or with the architect taking the engineering. The drawing office flags each position.