PAS 24 replacement windows: the test is the whole unit

You are about to buy a lockable window handle, a hanging siren, or a roll of mirror film, and treat that basket as a secure window. The phrase for that mix-up is PAS 24 replacement windows. On 15 October 2026 the handles in our set sat at about £4.99 to £24.80, and the hanging alarms at about £8.39 to £10.99. None of those listings is a tested window.

PAS 24:2022+A1:2024 is that test of a manufactured window or doorset. We used the public BSI record, the GOV.UK page for Approved Document Q, FENSA's compliance guide, Secured by Design's windows page, and the amazon.co.uk shelf on 15 October 2026. We did not buy the standard, and we did not run a laboratory test. A qualifying purchase through our links can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.

In short

PAS 24:2022+A1:2024 tests a complete window or doorset, not a loose handle, a clip-on siren, or a film roll. Approved Document Q, on the reading we used, is aimed at easily accessible windows in new dwellings, and a handle swap in an existing house sits outside that. Whether a new window, an extension, or a change of use needs a tested unit is a question for the Approved Document and for building control, not for a marketplace title.

What PAS 24 actually tests

PAS 24:2022+A1:2024 tests the manufactured window or doorset. BSI's public record covers products meant to offer a level of security suitable for dwellings, and for other buildings exposed to a comparable risk. The result belongs to the unit that was submitted: frame, glazing, locks, and hardware together. A PAS 24 doorset is that same kind of object, a complete door, not a letter plate fitted later.

A new lever is a component on an espagnolette bar you already have. The frame, the sealed unit, and the gearbox stay as they were. Screws do not create a test the window never had. If you change the hardware on a window that was tested, this page will not tell you the old result still applies.

Fine Line Windows states that the test is the complete unit, then urges PAS 24 on replacements as future-proofing. That second step is a sales line. A shop that says a handle met PAS 24 as part of a compliant window is still describing the window. None of the handles in our set is a tested window.

Where Approved Document Q is aimed

GOV.UK publishes Approved Document Q on security in dwellings. For a handle purchase, the scope we are using is easily accessible windows in new dwellings. A handle swap in an existing house sits outside it.

Liniar, a fabricator, describes an easily accessible window as one within 2 m of an accessible surface, or within 2 m of a shallow roof that is within 3.5 m of the ground. Their page also names new-build dwellings and flats in England, extensions, material change of use, and excepted energy buildings in Wales, and says replacement windows and doors are not included. That is their explainer, not the Approved Document. Sash Window Specialists treat FENSA, Part L, and Part F as the framework for a replacement in an existing home. "Still advisable" is a sales close.

The same Liniar page points glazing next to non-key hardware at BS EN 356 Class P1A. Mirror film is not that glass. Whether the project needs a tested window is a question for the Approved Document and for building control. The GOV.UK page is England's, and FENSA's guide covers England and Wales, so Scotland and Northern Ireland need their own rules. A barn conversion is not settled by a handle at about £8.

A handle swap is not that project

The handles we priced on amazon.co.uk on 15 October 2026 run from about £4.99 to £24.80. The Home Secure multi-spindle locking handle, B0D81HFS43, was about £7.99, with 4.5 from 2,213 reviews, the largest count in that set. The title says locking, with keys, and the spindle lengths are not numbered.

It is listed for most uPVC and aluminium windows, not every window, and one UK review said it did not fit. Reviewers often found the supplied screws the wrong length. A key in the title is not a PAS 24 certificate, and it is not Secured by Design.

FENSA's compliance guide covers full replacement windows, roof windows, or doors in existing dwellings in England and Wales. Repair, such as sash or glass only, sits outside the scheme. A new handle is furniture on a window you are keeping, so this page will not invent a certificate for it.

Replacing the frame and the glass is a different contract, and the trade articles we read do not place it inside Approved Document Q. Part L and Part F belong to that full swap, through a competent-person scheme or building control. If the lever spins and the cams stay still, the gearbox may have failed.

A siren and a film roll are not the test

The hanging alarms we priced sat at about £8.39 to £10.99 on 15 October 2026. A siren on a handle makes a noise if it is armed and the handle moves. It does not throw the cams, and it does not lock a sash left on vent. It is a poor first buy when the lever already turns without catching.

Sold Secure grades are on soldsecure.com. One Defender listing, EL00237, carries a Sold Secure Gold line. Read it beside that page and beside the Secured by Design entry for the Defender Ultra Slim, marked Assessed - Other. That mark is not a PAS 24 window. EL00002 is a different Defender, so the Gold word does not follow the name. We did not test whether either siren sounds. Those hangers stay alarms on the window handle with alarm comparison.

Secured by Design's windows page asks for key locks on accessible windows unless they are the escape route, and for a restrictor that cannot be undone from outside. A siren does not collect that as a certificate. Mirror film reflects in daylight. It is not security film, and it is not BS EN 356 Class P1A glass. The window solar film comparison is for film as film.

Escape windows still need a usable key

Approved Document B, on our reading, allows locks with or without a removable key if the clear opening still meets at least 0.33 m² and 450 mm by 450 mm, with a sill not more than 1100 mm above the floor. The key has to be usable in a fire. Check the current document if that window is your route. We have not reproduced it here.

FENSA allows keyed and non-keyed handles on an egress window and recommends the non-key option. A key in a drawer on another floor fails that in practice. Home Secure reviewers reported one key and no hole for a ring. Secured by Design wants key locks on accessible windows unless they are the escape route, so a ground-floor bedroom that is both the easy way in and the way out forces a choice.

Choose the non-key option when that opening is how you leave. A key can still suit a window you would never climb through. The fuller split between a key, a restrictor, and escape sits on the window handle child safety page. A lockable handle does not prevent a fall, and it does not replace a restrictor.

Where to choose a handle, and where to stop

Choose a handle when the bar still drives the lock and you can match the spindle and the screw centres. The Home Secure multi-spindle locking handle, at about £7.99 on 15 October 2026, is the most-reviewed locking handle in the set for an unmeasured multi-spindle bar. The lengths are unstated, and the listing states no test. Our display score is stars times twenty, not a laboratory result.

No listing in these sets is PAS 24 or Secured by Design. A new dwelling, an extension, or a change of use is a question for building control in that nation. A full replacement in an existing house in England or Wales is a FENSA-type job, with Part L and Part F, not a sticker inferred from a lever. Ask your insurer in writing what they will accept. The window handle comparison is for the fitting.