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How to choose a glazier in Cyprus

What can be verified about a glazier in Cyprus, which glass specifications matter in this climate, and what a window quote should itemise before you sign.

8 min read

How to Choose a Glazier Company in Cyprus — illustrasjonsbilde

Photo: Ron Lach on Pexels

ByStavros Loizou· Editor, kitchens, bathrooms and finishes

Stavros covers the rooms that carry the most cost per square metre and the finishes that go into them. He tracks the order trades have to arrive in, which moves a Cypriot renovation bill further than any hourly rate does.

Published

Glazing is not a licensed trade in Cyprus, so there is no register that tells you a glazier is competent. What you can check is the company, the insurance, the glass specification written on the quote and the guarantee behind the sealed units — and on this island the specification is where most of the money is won or lost, because the job the glass has to do here is keeping heat out, not keeping it in.

Get the specification right and a mediocre installer still gives you a workable window. Get it wrong and the best installer on the island fits you something that turns your south-facing room into a greenhouse by ten in the morning.

What can actually be verified

Four things, none of which depend on anybody's opinion.

The company exists and has a history. Registration under Companies Law Cap. 113 is public and searchable. You get the registered name, the incorporation date and whether the company is in good standing. It proves the entity is real, nothing more — but a company incorporated two months before it quoted you for a whole-house replacement is a fair question.

Public liability insurance in force. Ask for the certificate and read the dates. Glazing involves large panes, ladders and open first-floor openings; this is not the trade to take on trust.

Which aluminium or uPVC system they fabricate. Most frames here are supplied as a system from a manufacturer, and installers are approved fabricators for particular systems. Ask which system, and ask for the system's own technical data sheet for the profile they are quoting. That sheet is where thermal break, gasket arrangement and drainage detail are stated in writing.

What is stamped on the sealed unit. Insulating glass units carry markings on the spacer bar identifying the manufacturer and the build-up. Ask to see it on a finished unit before it goes in — it is the one part of the job you cannot inspect once the beads are on.

What cannot be verified is how tidy the crew are or how they handle a problem eighteen months later. This site publishes no star ratings, reviews or testimonials — our glazing pages order companies on what can be documented, and the weighting is published on the methodology page.

Registrations that matter

Unlike engineering, glazing has no statutory chamber and no protected title, so "licensed glazier" is not a thing that exists in Cyprus. That cuts both ways: the absence of a licence is not a warning sign, but the presence of an impressive looking certificate on a website means very little either.

Three things do carry weight:

  • Companies and VAT registration. The entity that invoices you should be the entity in your contract, and the VAT position should be stated on the quote rather than discussed afterwards. Ask which rate applies to your works and whether the figure quoted includes it.
  • An ETEK-registered professional where the work is part of a permitted project. Replacing like-for-like glazing usually is not. Changing an opening size, forming a new opening, enclosing a veranda or glazing a balustrade as part of a permitted alteration is a different matter, and the certifying professional on that project needs to see the detail before it is ordered.
  • Compliance with energy performance requirements where the glazing forms part of a renovation caught by them. The Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry publishes what applies. If your project is subject to them, the glazing specification is not purely a matter of taste.

Questions to ask

  1. What is the solar factor of the glass, not just the U-value?

    U-value describes heat loss. In Cyprus the dominant load is heat gain through glass in summer, which is described by the solar factor, or g-value. A low number means less solar heat gets through. Any supplier quoting a serious product will have both figures; one who only offers "double glazed" as a specification is selling you a build-up, not a performance.

  2. Is the aluminium thermally broken?

    Non-thermal-break aluminium conducts heat straight through the frame and condenses on the inside face in winter. It still gets fitted here because it is cheaper. If the quote does not say, assume it is not, and ask.

  3. Where is toughened or laminated glass being used?

    Doors, low-level panels, shower screens and balcony balustrades need safety glass. Laminated and toughened are not interchangeable — a balustrade holding people back should be laminated so it stays in place if it breaks. Get the locations listed on the quote.

  4. What are the fixings and hardware made of?

    Within sight of the sea, salt-laden air eats ordinary steel. In Kato Paphos and comparable coastal exposures, galvanised or marine-grade fixings and stainless hardware are standard rather than an upgrade. Ask what is being used and what the frame finish is.

  5. How do the units get to the opening?

    Large sealed units are heavy and awkward, and on the hillside plots around Peyia steep access roads limit the size of delivery vehicle and crane that can reach the property at all. This determines maximum pane size before aesthetics do. Ask the installer to confirm access on site, not on a map.

  6. What happens to the reveals?

    Removing old frames damages plaster and render. Making good, inside and out, is either in the price or it is your problem the following week — the most frequent gap between a glazing quote and a finished room.

What a good quote looks like

Glazing is usually priced per opening or per square metre of finished window, and the two are not comparable until you know what is inside each figure. A quote you can put alongside another one states:

  • Every opening, with its dimensions and its opening type — fixed, tilt-and-turn, sliding, lift-and-slide.
  • The frame system and profile, and whether it is thermally broken.
  • The full glass build-up, including coating type, and both the U-value and the solar factor.
  • Where safety glass is used, and whether toughened or laminated.
  • Frame finish and colour, inside and out, and the hardware finish.
  • Insect screens, restrictors, locks and trickle ventilation as line items, not assumptions.
  • Removal and disposal of the existing frames.
  • Making good to internal and external reveals.
  • Lead time from order to installation, and how long the property is open.
  • Two guarantee periods: units and installation.
  • VAT.

Works well when

You are replacing single-glazed non-thermal-break frames, you have a west or south elevation that overheats, and you will be in the property through the summer. This is where the specification pays for itself quickly and where the difference between a good and a poor glass choice is felt daily.

Less suitable when

The property is a seasonal let closed through the hottest months, or the frames are sound and the problem is actually shading. External shading — shutters, brise-soleil, a pergola — beats glass coatings on the same elevation, and costs less. A glazier who tells you this is worth keeping.

Warning signs

A quote that says "double glazing" and nothing else. No build-up, no coating, no figures. There is an enormous range of product behind those two words and the cheap end of it performs barely better in summer than what you already have.

No site measure before the order. Openings in Cypriot masonry are rarely square and almost never identical across a facade. Ordering from your own measurements transfers the entire risk to you.

A deposit out of proportion to the order. Made-to-measure materials justify a deposit. Near-total payment before anything reaches site does not.

Reluctance to name the system manufacturer. Every genuine fabricator will say which system they work with.

Balustrade glass quoted without specifying laminated. This is a safety detail, not a preference, and getting it wrong is expensive to correct because the balustrade has to come out.

Scheduling that ignores the season. In tourist accommodation around Ayia Napa and Protaras the work window is genuinely November to March. A company promising a full replacement in August has not thought about handing the property back between bookings.

Common questions

Is double glazing worth it in Cyprus?

Usually, but for the opposite reason to northern Europe. The gain here is mostly summer: a coated unit in a thermally broken frame keeps solar heat out and cuts the cooling load, which is the larger bill in most Cypriot households. What decides whether it pays is orientation — a shaded north elevation gains far less than an exposed west one.

Can I keep my existing frames and just change the glass?

Sometimes. If the frames are sound thermally broken aluminium with enough rebate depth to take a sealed unit, reglazing is possible and much cheaper. Old single-glazed non-thermal-break profiles generally cannot take a unit, and even where they physically can, the frame then becomes the weak point. Ask the installer to measure the rebate and tell you which case you are in.

How long does a whole-house replacement take?

The lead time from order to delivery is the long part, because units are made to measure. Fitting moves quickly, but the property is open while it happens, so it is scheduled around weather and, on the coast, around wind. Ask for the fitting sequence room by room if you are living there.

What about noise?

Acoustic performance comes from asymmetric glass thicknesses and laminated interlayers rather than from the gap. It is a specific specification you have to ask for — standard units are not designed for it. Worth raising if you are near a main road, a nightlife area, or under the approach to Larnaca airport.

Do I need a permit to change my windows?

Like-for-like replacement in the same opening usually does not. Changing the size or position of an opening, glazing in a veranda, or altering the appearance of a protected building does. Ask the district building authority before ordering, not after — glass is made to measure and cannot be returned.

Glazing companies with recorded registrations

5 companies covering this area.

Sources

  1. Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry — energy performance of buildings — retrieved 2026-07-24
  2. Department of Registrar of Companies and Intellectual Property — retrieved 2026-07-24
  3. ETEK — Cyprus Scientific and Technical Chamber — retrieved 2026-07-24

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