Roller shutters, awnings and external blinds for your home

Roller shutters are slatted curtains, usually aluminium, that roll into a box above the window. In the UK they are bought mostly for security, on shops, garages and ground-floor windows of houses, and for blackout and some protection against heat and noise. Retrofitted shutters sit in a box on the outside wall or in the window reveal; on a new build the box can be hidden in the lintel.

Awnings shade a patio or a large window and fold back when not needed. They have to be retracted in strong wind, so motorised awnings are often fitted with a wind sensor. External venetian blinds have adjustable slats, so they block direct sun while letting daylight in, and are mostly found on contemporary houses and offices. Insect screens are a separate product and are fitted to the frame or reveal.

For a south or west facing room that overheats in summer, external shading is usually more effective than tinted film on the glass or internal blinds.

Works that materially change the external appearance of a building can need planning permission, and a shutter box and guide rails on the front of a house are the kind of change councils look at. Many councils refuse solid shutters on shop fronts and houses facing the street, especially in conservation areas, and listed buildings need listed building consent for almost any fixing to the outside. At the back of a house, or with shutters hidden in the reveal, the answer is more often that no permission is needed.

Rules differ between councils and between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, so ask the local planning authority before ordering, or ask the fitter to confirm in writing that it has checked. In a flat, the lease almost always forbids fixing anything to the outside without the freeholder's consent.

Electric shutters and awnings need a power supply at the box. If that means a new circuit, it is notifiable work under Part P of the Building Regulations in England and must be done by a registered electrician or approved by Building Control. Ask whether the fitter's own electrician is in a scheme such as NICEIC or NAPIT, or whether you need to arrange one.

A shutter over a window that is a fire escape route, typically an upstairs bedroom, must be openable quickly from inside in a power cut. Ask for manual override or battery backup, and think about how a smoke alarm going off at night would play out before choosing a shutter that can only be opened with a remote control.

• product type, slat or fabric material, colour and box size for each window
• whether the box is surface-mounted, in the reveal or concealed
• manual or motorised operation, controls, sensors and manual override
• who provides the power supply and how the electrical work is certified
• fixings suitable for the wall, especially on rendered walls or external insulation
• wind rating for awnings and external blinds, guarantee on motor and fabric

Fixing a heavy shutter box or awning to a wall covered with external wall insulation needs special brackets, otherwise the fixings crush the insulation and let water in behind the render. On old solid brick, fixings need to go into sound masonry, not soft mortar joints. A fitter should look at the wall before quoting, not just the window sizes.

Your request is free. After you confirm your phone number and email address, fitters of shutters and awnings in your area see a summary without your contact details. A single business can buy it; it pays Offrano, and nobody else can buy it after that. We email you the fitter's name, address and phone number before it sees yours.

Because the specialist market is smaller in the UK, it is possible that no fitter in your area takes the request; after 21 days it is withdrawn. You never have to accept the quote. Offrano checks that buyers are registered businesses, not the standard of their work, so ask for photos of similar installations nearby.