When a builder or installer asks how long aluminium doors take, the honest answer is "it depends what you order". The system, colour, glass and quantity all move the date, and so does how the supplier is set up. A quote of "3–6 weeks" and a quote of "5 working days" can both be accurate for different orders.
This guide is for installers, builders, main contractors and garden room companies who need doors and windows to arrive when the opening is ready. It's written by Mazuli. We fabricate Cortizo aluminium doors and windows in Leeds and supply them across the UK mainland on our own fleet, so the Mazuli figures below are the ones we quote every day. Mazuli is supply only: we make and deliver, and your installer fits.
The short version
- Most UK aluminium fabricators quote 3–6 weeks. Mazuli's standard range is 2–10 working days, because we cut, assemble and deliver in-house.
- Colour moves the date most. Mazuli's seven stock colours are the fastest; any other RAL colour adds around two weeks, and woodgrain takes 4–6 weeks.
- Glass is the next biggest factor. Mazuli supplies unglazed stock-colour doors in 2–5 working days and glazed ones in 6–10.
- A lead time is only useful with a delivery date attached. Mazuli gives you a delivery date when you order and delivers on its own fleet.
- Order once the opening sizes are confirmed, and plan the glazing and the fitting team around the delivery date.
How long do aluminium doors take in the UK?
Across the UK, most aluminium fabricators quote 3–6 weeks for doors and windows. That figure covers a lot of different set-ups, from fabricators who make everything in one building to suppliers who buy frames in from another company and pass them on.
Our standard range is 2–10 working days. This is how it breaks down by product and finish:
| Product or finish | Mazuli lead time |
|---|---|
| Unglazed, stock colour | 2–5 working days |
| Glazed, stock colour | 6–10 working days |
| Bifold doors, patio sliding doors, casement windows, French doors, residential doors, gable ends | 2–10 working days in stock colours |
| RAL colours | Around 2 weeks |
| Woodgrain finishes | 4–6 weeks |
| Heritage-style doors | 3–4 weeks |
| Cortizo COR Vision sliding doors | 4–6 weeks |
| Roof lanterns and flat skylights | Around 3 weeks |
Stock-colour lead times depend on order quantity, so a large multi-plot order can take longer than a single bifold. Lead times are the same wherever the order is going on the UK mainland: a job in Cornwall gets the same lead time as one in Leeds.
What actually goes into a lead time?
A lead time is the sum of a few stages. Knowing what they are makes it easier to see why one quote is days and another is weeks, and which questions to ask.
1. Profile and colour
Every door starts as lengths of aluminium profile from the system company. If the profile is already held in the colour you want, fabrication can start straight away. If it isn't, it has to be finished to order first. That's why stock colours are the quickest and other colours add time.
2. Cutting, machining and assembly
The profiles are cut to size, machined for hardware and drainage, then assembled into frames and sashes with their gaskets, hinges, rollers and locks. When this happens in the supplier's own factory, the order isn't waiting in someone else's queue.
3. Glazing
For a glazed order, sealed glass units have to be made by our glass supplier to the exact size of each frame, then sent with the frames for your installer to fit on site. Waiting for those units is the main reason glazed orders take longer than unglazed ones.
4. Checking and loading
Each frame is checked before it leaves the factory, then wrapped and loaded for delivery.
5. Delivery
The last stage is getting the doors to site. Frames sent through a pallet network or courier change hands at least once on the way, and each handover is another chance for a delay or damage.
We control the stages from cutting through to delivery in-house: fabrication happens in our Leeds factory, and deliveries go out on our own vehicles with our own drivers. That's the main reason our standard range is 2–10 working days rather than weeks.
Why do colour and glass change the lead time?
Colour
Our seven stock colours carry the fastest lead times:
- White
- Agate Grey
- Anthracite Grey
- Black
- Agate Grey on White (dual colour)
- Grey on White (dual colour)
- Black on White (dual colour)
Any other RAL colour is available to order and typically adds around two weeks. Woodgrain finishes take 4–6 weeks. If a client is undecided between a stock grey and a close RAL shade, that choice alone can be the difference between delivery next week and delivery in a fortnight. It's worth showing them the stock options first on a job with a tight programme.
Glass
We don't send doors with the glass already fitted. Either way, the frames arrive fully assembled with hardware and locking, and the glass goes in on site. The difference is who supplies the glass:
- Glazed: we order sealed glass units made to the size of each frame from our glass supplier and deliver them with the frames, ready for your installer to fit. Stock-colour glazed orders take 6–10 working days, because the units have to be made first.
- Unglazed: you get the assembled frames and source your own glass. In a stock colour this is our fastest option, at 2–5 working days, and it lets you specify toughened, laminated, acoustic or self-cleaning glass for a particular job.
If you source your own glass, match the thickness to the frame area. We specify it like this:
| Frame area | Glass thickness |
|---|---|
| 2.5m² or less | 4mm |
| 2.6–4.5m² | 6mm |
| 4.6–5.5m² | 8mm |
| 5.6m² or more | 10mm |
Agree before you order who is responsible for the glass specification, including safety glass where it's needed, so nothing falls between the supplier, the glazier and the installer.
Product
Most of our range sits within the 2–10 working day window in stock colours. A few products take longer: Cortizo COR Vision sliding doors take 4–6 weeks, heritage-style doors 3–4 weeks, and roof lanterns and flat skylights around 3 weeks. If one of those is on the job, it usually sets the date for the whole order.
Lead time or delivery date: which matters more?
The delivery date. A short lead time doesn't help if nobody can tell you which day the doors will turn up. When you compare suppliers, ask:
- Do I get a delivery date when I order, or a week to be confirmed later? An "estimated week" leaves you guessing when to book the fitting team.
- Who delivers? The supplier's own vehicles, or a pallet network or courier?
- Is the lead time in working days or calendar weeks? "10 days" and "10 working days" are two weeks apart once weekends are counted.
- Does the quoted lead time include glazing? Some quotes give the frame time only.
- Does it change with the colour or the quantity? Get the figure for the actual order, not the headline.
With Mazuli you get a delivery date when you order, and we deliver on our own fleet. Delivery to the UK mainland is included.
If the site isn't ready
Programmes slip: the steel is late, the weather stops the roofers, or the client changes the kitchen layout. If the opening won't be ready for the delivery date, tell your supplier as soon as you know, not the day before. Doors delivered to a site with no opening have to be stored somewhere safe and dry, and sealed glass units are easy to damage while they wait. Moving the delivery is usually far simpler than storing the doors.
How do you plan an order around a build programme?
Fast lead times change when you can afford to order. With a 3–6 week lead time, doors have to be ordered early, often before the opening exists, and the sizes are a guess. With a lead time in working days, you can wait until the opening is built and measured.
Order from confirmed sizes
A delay that's easy to avoid is an order placed on the wrong sizes. Wait until the structure is in: on a new or widened opening, that means the beam is in and the props are out. Then measure the structural opening at three points across the width and three up the height, check the diagonals and order from the smallest figures. Your installer will deduct their fitting tolerance. Mazuli doesn't survey or measure on site; we make the doors to the sizes you or your installer confirm.
Fix the floor levels first
If you want a low threshold on a bifold or sliding door, agree the finished internal floor level and the external paving level before you order. Changing the threshold after the order is placed means changing the doors.
Work back from the fitting day
Pick the day the fitting team is booked, then work back:
- Stock colour, unglazed: order 2–5 working days before you need the frames, and order your own glass to arrive at the same time.
- Stock colour, glazed: order 6–10 working days ahead. The glass units come with the frames.
- RAL colour: allow around 2 weeks.
- Woodgrain, COR Vision or heritage: treat these like a traditional lead time and order 4–6 weeks ahead, or 3–4 weeks for heritage doors.
Ask for the actual date when you order and build the programme around that, rather than the typical range.
Split the order if one item is slow
If a job mixes a stock-colour bifold with a roof lantern or a COR Vision slider, ask whether the quicker items can come first. Getting the main opening weathertight while a slower item follows can keep the rest of the site moving.
What does a fast lead time mean for an installer's business?
For an installer, the lead time decides how quickly a signed quote becomes a fitted job and an invoice. A shorter gap between deposit and fitting means:
- less time for a customer to change their mind or shop the quote around
- fewer jobs sitting part-finished waiting for doors
- an easier way to fill a gap in the diary when another job moves
- openings left boarded up for days rather than weeks, which customers notice
For garden room companies, who often build the room in a few days, a door that arrives in the same week as the frame means the building can be closed in and handed over without a gap.
It also means less stock to hold. If you can get a stock-colour unglazed bifold in a few working days, you don't need to keep standard sizes on the shelf.
Ordering with a Mazuli trade account
Our trade accounts are set up the same day, with no minimum order value and no lengthy application. You get a bespoke price list within hours and one named account manager. Orders can be placed by phone, email or WhatsApp, and you get the delivery date when you order.
For more on choosing a trade supplier, including the difference between a fabricator and a reseller, see our guide to buying aluminium windows and doors at trade. For bifold specifications, see the complete guide to aluminium bifold doors.
Mazuli aluminium doors and windows
Mazuli is a Cortizo-accredited manufacturer in Leeds. We fabricate bifold doors, patio sliding doors, COR Vision sliding doors and aluminium windows and doors in-house, and deliver across the UK mainland on our own fleet. To check a lead time for a specific order, get in touch, call 0113 827 5596 or email sales@mazuli.co.uk.
