Safety Glazing

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Safety Glass
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Safety Glazing
Building codes can vary somewhat on where safety
glazing is required and how the local inspectors
interpret the requirements, so check locally!
What you see below are just generalized
interpretations of the codes. Safety glazing
requirements are to make sure that glass or
windows that are installed in hazardous
locations are less likely to cause injury.
What is safety glazing?
Generally there are two types of safety glass
that are used in windows tempered glass and
laminated glass. Tempered glass has been heated
and then cooled quickly in such a manner that it
becomes 4 times stronger than regular glass but
also, when it does break, it breaks into small
pieces that are less likely to cause injury.
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Laminated glass is the other type of safety
glass the windshield of your car is a good
example of this type of glass. Regular laminated
glass is no stronger than other types of glass,
but it is made up of two pieces of glass with a
clear plastic interlayer between them. When
laminated glass breaks, the interlayer holds the
pieces together so the risk of injury is low.
Yes, it is possible (but expensive), to get
laminated glass made with tempered glass.
Usually tempered glass will have a small
semitransparent stamp in the corner from the
fabricator identifying it as tempered. Laminated
glass may or may not have a similar stamp
depending on the fabricator.
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What qualifies as a hazardous location?
Well besides places like battlefields and coal
mines, hazardous locations are places where it
would be easy to fall into a window and get
hurt.1. All glass in and around shower and tub
enclosures are required (any glass less than 60
from the standing surface of a tub or shower) to
have safety glazing so that if you slip on a wet
floor and fall into a window you wont get cut
badly. 2. Another hazardous location is around
doors. In general, any glass in a door, or glass
within a 24 arc of a door, is required to be
safety glass. The exception is if it is more than
60 above the floor so a window above a door (a
transom), often does not need to be safety
glazed. 3. If a window is less than 18 above
the walking surface and more than 9 square feet
in size it needs to be safety glazed. 4. Windows
in stairways generally need to have safety glass
in them when the bottom of the window is less
than 36? above the stairway or landing. 5. Non
window applications and locations considered
hazardous and requiring safety glass are glass
guards and railings, glass in skylights, or any
overhead roof or sloped wall.
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Safety glass is often used in conjunction with
low-e glass so you get your efficiency and your
protection.  For more information on glass, or to
see what we offer, please call our offices or
stop by our shop and showroom for a hands-on
look.  If you would like a consultation on the
windows in your home please contact us for a
free, no pressure estimate.
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Contact US Glass-Rite808 Gibson SEAlbuquerque,
NM 87102Phone [phone]Toll-free 1-800-824-
1005 Visit Us http//www.glass-rite.com/