Regulating Glass for Safety

Model Code Safety Glazing Requirements

In 1977, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) standard 16 CFR Part 1201 was enacted by the
federal government. Initially, the standard applied to glazing in doors and other glazed panels in hazardous
locations, such as sidelights and panels adjacent to walkways. However, in 1981, the CPSC withdrew its glazed
panel provisions to permit regulation and enforcement of glazings in those locations by state and local building
code authorities. State and local building code officials were expected to impose criteria for the use of glass,
subject to human impact, that was consistent with the regulations of the CPSC. As required by the Federal
preemption mandate, the three regional model code bodies enacted safety glazing provisions for all hazardous
location applications confirming to CPSC standards.

The federal CPSC standard and model building codes have established two product "risk" categories for
glazings. In the International Building Code (IBC), for example, Category I applies to swinging doors where no
single piece of glazing material exceeds 9 square feet in area, and glazed panels adjacent to doors containing a
single piece of glazing material less than 9 square feet in surface area.

Category II products included all sizes of glazing in shower doors and enclosures, all sizes of glazing in
bathtub doors and enclosures, all sizes of glazing in sliding glass doors (patio type), swinging doors containing
glazing greater than 9 square feet, and glazed panels where the glazing material exceeded 9 square feet.

Impact Load Test Requirements

Originally, the CPSC's impact load test requirements and risk-rating categories were based on studies of the
amount of energy it takes for children and adults to break glass upon body impact. The CPSC found that a 100
foot-pound impact requirement (12" drop height) offered protection to children under five, but concluded this
was insufficient protection for glazing in doors and panels, except in fire-rated applications. The 150 foot-pound
requirement (18" drop height) offered protection to children under ten upon full-body impact and adults upon
hand and arm impact. The 400 foot-pound (48" drop height) impact requirement was considered to be the
minimum impact requirement to protect adults against full-body impacts.

CPSC deferred application of the 16 CFR 1201 standard to wired glass used in fire rated applications in
compliance with fire codes. The exemption left regulation of wired glass up to the model codes and state and
local laws.

In addition, 16 CFR Part 1201 did not apply to the curved sidelights of revolving doors, commercial
refrigerated glass cabinet doors, transoms, overhead garage door windows, and decorative leaded glass when no
individual pane exceed 30 square inches in area. CPSC exempted louvers of jalousie doors, as well as glazed
panels in nonresidential buildings that were not adjacent to doors and had a horizontal member or chair rail
located between 24-36 inches above a walking surface.

Model Code Safety Glazing Requirements

The three regional model code organizations, BOCA, SBCCI, and ICBO, as well as the new International
Code Council, the first organization to publish a national model building code in the U.S., publish model codes
containing requirements for the safe use of glass in Chapter 24 of their codes. For more than twenty years, the
model codes have contained safety glazing requirements patterned after CPSC 16 CFR 1201.

U.S. model codes require each pane of safety glazing installed in hazardous locations to be identified by a
label that identifies the labeler as manufacturer or installer, the safety glazing standard with which the glass
complies, and the type and thickness of the glass or glazing material. In the case of multi-light glazed assemblies,
where individual lights do not exceed 1 square foot in exposed area, at least one light in the assembly must
display the complete label. The other must be marked CPSC 16 CFR 1201 or ANSI Z97.1, as appropriate.
Except for tempered glass, affidavits or certificates may be substituted for labels when approved by the local
code official.

Hazardous locations requiring labeled safety glazing materials in the model codes are defined to include:

Glazing in swinging doors except jalousies.

 Glazing in fixed and sliding panels of sliding patio door assemblies and panels in other doors, including
walk-in closets and wardrobes.

Glazing in storm doors.

Glazing in unframed swinging doors.

Glazing in doors and enclosures for hot tubs, whirlpools, saunas, steam rooms, bathtubs and showers.

Glazing in any portion of a building wall enclosing these above compartments where the exposed edge
of the glazing is less than 60 inches above a standing surface.

Glazing in a individual fixed or operable panel adjacent to a door where the nearest exposed edge of the
glazing is within a 24-inch arc of either vertical edge of the door in a closed position and where the
bottom exposed edge of the glazing is less than 60 inches above a walking surface. (Panels where there
is an intervening wall or other permanent barrier between the door and the glazing are exempt.)

Glazing in an individual fixed or operable panel where the exposed area of an individual pane is greater
than 9 square feet and the exposed bottom edge is less than 18 inches above the floor, the exposed top
edge is greater than 36 inches above the floor, and one or more walking surface(s) are within 36 inches
horizontally of the plane of the glazing. Exceptions include a panel with a protective bar (1-1/2 inches
or more in height and capable of withstanding a horizontal load of 50 pounds per linear foot without
contacting the glass installed on the accessible sides of the glazing 34 inches to 38 inches above the
floor), and an outboard pane in insulating glass units or multiple glazing where the bottom exposed
edge of the glass is 25 feet or more above any grade, roof, walking surface of other horizontal or sloped
surface adjacent to the glass interior.

Glazing in guards and railings, including structural baluster panels and nonstructural in-fill panels,
regardless of height above a walking surface.

Glazing in walls and fences enclosing indoor and outdoor swimming pools and spas when the bottom
edge of the glazing on the pool side is less than 60 inches above a walking surface on the pool side of
the glazing and the glazing is within 60 inches horizontally of a water's edge.

Glazing adjacent to stairways, landings and ramps when it is within 36 inches horizontally of a walking
surface, within 60 inches horizontally of a bottom tread of a stairway in any direction, and the bottom
edge is less than 60 inches above the plane of the adjacent walking surface (or stairway, measured from
the nose of the tread).

Skylight Safety Provisions

The Sloped Glazing and Skylights provisions of Chapter 24 address safety issues related to overhead glass.
Laminated glass with a minimum 30-mil polyvinyl butyral (or equivalent) interlayer, wired glass, light-
transmitting plastic materials, and heat-strengthened or fully tempered glass are allowable glazing materials for
monolithic and multiple-layer glazing systems. Screening shall be provided below heat-strengthened glass and
fully tempered glass in monolithic glazing systems, as well as below heat-strengthened, fully tempered, and
wired glasses when the glass is the bottom glass layer in a multiple-layer glazing system.

Screens are not required below fully tempered glass installed between intervening floors at a slope of 30
degrees or less from the vertical plane where the highest point of the glass is ten feet or less above the walking
surface. They are not required under any glazing material, including annealed glass, where the walking surface
below the glazing material is permanently protected from the risk of falling glass or the area below the glazing
material is not a walking surface. In addition, screens are not required under sloped glazing systems or in
commercial or detached non-combustible greenhouses used exclusively for growing plants and not open to the
public, provided the height of the greenhouse at the ridge does not exceed 20 feet (or 30 feet in the IBC) above
grade.
 In dwelling units, screens are not required under fully tempered glass when each pane of the glass is 16
square feet or less in area, the highest point of the glass is 12 feet or less above any walking surface and the glass
is 3/16 inch or less. Laminated glass with a 15-mil interlayer is acceptable in dwelling units provided each pane
of glass is 16 square feet or less in area and the highest point of the glass is 12 feet or less above a walking
surface.

Handrails and Guards

U.S. model codes require a minimum glass thickness of " of either single fully tempered glass, laminated
fully tempered glass or laminated heat-strengthened glass when using glass as structural balustrade panels in
railings. Glazing in railing in-fill panels must conform to ANSI Z97.1 or be of an approved safety glazing
material.

Athletic Facilities
Glazing in racquetball and squash courts and similar uses are required to conform to CPSC 16 CFR, Part
1201. Test methods, loads, and deflection limits are specified in the model codes. Glass panels installed in these
areas are to be specifically designed to provide safety upon impact.

Floors and Sidewalks

A section on glass in floors and sidewalks has been developed through a cooperative effort between the glass
industry and the building codes. As a means of providing safety, laminated glass having a minimum of two plies,
capable of supporting the total design load with any one ply broken, must be used.

Conclusion
The evolution of glass as a building product has resulted in a myriad of building code requirements,
exemptions, and exceptions that define and clarify proper usage. Starting with CPSC's preemptive regulations for
safety, the model codes have expanded and clarified parameters around the use of glass in buildings. The codes
are continually addressing new proposals related to glass through the ongoing model code hearing process.
Unlike the CPSC federal standard that is fixed in place and preemptive, existing model building code
requirements are often the focus of new proposals that result in revisions and changes. Changes in code
requirements may also occur at the state and local levels. However, as building code officials consider proposed
additions and changes to Chapter 24 requirements, they will no doubt keep safety at the forefront.