Safety glass in balustrades, screens and doors
Glass in a balustrade, a glazed screen or a door has to meet safety rules. In England most of them sit in one government document, Approved Document K.
Where the rules sit
GOV.UK publishes Approved Document K, which covers protection from falling, collision and impact in England. The 2013 edition also took in Approved Document N, the old guidance on glazing.
Before building or altering a building in certain ways, GOV.UK says you must find out if building regulations approval is needed. Where it is unclear, a building control body can say.
Glass in critical locations
Approved Document K shows its critical locations in a diagram. They cover glazing in doors and door side panels, and glazing at low level in walls. In those places, it says the glazing should do one of three things. It can break safely. It can be robust, or in small panes. Or it can be permanently protected.
For safe breakage, glazing is suitable if it meets Class 3 of BS EN 12600 or Class C of BS 6206. For a door or a door side panel with a pane wider than 900mm, Approved Document K names Class 2 of BS EN 12600 or Class B of BS 6206.
How high guarding must be
Approved Document K sets a minimum height for guarding, and a balustrade can serve as guarding. In a single family home, guarding on stairs, landings, ramps and the edges of internal floors must be at least 900mm high. On external balconies, Juliet balconies and the edges of roofs it must be at least 1100mm.
In residential, institutional, educational, office, public and retail buildings, it is 900mm on flights of stairs and 1100mm elsewhere. Other kinds of building have their own rows in the table.
Guarding must resist at least the loads given in BS EN 1991-1-1, with its UK National Annex and PD 6688-1-1. Where guarding contains glass, the section on impact with glazing applies as well.
In a building that children under five may use, a 100mm sphere must not pass through any gap in the guarding. Horizontal rails should be avoided, so that young children cannot easily climb it.
Making glass doors and screens visible
The marking rule, requirement K5.2, does not apply to homes. In other buildings, Approved Document K says people might not see glazing in critical locations and could walk into it. It gives two ways to prevent that.
The first is permanent marking. Glass doors and glazed screens, including screens alongside a corridor, then need all of these:
- marking at two levels;
- marking that contrasts with the background seen through the glass, from inside and outside, in all lighting conditions;
- a logo or sign at least 150mm high, repeated across a glazed screen, or broken lines or continuous bands at least 50mm high;
- a high-contrast strip at the top and on both sides of a glazed door that sits beside or within a glazed screen;
- guarding to protect the leading edge of a glass door that may be held open.
The second is to show the glass in other ways, such as mullions, transoms, door framing or large pull or push handles.
The barrier standard
Approved Document K points designers to BS 6180 for barriers and infill panels. BSI lists BS 6180:2011, Barriers in and about buildings, Code of practice, as current and under review.
Higher-risk buildings
The Building Safety Regulator regulates higher-risk buildings in England. It handles building control approval for them.
The glazing trade body
The Glass and Glazing Federation publishes consumer leaflets on glazing for homeowners.