Safety Glass

What is safety glass?

Safety glass is glass that is specifically designed to be less likely to break, and less prone to inflicting injury when it breaks. It also includes glass that is manufactured for strength or fire resistance.

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Types of safety glass

• Toughened Glass, also known as tempered glass

• Laminated Glass

• Wired Glass

• Fire Rated Glass

• Toughened & Laminated Glass

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What is toughened glass?

Toughened glass, sometimes referred to as “tempered” or “safety glass” is very simply a stronger version of the standard glass that is used in most windows around the home and is used in areas where greater strength or safety is needed, for example in doors, windows near doors or windows at low level. Also used for most furniture glass such as shelving, table tops, 

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What is Laminated glass?

Laminated glass is constructed of two plies of glass which are bonded together with interlayers to form a permanent bond. The interlayers work to support and hold the glass to create a strong, uniformed layer even when broken. Laminated glass comes in varying thicknesses and can be created using different glass combinations or coatings to provide different qualities, such as low emissions or increased insulation.

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What is Wired Glass?

What is meant by wired Glass? Wired glass is being used for decades now and it prevents the glass from shattering in case of emergencies. The glass is reinforced with wire mesh during manufacture, which makes it durable, fire-resistant when compared to float glass.

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What is Fire Rated Glass?

Fire rated glass is classified by the amount of time it provides for integrity and insulation. These categories are highlighted by the following:

The Integrity Period

The integrity rating of fire rated glazing is the amount of time the glass will remain in situ in its frame/fixings under the effects of fire. This also denotes the glass's ability to prevent the passage of flames and hot gasses through the glass when exposed to fire on one side.

The Insulation Period

The amount of time the glass will act as an effective barrier against flames, heat and smoke under the effects of fire. When tested, the glazing must limit the temperature on the non-fire side of the glazing to no more than an average of 140C and no more than 180C in any single position.

The above categories are also split into the duration of protection the glass provides for Integrity and Insulation. These fire protective levels are broken down into E classifications to denote its performance.

E = glass with an integrity only rating

El = glass with an integrity and insulation rating

EW = glass with an integrity rating and a degree of heat resistance.