Abstract
In Australia, the building code prescribes where glass in buildings must adopt certified safety glass. However, this standard still permits the certification and installation of toughened glass with a residual surface stress that is insufficient to ensure fragmentation in a safe manner. Until the standard is amended to assure safe fragmentation, other precautions need to be taken to ensure that glass installed in buildings is not potentially lethal. This paper discusses safety glass testing, explaining why the current testing procedure does not assure safe fragmentation, and, in the absence of adequate statutory-backed guidance, how building surveyors should navigate the compliance pathway for toughened safety glass.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction
Volume 15 • Issue 1 • February 2023
Copyright
© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 24, 2022
Accepted: Aug 4, 2022
Published online: Nov 22, 2022
Published in print: Feb 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Apr 22, 2023
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Building codes
- Building materials
- Buildings
- Business management
- Construction engineering
- Construction management
- Engineering materials (by type)
- Engineering profession
- Glass
- Legal affairs
- Licensure and certification
- Materials engineering
- Permits
- Practice and Profession
- Professional practice
- Public administration
- Public health and safety
- Residual stress
- Safety
- Standards and codes
- Stress (by type)
- Structural analysis
- Structural engineering
- Structures (by type)
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