What Are The Building Standards For Glass In Australia?

You must use Grade A Safety Glazing where the lowest slight line is less than 500mm from floor or ground level.

You CAN use ordinary annealed glass with a thickness above 5mm in fully framed glazing only, in window areas of up to 1.2m². You CANNOT use ordinary annealed glass in larger areas than this, regardless of glass thickness.

Glass within 300mm of the nearest edge of a doorway opening must be fully framed, and must be Grade A Safety Glass with the following exceptions:

Ordinary annealed glass above 5mm thickness may be used within window areas up to and smaller than 0.3m², for example an area that is 500mm x 600mm. Anything above this thickness must be Grade A safety glass.

• If above 0.3m² then use Grade A Safety Glass
• If less than 0.3m² then use 5mm ordinary annealed glass.

Some other important standards to adhere to are as follows:

• Areas that exceed 0.1m² cannot use 3mm and 4mm glass, with a maximum window width of 125mm.
• Areas that exceed 0.26m² cannot use 5mm and 6mm glass, with a maximum window width of 300mm.
• 10mm glass or greater cannot exceed a window area of 0.5m²

If you have a glass panel going into your home or business, take a look at it and ask yourself if anyone could potentially mistake the glass panel for a door opening.

If the answer is yes, then you need to use Grade A Safety Glass.

Glass panels can not be mistaken for a door if they have the following characteristics:

• The width of the glass panel is less than or equal to 500mm
• The height of the glass panel is less than or equal to 1000mm
• The glass is 500mm above the floor level in residential buildings
• The height of the glass panel is less than or equal to 1000mm
• The glass is patterned, opaque, or leadlight
• A chair rail, handrail, or transom runs across the glass, with its upper edges above 700mm from the floor, and its bottom edge below 1000m above the floor level.
• The glass panel is louvred with louvre blades below 230mm
• The glass panel is marked for visibility with motifs at the following specifications depending on glass height:
  - Door height of 2400mm has a motif height of 1187mm.
  - Door height of 2100mm has a motif height of 1037mm.
  - Door height of 2065 mm has a motif height of 1019mm.
  

Some other important standards to adhere to are as follows:

• Sliding doors should always use Grade A Safety Glass. (Fixed panel sliding doors)
• You can use 5mm of 6mm annealed glass if the panel is less than 0.26m², with the max panel width being 300mm ('Ovolo' federation sliding doors, with panels individually glazed)
• You can use 3mm or 4mm annealed glass if the area is less than 0.1m², with the max panel width being 125mm. ('Ovolo" colonial sliding doors with panels individually glazed)